Irvin Mayfield’s roots run deep. As the Cultural Ambassador for the City of New Orleans, the Grammy-nominated trumpeter, composer and conductor fronts his New Orleans Jazz Orchestra for a holiday celebration at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts inspired by the legacy of his native city.
The city’s intoxicating rhythms and musical culture vibrate through the program performed by the 16-piece band. It includes the Duke Ellington arrangement of “Nutcracker Suite,” several Louis Armstrong treatments of Christmas standards, spirituals and traditional favorites served up with the spirit, jive and zest unique to New Orleans.
Mayfield founded NOJO five years ago as the first official institution representing the jazz legacy. Since Hurricane Katrina, the band has given hope to those displaced by the tragedy and helped heal the community.
“Our city has been helped by people from outside building homes for our musicians so they can continue to inspire the residents,” he says. “But it’s not just the musicians who need encouragement. We want audiences wherever we perform to know that the entire city has needs. This is a major American city and the center of jazz in the country. The entire nation needs to invest in its recovery by reaching out and helping the residents to believe in themselves.”
After Katrina, Mayfield and NOJO brought the city together by symbolically re-opening it at Christ Church Cathedral where he is artist-in-residence. The centerpiece of the November 17, 2005 performance was his composition, “All the Saints,” the first commission by an Episcopal diocese. He was further honored by a 24-karat gold Elysian Trumpet handcrafted for him in honor of his father, who was lost in the Katrina flood, his body recovered months later on Elysian Fields Avenue.
“I received the trumpet for the entire city of New Orleans,” he says. “It’s a beautiful piece that reminds me of my duty as a steward to help bring the city back to normality. This is done in small ways. When I’m walking down the street I see how much people rely on other people here. If a trash man has been picking up in a certain area for years and he fails to appear, he is missed. If your shoeshine man is suddenly gone, your life changes. One restaurant nearly closed because it lost one waiter. This is a city where everyone knows and appreciates you.”
Only 30, Mayfield is one of the city’s most appreciated citizens. A professor at the University of New Orleans, member of numerous cultural boards and newly appointed artistic director of jazz for the Minnesota Orchestra, he performed at Christ Church Cathedral for the Archbishop of Canterbury and gave a sermon on his favorite topic, passion.
“You have true passion when you continue feeling passionate about your career, another person or something you’re doing even when going through down moments,” he says. “Jazz is passionate music that enables you to express yourself and share that passion with others.”
If you go
Irvin Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra
Where: George Mason University Center for the Arts
When: 8 p.m. Friday (pre-performance lecture begins at 7:15 p.m. on Grant Tier III)
Info: $22 to $44; 888-945-2468; www.tickets.com
