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.