This is the one hundred and eighty third in a series of special Jazz on the Tube reviews of live stream performances.
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Alex Pope Norris, who grew up in Columbia, Maryland, began playing trumpet when he was nine, and after high school studied classical trumpet at the Peabody Conservatory.
After graduation, he became part of the jazz scene in the Baltimore-Washington D.C. area, working with Gary Thomas and Grachan Moncur III. before touring in 1992 with the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
Since moving to New York, Norris has worked with a long list of major groups including the Mingus Big Band, the Village Vanguard Orchestra, and the big bands of Toshiko Akiyoshi and Maria Schneider, plus such greats as Betty Carter, Slide Hampton, Joshua Redman, Brad Mehldau, Chris Potter, Paquito D’Rivera, Ron Carter and his own groups, while also teaching at the Peabody Conservatory.
As part of the LiveStream series Mingus Monday’s, Alex Norris performed on July 20, 2020, starting with unaccompanied trumpet and also being accompanied on some numbers by a recorded rhythm section.
Dr. Alex Pope Norris introduces the individual songs and plays some outstanding trumpet on a variety of Charles Mingus compositions throughout his performance in addition to being interviewed about Mingus’ music.