Our next featured artist is trumpeter Wayne Tucker.
What was it like starting out as a teenager in Syracuse?
"My main influences as a kid were my father, brother, and Aunt Brenda. As I became a part of the scene in high school, my main influences were my trumpet teachers George Coble and Elliot Topalian, and my peers - people like Greg Evans (drums), Andrew Carroll (Piano), Nick Frenay (Trumpet), and Spencer Murphy (Bass) - as well as our jazz teachers Joe Carello, Joe Colombo, and Howard Potter.”
From the age of 14, Wayne started playing in bands and playing publicly. In his freshman year of high school, he played a lot of gigs and started to see a career path in music. Wayne went to college at SUNY Purchase, just outside of New York. Pursuing his career there “was a natural way to move forward.”
Tell me about your latest residency at Wild Birds Brooklyn.
“We first started playing at Wild Birds because the owner Julian Klepson saw me playing with a great Ethiopian Funk band at Barbes. He asked me to bring my band just as we were starting to gel because of daily performances at Grand Army Plaza. I feel like the residency at Wild Birds has become something more than just a weekly gig for me and my band. It has become a musical communion that we shared with everyone in the community. I’m so grateful to KEYEDUP! for their support.”
You talk about some of your best playing experiences, how do those shows stand out for you?
“Being connected is integral to live music. I would say my fondest memories over my career are the shows where everyone in the room feels connected. I vividly remember that feeling from a couple of shows in Sofia, Bulgaria, as well as some amazing shows in Paris.”
Any big news to share?
Jazz Gallery awarded a performance commission to Wayne in March followed by a five-week European tour with “Brass Against” supporting “Tool.”
Who’s on your latest playlist?
In his downtime he still enjoys listening to his heroes. “I just re-listened to and copied a lot musically from Miles Davis' ‘Kind of Blue’ and from there I ventured to lots of Cannonball Adderly. Some of the current artists that I've been digging lately are Snoh Alegra and Ibrahim Maalouf.”
Where can we catch you playing in New York?
“Wayne and the Bad Mothas” will be at Wild Birds on Wednesday nights (or you’ll find his brother “Miles Tucker and the Many Blessings”) from 9pm