NPR | Ambrose Akinmusire's New Album Is A Circle In Time, Right Back To His First Jazz Show
Ambrose Akinmusire was in the eighth grade, a budding trumpeter in Oakland, Calif., when he made his first excursion to a jazz club. Through a radio contest, he'd won tickets to the local mainstay, Yoshi's, unaware of the creative portal he was opening.
"The show happened to be The Art Ensemble of Chicago," says Akinmusire, referring to that singular force, and the farthest thing from a conventional jazz group. "These cats came out with their full makeup on, wearing these costumes. They faced east for like five minutes. So that was my first jazz show. My mom and I were sitting in the front row."