With the new Miles Davis movie coming out, there is a lot of
talk about the famous trumpet player. But if Miles Davis were around what music
would he be playing?
Perhaps to find a clue, take a look at the career of Igmar
Thomas who is currently touring with Lauryn Hill and has played with a slew of
stars including Esperanza Spalding, Wyclef Jean and Robert Glasper. He heads
his own band Igmar Thomas and the Cypher and is the brainchild behind an all-star
big band Revive Big Band.
“So this band represents a culmination of all those
generations of musicians,” he said about Revive Band in an interview with his alma
mater Berklee College of Music. “All those areas of music and also other genres
combined all at the same time in order to make it relatable and relevant but at
the same time we could still -- I don’t want to say teach -- but share the
knowledge of what it actually is we’re doing.
“If I’m using a Freddie Hubbard tune and re-arranging it or
a Wayne Shorter tune and re-arranging itging it; Dr. Lonnie Smith or if I’m
doing a Guru song and re-arranging it and explaining to the audience where the
samples came from or why it’s important. Or even Dr. Lonnie Smith who was the
most sampled person!
“All these things combine so we could spread or share this message
from many different sides and different angles where it’s the jazz angle, or
the hip hop angle, or R&B, funk, blues, you name it, afro-pop, all of it.”
Igmar understands that most people who listen to music are
non-musicians. “Just trying to reach your average layman or your average person
who doesn’t know anything about music. And I’d like it to be viewed as some
kind of bridge for them. A lot of people don’t have the exposure or don’t have
the knowledge or the understanding or the patience or whatever it may be for
jazz or a lot of other different styles of music.
Igmar says he plays his trumpet every day; he says, it is
like brushing your teeth, it wouldn’t feel right if he didn’t start his day by
playing. This love affair started at age 12 in San Diego. He started jazz at
age 17. He was invited to the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival and was so
impressive that he was given a scholarship to the Lionel Hampton School of
Music and went on to play in the Lionel Hampton band.
