Irvin Mayfield to deliver New Orleans-style jazz

The young, jazz trumpet player Irvin Mayfield has loaned his tutelage to colleges, major orchestras and arts organizations. He founded the Institute of Jazz Culture at Dillard University in his hometown of New Orleans. For six years, he's been his city's official "Cultural Ambassador," an appointment made by Louisiana's governing bodies.

An accomplished composer, band leader and academician, Mayfield turned out to be a far better teacher than student. Getting into school was never a problem. Staying there was the challenge. Juilliard offered him a scholarship, which he turned down to attend the University of New Orleans, whose jazz- studies program was led by Ellis Marsalis. After about a year, Mayfield dropped out.

"I'd go to class and the instructors wouldn't be there," said Mayfield, 31, who performs next week in Seattle. "They'd be on the road, touring. I thought, 'OK, that's an interesting concept.'

"A degree is an asset, but it doesn't mean anything by itself. It's just another asset. So is being persuasive, having good personality, being smart."

Mostly, Mayfield just played, forming an Afro-Cuban jazz group when he was 21. He listened and learned. Recording contracts came along. And eventually, people figured they could learn something from him. He has worked for years to make "the academy and the workplace meet each other," he said. To that end, he formed the 16-member New Orleans Jazz Orchestra when he was 25.

He brings his big band to Seattle Thursday night for the first of five concerts at Benaroya Hall. The performance is part of the Seattle Symphony's yearlong Pops Series. The orchestra plays three consecutive nights with matinees on Saturday and Sunday, as part of a national tour (now in its fourth year) called "New Orleans: Then and Now." In addition to performing, the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra is a teaching tool. Mayfield and other band members hold classes and clinics for young musicians.

Hurricane Katrina and the events that followed have been an inextricable part of New Orleans since 2005, and a big part of Mayfield's music. His father, Irvin Mayfield Sr., perished in the flood after the storm. Since then, Mayfield has performed in several fundraising concerts, including the "Higher Ground" concert in New York.

The songs Mayfield's band performs tend to be topical, allegorical, poignant and reflective of the musical tradition of New Orleans. In some, he pays tribute to the missing and the dead from the storm, those who could not be properly mourned and buried in the chaos that followed.

"Irvin is one of those people who stepped up and showed what New Orleans is about," said Beth Ferlic, spokeswoman for the Seattle Symphony, "and why it's a treasured part of our country."

The concert will have elements of swing, blues and gospel. The songs, in large part, will attempt to tell stories. Many incorporate humor and will convey the New Orleans musical tradition of ceremony. In the Crescent City, songs are ceremonial, whether they celebrate or grieve. And lest there be any confusion, the audience is welcome to dance.

"You are welcome to dance your [rear] off at our show," Mayfield said.

"Our state has so much creativity," he continued. "And we have to continue to invest in that creativity more now than ever. We're not just representing New Orleans, we're representing America. The folks in Seattle, this is their music too. This is America's music."

Hugo Kugiya: hkugiya@yahoo.com