Scotty Barnhart visited our shop this summer to pickup his new PRANA AJNA Bb and he played a concert we will never forget! Scotty played two sets, and played the braces off both his new AJNA and the shop PRANA FLUMPET. The first set ended with a tune he wrote for the occasion, "JNANA", dedicated to Dave Monette, which for many of us was the highlight of the first set. For the second set, Scotty did an hour long lecture/demonstration based on his "History of Jazz Trumpet" presentation he has given at various music schools and conferences around the world.

In his lecture/demonstration/concert second set, Scotty played examples of jazz tunes with the small group ranging all the way from rag time classics to the music of Louis Armstrong, Roy Eldridge, Fats Navarro, Dizzy, Miles, Clark Terry, Don Cherry, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw and too many others to mention. He not only demonstrated with musical examples how one person's approach was influenced by previous greats, but also how moved the evolution of jazz forward and in the process had they had found their own unique voice.

The audience of over 200 people loved Scotty's animated and informed presentation, and we all appreciated his depth of knowledge on the evolution of different styles of playing and the personalities behind them. Scotty has conducted interviews with dozens of jazz legends in the research for his book, "The History of Jazz Trumpet," and he shared many colorful stories that one would not normally get to hear in a more formal, public concert setting with our audience.

We have always loved Scotty's playing, and we decided to interview him to find out more about his background and training, as well as his thoughts on music education and the future of jazz performance. Scotty's early childhood growing up in Atlanta and attending the Ebenezer Baptist Church with Martin Luther King, Sr. as pastor was pivotal in his early development. His early experiences there and the fact that his mother sang soprano in the choir was his first initiation into the culture that puts swing in someone's blood for life. Scotty has fun stories to tell in this interview, and we had a great time making his the first of what we hope will be many shop video interviews.

Scotty currently teaches jazz at Florida State University, where he shares an office with one of his mentors, pianist Marcus Roberts. Scotty's passion for the history and the cultural roots of jazz is evident not onlyh in his video interview here, but also in his fantastic book, which is a "must read" for jazz trumpeters everywhere.

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