(bright tones) (bright jazz trumpet) - Or you can just play up.

If you play the blues, you can just play that through all of that.

- Right, right.

- Once in a lifetime opportunity.

And I'm honored to be a part of it, as a freshman.

- So there's many ways to approach it.

Now when you start to get into different keys, it's like a race where you're looking at the kind of, you got obstacles in your way, that's why they call 'em changes.

- It is honestly a phenomenal experience.

He's actually one of my trumpet idols.

Growing up, like he's literally the epitome of what jazz trumpet players would want to be.

- You know, that's life, it's changes.

So the question always is, how do you maintain your equilibrium?

- They're such great students, they're so engaged and hungry for the meat and bones of the music.

So it's wonderful to see students that have that attitude towards it.

- Two years ago when Wynton was here for the festival, we had some time between shows and I told him I had this idea of bringing the HBCU bands here for workshops and masterclasses and asked him if he'd be interested in collaborating with us.

And two years later, here we are with nine HBCUs from around the country, here doing mentoring and coaching with Jazz at Lincoln Centers.

- I'm honored to be here and I'm honored to speak with you all and I want to give you some information.

- My dad's a trumpeter, so he taught me a lot about Wynton Marsalis.

So I was just in awe, like he was coming locally to see us, just an honor to be in his presence.

- Each of the nine bands here was assigned a member from Wynton's band to be their coach.

So they had an hour and a half rehearsal workshop where they played charts for them and got feedback from Wynton's band members.

(indistinct conversation) - So I played examples for them.

We listened to McCoy Tyner and John Coltrane play.

Let's listen to them actually play it.

Let's talk about it.

Try to play what they play.

You can do these things and don't have to rely on the teacher in order to teach you this.

Figure out what you need to do and then do it on your own.

You do not have to wait for someone to tell you you need to do this now.

- [Instructor] Where is the place on this page from?

How often is it played?

- A big part of our DNA from the very beginning has been education and community outreach.

And it's really important that we give back to the community and give young people the opportunity.

Wynton is very, very much committed to education and mentoring young musicians and obviously jazz, great American art form, he wants to make sure that that's healthy and has a future.

- The question I had for you was, what do you believe helped mold you into the musician you are today?

- Seeing my father and the other musicians and the struggle they had and how they believed in it.

- So I always tell them in the world where we're always surrounded by all these musical options, that if you're gonna be a professional at it, decide that there's something you want to master and keep that in your mind, even if you have to do other things to make a living, keep that goal, keep that sun there that you're looking at and make sure that that's what you're going towards.

And eventually people can feel that energy, people can feel that you're serious about a thing and like-minded people will gravitate towards you or you'll gravitate towards them.

They're like magnets.

And you'll find a community of people that are going to help you achieve your goal.

- As a kid, I was always going to my daddy's gigs.

Man, these have two people at the gig, three, it wasn't fancy and it was a struggle for them and a lot of the musicians my father played with, they struggled and I had so much respect and love for them and the fact that they were being that serious in an environment that nobody cared about, that I wanted to be like them.

And even to this day, I still carry that.

I carry the knowledge of just how much they believed in the music.

- It's nice for the kids to be able to participate and they're just excited just to come and to compete.

And then also the one-on-one with Wynton Marsalis as well as the rest of the orchestra members.

- I'm just soaking in this experience and the vibe of people and what they're saying and especially I'm excited to hear how they're playing 'cause it allows me to see a different side of them as a person, outside of their verbal words, but their musical words.

(audience applauding and cheering) - Day two, we move over to Chrysler Hall and all the bands are adjudicated by a panel of four judges.

And again, they get written comments and feedback and then we'll select two of those bands to play that night and they'll be the opening act for Wynton's concert with Jazz at Lincoln Center.

(bright jazz music) - To have this brain child come to fruition was just a really nice thing to have HBCUs to come and compete and then just to have the Jazz at Lincoln Center musicians to come and coach the students and to really see how it is to be a musician in that jazz orchestra.

(bright jazz music) - Music is always gonna be a part of my life.

I will go ahead and say that now.

Music is a very powerful thing and if you're serious, you can accomplish anything.

(bright jazz music) - My dream is to be a traveling drummer, a musician, and in my off season, when I'm not playing for too many people, be a producer on the side.

(bright jazz music) - That's my thing, to see people dedicated to something.

The beautiful thing about music is you never stop growing if you get serious about it.

(bright jazz music)