Ambrose...Ambrose...oh Ambrose

           Yes.  This is Ambrose Akinmusire -- jazz trumpeter/believer in life.

          This past Saturday (along with the Cleveland Thyagaraja Festival), I had an opportunity to experience the Ambrose Akinmusire Quintet along with my friend, other friends, and the rest of the  Oberlin students and/or various stragglers who could fit into the the Cat and the Cream at around 8 o'clock that evening.  It was a Saturday-to-remember especially in collaboration with cohort experiences, discoveries, and revelations garnered earlier that day.  Not only was I able to soak-up the wealth of beauty and magnificence living in Carnatic music, but I could witness a leader in today's jazz world. Crucial and poignant it was indeed.
          Recently raved about in a NY Times' April issue, Ambrose brought his expertise and the expertise of his colleagues (Harish Raghavan - bass, Walter Smith III -- tenor sax, Sam Harris -- piano, and Justin Brown -- drums) to Oberlin.  Students were provided a taste of his music as well as received a masterclass of his take on life as a musician, improvisation, and the crucial demands of an ensemble player.
         Within the first minutes of the performance, I was engrossed.  Continuing to fascinate me, jazz music involves "sounds" rather than "pitches" to indicate musical phrasing and voice within improvisation (though, most prevalent in trumpeters and sax players).  A sax player might blow air into the horn in a way that the instrument becomes over-burdened and produces an ugly, yet cool sound.  However, at the same time, theses "raw" sounds conveys the naturalness and realness of the player.  Upon hearing this, I imagine the vulnerability of the human voice and how it is subject to "cracking" on certain notes and such which somehow connects you more closely with your audience on a type of deeper level.  Trumpeters have this "rawness" especially.
       Ambrose's style is indulgent in this technique, and the overall effect is impressive which does not surprise me.  After all in the master-class which took place post-performance, he divulged the secret to his success as a musician:  finding "voice" requires active involvement in life rather than just shedding (i.e. "practicing") alone.