Q. What inspired you to first pick up the trombone and what were your first attempts at playing this instrument?

A. At first, I picked the trumpet and my middle school (Fairwold Middle School, Columbia, SC) literally ran out of trumpets within my band class. Our director, Al McClain then switched the subject to my stature, and the fact that i had "long arms" and stuff, he basically shoved the Trombone into my hand. Mcclain was a gruff, jazz head school band director from Pittsburgh, PA who always smelled of cigarettes, soap, and coffee. Al McClain also took me to buy my first trombone, which i still own, though i haven't cared for it that well. All in all, I loved this guy! As it turns out, he new my grandfather, Joe Westray (who was a local music legend in PA).

Q. Did you take lessons or are you self-taught?

A. My development has been a mix of both.

Q. Who inspired you to learn the trombone?

A. Initially, I was just a naive kid looking for an instrument to play in band class. I wasn't even aware of my paternal connection, which is huge, to "the music" until my young adult life. One turning point was around 1985, when I borrowed the "Smithsonian Collection" of jazz from my now, high school band director, Wilie Lyles. That's when I heard Coleman Hawkins. I (over time) removed my, Kangol, Gazelles, and Fat Shoe Strings. The next time I was heard from, I had a BA in music and was on tour with a George Wein production called the Jazz Futures. Like everyone, I heard J.J. Johnson. But I also heard Trane, Miles, Monk, Bird, Heath, Stitt, Silver and so on.

Q. What is your practice regimen like?

A. Formatively, I was a maniac (which was great for getting better). Now, I have maintenance patterns, and i focus on specific things; like my or someone else's music for a gig or something.

Q. How would you define your style of playing?

A. Revolutionary. I really feel that way.

Q. What can we expect from your debut CD release, "Medical Cures for the Chromatic Commands of the Inner City"?

A. Medical Cures is an album about riffing, rejuvenation and empowerment. Alas, after four years, and thanks to The University of Texas at Austin Recording Technology Professor, Mark Sarisky, the appropriate resources and time were made available to re-animate this fun session. To the critics I say, seize your critical ear and get back to good times, funk and dance. To the purists I say, I am playing some changes here and there and the PDF is available for you to test out your bebop chops.

These tracks were recorded in 2003 and with the fashion of a live performance at a famous Hip-Hop Studio in NYC near Chambers. TP Big Beatz ("The Professor") did the set up, mixing and initial mastering of the session. We had limited time and recorded 'til about midnight. Then, we spent the next four hours overdubbing the key solos and the drum machine. The next night, TP and I came back and mixed on Pro Tools. The original purpose of this session was to accompany a "grass roots" interview an associate conducted at the time. The interview was conducted live at the same studio featuring a Pioneer MC. The idea was to compose a jazz/hip hop score to accompany this comprehensive, live iteration of the evolution of hip hop, being articulated, on the fly, by this Master of Ceremony. We tagged the music to the interview and produced a DVD which never became anything. The candid interview lasts well over an hour and is accompanied by this score in it's raw form. The editing process was long, grueling and overdue by four years.

There was a time in my youth when I reconnected with the music I heard as a child and in my youth; people like Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye,Ohio Players,The Godfather, Parliament, Johnny Taylor, Al Green, The Ojay's, The Isleys, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Kurtis Blow, LL Cool Jay, Too Short, Easy E, Luke Skywalker, Beastie Boys, Afirca Bambata, KRS One, Public Enemy, Loose Ends, DIggable Planets etc. etc. I became a jazz musician though, so I searched, conciously, for "the solution." Why couldn't jazz be as popular as funk? Just groove and play changes man... yeah! Well, it's just not that simple. I've seen many attempts, yet jazz remains jazz and funk and it's derivatives remain lucrative. Medical Cures is a jazz album with a funk appeal. The score is a tonal and rhythmic tribute to the MC's that influenced my high school mentality; which, was a huge, "too grown", part of my development. This session is all about loops, grooves and symmetry. I tried playing bebop over these grooves, yet it doesn't work so well. So, I resigned to a little "popcorn". Dig on the simplicity. This is an acoustic and an electronic session. At the core, it's a bare boned, jazz sextet, performance in one shot. The recording, as it turns out, sets me in the mind of a Tarantino flick somehow. I didn't conciously reference any thing from the rich canon of American music available to us all, but sessions that come to mind [in retrospect] are, Quincy Jones' Walkin' In Space, Freddie Hubbard's Red Clay, Lucky Thompsons's Soul Lullaby and Tea Time, and maybe some of Herbie Hankock's Fat Albert Rotunda.

I tire of my music like anyone tires of a song. Medical Cures is the exception. The session has a perpetual quality. I've heard this session a lot! I still put it on today.

Q. Tell us about the musicians that appear on your CD?

A. I recorded these tracks in 2003, while still a member of Wynton Marsalis's band. You'll notice some of the personel from that camp, namely, Ryan Kisor and Walter Blanding, Jr. Also joining us is Tony Suggs who has kept Count Basie's seat warm for several years. Montez Coleman is a freelance NYC drummer and a perennial "main man". Eric Revis joins us from the Branford Marsalis camp, and was my floor mate on "Sugar Hill" in Harlem for many years. We understand each others groove and we're both Gemini.

Q. Lets talk about your creative process. How do you approach writing an original song?

A. It's like dealing with people, every project has a personality after it is birthed. The struggle is the birthing of a quality idea.

Q. What challenges do you face when switching from different styles of music?

A. The biggest challenge is respecting the history of each genre. Which doesn't mean being tied down, but within the define parameters of a particular style, at least at "rhythm section" level. Sounding fresh is difficult as its easy to sound like the next guy.

Q. What other types of music or artists do you derive inspiration from?

A. I'm all over the place, I'm a Gemini. I feed off everything and my muse is strong.

Q. What's the most important bit of advice you were given by another musician?

A. Practice, of course

Q. What's been your proudest playing moment?

A. My first recording on Atlantic Jazz, Bone Structure, 1996

Q. What's the biggest disaster you've ever had on stage, and how did you cope with it?

A. No disasters on Stage so far. I practice that too.

Q. Do you warm up before a concert and if so how?

A. It's different now than then but slurs, long tones, and tonguing warm ups are still in fashion for brass players.

Q. What's the most important bit of advice you could give to new trombone players?

A. Breathe, blow and command the horn.

Q. Thanks for your time and consideration for this article and interview. Any last thoughts for our readers?

A. Thank you.