Terell Stafford is an acclaimed jazz trumpeter, a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, leader of his own quintet, and a very busy educator. His monumental success stems from an unexpected choice he made years ago: to leave music school and go on tour with a legendary saxophonist.
"Bobby Watson says, 'I really want you to go out on the road with my group.' And I said, 'Okay, well, the problem is that I have to finish my master's thesis, and if I don't finish that, I don't get a degree.' And he goes, 'Well, it's either between your degree or going on the road.' So, I thought about it. I said, 'I'm going on the road.'"
In 2016, while visiting the KNKX studios with two Seattle musicians, pianist Randy Halberstadt and bassist Phil Sparks, Stafford said his love of music always led him to bend the rules. That habit goes back to age 13, when he discovered his cousin's trumpet in a closet at his grandparents' house.
"It was the forbidden fruit that was hidden in the closet that I was not allowed to touch. But, you know, that's the worst thing you could tell a young kid...don't go in the closet and touch that trumpet," Stafford said.
Stafford's rebellious streak followed him to Rutgers University. There, William Fielder, Stafford's professor who also taught Wynton Marsalis, demanded the young trumpeter focus on classical music.
"You know, his goal for me was for me to play in an orchestra, and he said, 'I don't want to hear that you play jazz at all,'" Stafford said.
Unfortunately for Fielder, the young trumpeter wanted to learn about improvisation. So, Stafford sought out the legendary jazz pianist Kenny Barron, who also taught at the college.
"Kenny Barron says, 'If Professor Fielder finds out he's going to kill us both,'" Stafford said.
Stafford's studies with Barron soon led to the opportunity to tour with Watson's group. While he was supposed to be working on his masters in classical music, Stafford came up with an idea for getting this new touring opportunity past the dean. Stafford told him he'd be going out on the road with a chamber ensemble, because classical majors weren't allowed to tour with jazz groups.
"I said, 'It's the Robert Watson chamber ensemble,'" Stafford said. "And so, he goes, this is phenomenal. The school is going to be so proud of you. He goes, 'Don't worry about your your recital, your comprehensive exams. When you come back from this tour, you can do it then. We're just proud of you."
The tour with Watson went well. So well, the band did a photo shoot for Downbeat Magazine, and Stafford didn't think anything of it until he got back to school and met with the dean.
"So I go to his office, and he goes, so 'Terell, how was that tour?' And he slides this piece of paper, and it said, 'Bobby Watson Burns' on the cover of Downbeat Magazine," Stafford said. "And he goes, 'Is this the Robert Watson chamber ensemble you're referring to?' I said, 'Yep.' He goes, 'Well, you're suspended on academic probation for a year.'"
Eventually, Stafford did earn his degree in classical trumpet from Rutgers University. He then transitioned to studying jazz and eventually teaching the music. Stafford is now the director of jazz studies at Temple University, where he encourages his students to take every opportunity to play.
"I would say the biggest lesson is community. Whether students decide to go on playing music in life, that experience they get in that band, just working together as a unit, is really important," he said.
Apt advice from Stafford, who did whatever it took to make that sort of musical experience happen for himself.
Songs heard in this episode:
- "Birdlike"
- "Everything Happens to Me"
- "I'll Remember April"
