For John Reynolds, jazz is a lifelong passion

           

            John Reynolds still remembers vividly the first time he met world-class trumpet player Wynton Marsalis.

            “I was just 17,” Reynolds recalled. “I didn’t know anything about jazz. I was having trouble with my embouchure, and he handed me his trumpet. He told me about all the muscles I needed to work on.”

            Things have come full-circle. Reynolds, now a highly sought-after jazz trumpet player himself, recently wrote his doctoral dissertation on Marsalis’ work.

           Reynolds performed at PLNU’s Crill Performance Hall on Friday with his jazz quintet. The concert was a tribute to trumpet player Clifford Brown and his frequent collaborator, saxophonist Harold Land. The group evoked the memories of their musical forbears, playing the gamut from the gentle "Stompin' at the Savoy" to the aggressive, fast-paced "Hymn of the Orient." 

            Clifford Brown was an influential was an influential trumpet player, and a pioneer of warm, articulate sound that could sound just as good at blisteringly-fast tempos as it could in a ballad. His compositions, which include such standards as “Joy Spring” and “Daahoud,” emphasize complex harmonic progressions.  

            According to Reynolds, Brown has been a monumental influence on jazz trumpet players ever since.

            “He was the first jazz trumpet player I really, really listened to,” Reynolds said. He was one of the world’s best improvisers.”

            Reynolds graduated from PLNU in 2002, before going on to get his master’s at SDSU. This spring, he received his DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts) in jazz studies from USC. He recently accepted a teaching job as a music director at the San Diego Creative and Performing Arts School.

           Between teaching, performing and giving private trumpet lessons, Reynolds doesn’t have much free time these days. He left straight from his performance at Crill on Friday for a 10:30 p.m. gig downtown. 

            For Reynolds, all of the gigs, the rehearsing and the long nights away from home are worth it. Jazz is worth it.

            “I’ve never quite been able to describe [jazz],” he said. “There’s something about the feeling of the music that I’ve always liked—that really resonates with me.” 

The history of jazz trumpet on Dipity.

The history of jazz trumpet on Dipity.

Local reporter driven by her own curiosity

This is an assignment for writing 430: Multimedia Journalism 

If you ask Jen Lebron Kuhney about her job, chances are she might answer you with more questions. After all, she makes a living off of asking questions.

When reflecting on what drives her as a reporter for U-T San Diego, Jen might talk about her fearlessness or her work ethic but, when it comes down to it, the fuel that keeps her running is her insatiable curiosity, a curiosity she began to cultivate writing for her middle school newspaper.

“I just started asking questions,” she recalled. “It was a way for me to have an outlet.”

What began as an outlet turned into something more, as Jen pursued her undergraduate degree in journalism at Point Loma Nazarene University. A 2008 graduate, she went on to write for the San Diego Daily Transcript before moving on to U-T San Diego, where she covers city government and breaking news.

In the face of an ever-changing industry, Jen, a self-proclaimed “nerd,” is engrossed by the variety of ways in which stories can be told. She blurs the line between “print” and “broadcast” journalist through her use of tools such as Evernote, Storify and Google Analytics.

Despite the often challenging nature of her job, for Jen, the appeal of being a reporter is simple.

“I love my job,” she said. “I love that I get to learn something new every single day.”