The Pace Report: "Celebrating Carnival: The Sound of a People" The Etienne Charles Interview
Welcome to another edition of The Pace Report featuring trumpeter, composer, and educator Etienne Charles.
Etienne's latest project, "Carnival: The Sound Of A People," explores and showcases the past and present of the music of his native Trinidad. The project was funded through a Guggenheim Fellowship which allowed him to travel all the islands of Trinidad and Tobago to record and document the work of the musicians, dancers, performers, and costume makers that make up Carnival. The music and compositions focus on a lot of the Trinidadian culture and features some of the most important young jazz musicians in the business featuring James Francies, Luques Curtis, Christian Sands, Sullivan Fortner, David Sanchez, and Ben Williams.
In addition to Etienne's music being featured online, he also showcases a heavy video component that shows him traveling across Trinidad.
I sat down with Etienne to talk about conducting the research on Carnival, explains the musical styles of Trinidad as it relates to jazz, and his role as Assistant Professor of Jazz Trumpet at Michigan State University.
Etienne's latest recording is now available on vinyl, CD, and digital download on i Tunes, Amazon.com, and CD Baby. For more info on his upcoming tour dates please visit him online at www.etiennecharles.com and Faceboo.com/etiennejazz
