The Rutgers Jazz Ensemble's “Prof” Fielder Memorial Concert, directed by Conrad Herwig, is set for October 27 at 7:30pm at the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center. The annual concert honors the legacy of Professor William "Prof" Fielder and will feature guest artist and alum Terell Stafford.
The premier 22-piece student jazz orchestra from the Mason Gross School of the Arts opens each season in paying tribute to the late, great trumpet master and legendary educator.
Grammy Award-winning trumpeter, composer, arranger and educator Terell Stafford has a very special relationship with Fielder. Stafford says he would have never met "Prof" if he hadn't been for the legendary trumpeter Wynton Marsalis.
"I had quit playing trumpet because after I finished my undergraduate degree, I became a computer programmer. I tutored in trigonometry and some friends of mine got me to go out and hear Wynton Marsalis, who was performing with the Eastman Wind Ensemble in Washington, D.C. at the Kennedy Center. I went and heard that group. Two things struck me. The principal trumpeter of the Wind Ensemble had a really beautiful and gorgeous sound. Then Wynton came out and he just knocked it out of the park. I went backstage to meet both of them to let them know how encouraged I was, but the Eastman Wind Ensemble had left and there was a huge line to meet Wynton. I waited in the line and that's how it all happened. He shook my hand and asked me if I played trumpet. I said 'kind of' and Wynton said what does 'kind of' mean? I said well I used to but I don't anymore because I play off to the side. He said man you should go talk to Prof. After Wynton made the hookup, I went up and met Prof. My whole life changed from the first day I saw him."
Stafford says "Prof" just wanted to know if he loved playing the trumpet. After the would-be star said yes, Professor Fielder took over and worked with Stafford.
"Prof said as long as you put air through the horn, it doesn't matter where you put the mouthpiece. I thought that was a classic line. Wow! From my first lesson with him coming up from D.C., he was something else. He was a source of knowledge and he had a particular way of teaching which evolved as you got to know him. He was an encyclopedia of wisdom when it comes to trumpet, trumpet literature and pedagogy. He was a master."
Professor Fielder accepted a position at Rutgers University in 1979 after a distinguished career as a musician and educator. Some of his other highly-regarded students include Terence Blanchard, Michael Mossman, Riley Mullins, George Shaw and Frank Lacy.
Stafford has continued Prof's legacy not only with his instrument but in the classroom and studio as well. Stafford is the Director of Jazz Studies and Chair of Instrumental Studies at Temple University, founder and band leader of the Terell Stafford Quintet, and Managing and Artistic Director of the Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia (JOP).
Terell Stafford was born in Miami and raised in Chicago, Illinois and Silver Spring, Maryland. He received a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from the University of Maryland in 1988 and a Masters of Music from Rutgers University in 1993.
Stafford praised the work being done at Rutgers Jazz Ensemble and the Mason Gross School of the Arts.
"There's a legacy with great teachers at Rutgers. There's a lot of opportunities for young musicians in New Brunswick. There are a few places for them to play, weekly jams, and that's great. One thing that Wynton told me years ago was to make sure you cultivate a community and that's what I see Conrad (Herwig) is doing. Not only is he teaching the students at a very high level, but he's cultivating a community in New Brunswick."
Stafford says because of the things he learned from Professor Fielder, he was fully prepared to be an educator himself.
"He had it figured out."
You can find out more about the concert here.
You can SEE Doug Doyle's entire interview with Terell Stafford here.
