etienne charles

Photo of Roy Hargrove by John Whiting Jazz legend Sonny Rollins once said, “Improvisation is the ability to create something very spiritual, something of one’s own,” and Roy Hargrove has taken those words to heart.  In an exclusive interview with iRockJazz, multiple Grammy winner, bandleader and jazz trumpeter extraordinaire, Roy …

Jacques Schwarz-Bart was born in Guadeloupe where he was first exposed to voodoo ritual chants and found his musical expression and voice. As an infant, his mother sang voodoo chants to him, which settled deep in his heart as nuggets of gold. Those nuggets would resurface and give birth to …

Jon Faddis has had a long and illustrious career. At the tender age of  18, he joined Lionel Hampton’s Orchestra, then was lead trumpet in the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis orchestra. He also had stints with Charles Mingus. Renowned as a trumpeter with masterful command of an unparalleled range on the …

Singer Alicia Olatuja’s mix of jazz, classical, gospel and pop brought national recognition for her performance at the Presidential Inauguration ceremony. It’s the “breath taking” voice of a classically trained, mezzo-soprano who has drawn the most critically acclaim notice since the inauguration. Originally from St. Louis Missouri, Olatuja is a …

Grammy Award winning  jazz saxophonist Gary Bartz first came to New York In 1958 to attend the Julliard Conservatory of Music. Just 17 years old, Gary couldn’t wait to come to the city to play and learn. “It was a very good time for the music in New York, at …

Saxophonist and educator Victor Goines explains what jazz is, how jazz music helps shape the democrat process and the advantages New Orleans musicians have over the music. SAXOPHONIST • CLARINETIST • COMPOSER • ARRANGER • EDUCATOR 
Born: August 6, 1961, 
New Orleans, Louisiana

 “Laconic yet agile, serious yet playful, studied …

iRock Jazz interviewed several groundbreaking musicians asking them, what is JAZZ? Great insight and commentary from Robert Glasper, Casey Benjamin, Danilo Perez, George Bohanon, Delfeayo Marsalis, Victor Goines, Gary Bartz and Etienne  Charles. Jazz is a music genre that originated at the beginning of the 20th century, arguably earlier, within …

The Jazz & Democracy Project® manifests a hypothesis that Wesley J. Watkins, IV, Ph.D. has been investigating since he was an undergraduate: a music-centered curriculum with genuine links to the other subject areas can increase student identification with school, impact academic engagement, and have a subsequent positive effect on overall academic …

ETIENNE CHARLES: Recording Artist, Composer, Arranger, Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies, Michigan State University Over its century-plus history, jazz has forged its shape-shifting identity by encompassing a rainbow of musical dialects in an improvisation-infused setting. While jazz’s potency launched into popular appeal based on the integration of the European classical …

Jazz trumpeter and composer Etienne Charles is yet another powerful presence in next generation class of jazz artists. The native Trinidadian has released two albums, “Culture Shock” and “Folklore”, both to critical acclaim. An alumnus of the Julliard School and the Henry Mancini Institute, he currently serves as Assistant Professor …

A sold out crowd packed the house at Stanford University’s Campbell Recital Hall to experience the melodic, Caribbean flavored sounds of the Etienne Charles Quintet during the Stanford Lively Arts 2011-2012 Performing Arts Season. Donned in his signature porkpie hat a la Lester Young, Etienne Charles, the progeny of four …