Meet Brian Lynch

This article was first published at All About Jazz in March 2000.

Though many of his peers have received far more attention from the public and press, the fact is that Brian Lynch is one of the most experienced and talented jazz trumpeters of his generation. Growing up in the Milwaukee area, Lynch took advantage of a healthy jazz scene there that found him playing professionally at the age of 16 and gaining valuable knowledge and seasoning through his work with local luminaries Buddy Montgomery and Melvin Rhyne. Following degree studies at the Wisconsin Conservatory, Lynch would play briefly with Charles McPherson before heading to New York in 1981. Such choice enterprises to follow included a three-year stint with Horace Silver, and Latin music gigs with Angel Canales and Hector La Voe.

Lynch's brassy timbre and fiery approach to improvising make him a natural with both the salsa bands and the hard bop units on the New York scene. As a result, during the late '80s it was no surprise to find the trumpeter holding the seat of musical director in pianist Eddie Palmieri's Latin band and in the final edition of the late Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Since 1992, Lynch has been most visible as a key member of the stimulating Phil Woods Quintet. Able to make a distinctive statement in any musical situation, Brian Lynch is a solid contender for the category of "talent deserving wider recognition."

All About Jazz: Tell us a bit about how you became interested in jazz and when you took up the trumpet.

Brian Lynch: I was first exposed to jazz by hearing Louis Armstrong on my parents' stereo. This was in the mid-'60s (when I was VERY young) and I suppose the LP my folks used to listen to was the one with "Hello, Dolly," his monster hit. Took up the trumpet at the age of nine, in 5th grade. School band and all that, though in 6th grade a group of schoolmates and I formed a little band for the talent show at school. We were playing Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass numbers and some boogie woogie (blush!). I played in concert bands in the community (Milwaukee) as well as in school through 8th grade, but then put down the horn for a while until the combination of real exposure to jazz and an opportunity to join a rock / R&B band got me playing again.(I always could play the horn OK and read well, but until I started with jazz and funk bands playing music seemed a little corny to my young mind).I think I really started listening to jazz thanks to the local "free-form" radio station, WTOS, which mixed in liberal doses of jazz with the trippy progressive rock and blues that was their staple. They even had a late night jazz show, hosted by Milwaukee legend Ron Cuzner, that moved to WFMR later and was a jazz lifeline for many years. My first three jazz LPs were (in order) Miles Davis's >Live-Evil, John Coltrane's Sunship, and Ornette Coleman's Science Fiction. Once I started hearing all this incredible music, I was hooked, started devouring all the jazz I could, reading all the jazz books I could find and Downbeat (my high school actually had a subscription).

AAJ: Who were some of your early influences?

BL: Miles and Trane, then real quick and close together, Freddie, Lee, and Clifford. Just a bit later I started hearing Woody and Charles Tolliver, who touched me a lot. A big influence on general musical taste was hearing Cedar, Cliff Jordan, Sam Jones & Lou Hayes' Live At Boomers. I ate that up! I think from there that actually brought me to Bird and Fats Navarro, Bud Powell, etc.—the masters, the law-givers. I became a real student of trumpet style and dug everybody. I also want to mention the listening buddy of my high school years, Eric Stromberg (I still need your e-mail address, Eric!). Though not a musician, Eric had excellent taste and was as nuts about the music as I was. I made many, many musical discoveries hanging with him. A little later, other trumpet influences were Blue Mitchell, K.D., Booker Little, and of the newer guys, Randy Brecker, Charles Sullivan, and especially Barry Harris, Sonny Stitt, Ira Sullivan, Blakey (sat in with him right when Wynton had first joined the band), and so on. I also had a lot of gigs with my own bands and collective groups.

AAJ: Were there any particular musicians who acted as mentors towards you during the early years?

BL: Buddy, definitely. Melvin, Manty & Berkeley (see above). The head of the Jazz Department at the Conservatory, Tony King, was a great motivator and gave all of us a mission and a feeling for how important the music was & what a positive force one could be by playing it. Sonny Stitt, in his frequent visits to Milwaukee, was very encouraging. Other musicians during those years that I felt encouraged me were drummer Jimmy Duncan (the Rev. J.D.) Eddie Harris, Freddie Hubbard, Randy Brecker, Buhaina, Horace Silver... I used to hang around everybody and some of them realized how serious I was about the music and gave me a nod.

AAJ: Your early recordings were on the Criss Cross label. How did that opportunity come about?

BL: I got a National Endowment for the Arts grant in 1986 to do a demo tape of my music, which I did at Van Gelder's with Jim Snidero, Ralph Moore, Hazeltine, Ray Drummond, and Smitty Smith. The tape came to Gerry Teekens' attention through a colleague (I think Kenny Washington) and I sent him a copy. We did the 1st record with the same front line, but with Kirk Lightsey, Jay Anderson, and Victor Lewis. I'm proud of my three Criss Cross releases, even though it seems at this point I'm persona non grata as far as Mr.Teekens is concerned for some reason.

AAJ: One of the things that sets you apart from other trumpeters is your versatility, being equally versed in the jazz and Latin music areas. How do you approach the different requirements of each type of gig?

BL: I think that the controlling factor in all the forms of music I participate in comes from being a jazz musician; the sensitivity to style, attentiveness to just what's required in each playing situation—this comes from playing jazz. I've studied Latin music much in the same way I study jazz—get my feet wet playing, using my musical reflexes and observing well; then go back and listen to the music, finding the tradition and history of it, transcribing tunes & solos. In Latin music I've paid more attention to the rhythmic aspect, learning rhythms and exercises that improve my understanding of clave. So, it's really about loving it, which makes you want to get your preparation together so you can play it faithfully and well. I want to play any idiom I'm involved in—whether bebop, Latin-jazz, tipico Latin dance music, funk, avant-garde. etc.—with respect, authenticity, and love, and then be able to put my own thing into it.

AAJ: Recently you've been recording for the Sharp Nine label and your Spheres of Influence has garnered rave reviews as a smart mix of the many styles you're involved in. Tell us about how that session came together.

BL: Spheres Of Influence came about from a desire to put together in one package many of the different things I'm about musically, especially my interest in different rhythmic styles. Also, the musicians reflect who I really enjoy playing with! I thank Marc Edelman so much for giving me the opportunity to do this project, even though it was a somewhat extravagant project (as he's announced to most of the jazz world by now!). It's my proudest achievement to this point.

AAJ: I hear from Edelman at Sharp Nine that you're working on a new project for the label. Is there anything you can share regarding this upcoming release?

BL: It's going to be a quartet date (Vol.2), swinging, a mix of originals and little-known gems, not as ambitious as Spheres Of Influence but I think it will document my continuing search as a player and writer and still be "in the pocket."

AAJ: What other current activities are you engaged in that you'd like to share with our readers?

BL: I've been doing a lot of writing lately; one great association has been with the Parsons Dance Company, which has been working with live jazz with the Phil Woods Little Big Band. Phil hasn't been able to really continue with this project on a regular basis, so I've sort of become the composer/arranger/musical director for the ensemble. My original score for David Parsons' dance "Scrutiny" was premiered January 27th in Philadelphia, and we're going out on the road with it and other things this month and next. My Latin jazz group is also going great; we've had a regular gig at the Phoenix Room in Manhattan since October. It comprises myself, Luis Perdomo (piano), Boris Kozlov (bass), Dafnis Prieto (drums), and Renato Thomas (percussion) with frequent visitor Yosvany Terry (alto sax). I'm looking around for a label for this project with some special guests.

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