See brilliant trumpet player Jay Phelps tonight!
Canadian-born trumpeter Jay Phelps has worked with some of the best artists in the world and hosted a late-night residency at Ronnie Scott’s. He speaks to Gill Sutherland ahead of his gig at Stratford Jazz tonight (Wednesday).
When did you first pick up a musical instrument?
“Well I started with piano but didn’t get on with it. It really all began at an arts college in Canada, near my home town, Vancouver, when I was 11, and my mum took me to have music lessons. You could pick your instrument. I originally wanted to play drums, but you had to bring a form home for your parents to sign, and my mother wouldn’t sign the drum one — so it was a choice between the trumpet and the sax. The sax looked as though it had too many keys and as I was lazy I chose trumpet. I thought it would be easier, but actually it’s harder because of the lack of keys!”
Tell us about your music.
“I’m in quite a transitional part in my life right now. I founded Empirical [the MOBO winning band] and we were very much playing contemporary jazz. But I left because I wanted to play more traditional jazz standards and because I felt like I was running before I learned to walk, so I quit and started playing Ronnie Scott’s.
“Now I’ve been through that I decided I wanted to make more of a splash, and so for the last two years I’ve been touring, travelling around the world and absorbing music — so for example I’ve just come back from Brazil — and that’s been really inspiring.”
You have a new album out, Free As Birds, tell us about that.
“Well it partly came about through an accident I had in Stratford-upon-Avon! I was on my mother’s narrowboat — we moved to England when I was 17 — moored near the station. I was feeding the swans off the boat and her little dog was going crazy — he hates the swans. He ended up falling in, he was in a bad position between the boat and the bank, so I jumped in and cracked my rib on the mooring ring. I was meant to be going on tour but I couldn’t even laugh let alone fill my lungs to play the trumpet.
“A friend offered me her family’s condo in Thailand to recover in. It had a piano and overlooked the beach, it was amazing. For about a month I looked out to sea and wrote a lot of new music. Out there, away from everything, I began to feel free.”
Before you describe the album, tell us about your swan-hating dog!
“He’s a Jackobi — a Jack Russell crossed with a Bichon Frise — and his name is Biscuit. He was actually my dog and I gave him to my mum. When I had him his name was Basquiat [after the avant-garde artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat] but for a time my mum was living in Yorkshire and she said she couldn’t walk down the street calling that.
“For the album I’ve come up with my own sound, on top of that I’m singing as well, so these are new steps for me.”
How would you describe your sound?
“My music is melody-based, it’s very um… [Long pause] Man, I’m going to have to find a way to describe it! It’s got a lot more grooves now, including hip-hop but it’s a mixed bag. It’s in the umbrella of jazz. I’ve been listening to a lot of non-jazz and putting it into my jazz.
“There’s a Los Angeles DJ called Joe Kay who hosts a soul show on the radio and he’s been a big influence. He plays current producers and new songs, but then he’ll chuck in a Herbie Hancock soundtrack from the 70s. This is giving my game away though!
“If you can cultivate great ingredients you can make a great meal, and that’s what I’m doing, taking a little bit of this and that.”
You’ve worked with some amazing A-listers — who stands out?
“The biggest one would be working with Wynton Marsalis. That was in 2012 at a concert at the Barbican. He was conducting a suite he had written and I had to play his trumpet part, so pretty daunting, but he’s a great man.”
Who are your top three trumpeters?
“Louis Armstrong, Clifford Brown and Freddie Hubbard.”
Finally, I understand you’ve done a bit of acting…
“Yes! With Michael Caine for his new movie about the Hatton Garden heist. I’m playing on stage in a jazz club and Michael and a younger guy diss me — saying he thinks he’s Courtney Pine but he’s not!”
Where and when: Jay Phelps’ quartet play Stratford Jazz at the Riverside, Tiddington, on Wednesday, 28th June. Tickets are £12, see www.stratfordjazz.org.uk
