A professional trumpet player gave Southwest High School students tips on how to scale their way to the top of musical mountains.

Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) member Kenny Rampton spent two class periods visiting with dozens of Silver Hawks this fall. He encouraged members of the school’s top jazz band before engaging in a question-and-answer session with wind ensemble musicians. Both groups learned how Rampton began his career and what he enjoys about playing in concerts, television shows, movies and Broadway productions.

Southwest trumpet players Julia and Cooper said Rampton’s achievements motivated them. Early in his career, Rampton didn’t have enough money to pay for a New York City subway token, so he would often walk with his trumpet to arrive at shows. Today, he plays in one of the nation’s premier jazz bands and has performed with famous artists such as Ray Charles, Katy Perry, Lionel Hampton and Chaka Khan.

“I’m someone who wants to go into music in the future, and hearing about his life story and how he got his start really helped me sort of think about how I’m going to do that myself,” Julia said.

“It’s really inspirational to see how he’s gotten there,” Cooper said. “Hearing about the struggles he’s gone through and just seeing where he is now with so much success and such an interesting life was incredible.”

Rampton told the wind ensemble that he cherishes his job as a musician. He became a full-time JCLO member in 2010 and began working as the lead trumpet on Sesame Street the same year. He has played in Broadway shows such as “Anything Goes,” “The Color Purple,” “The Wiz” and “In the Heights,” and he has toured across the world with groups such as JCLO and the Mingus Big Band.

“You know when they say, ‘When you do something you love, you never work a day in your life?’ That’s not true,” Rampton said. “You work, but what you gain from that work is so meaningful to you.”

Lied Center for Performing Arts employees set up the meeting at Southwest after they learned many Silver Hawks would attend the JCLO concert on Oct. 9. They reached out to Southwest Director of Bands Alyssa Wilhelm to see if the school would be interested in hosting a JCLO member such as Rampton. Wilhelm, who also chairs Southwest’s music department, immediately said yes to the invitation.

Rampton wanted to follow in the musical footsteps of his father Roger, an accomplished percussionist who played in the Las Vegas Symphony and alongside performers like Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. He picked up the trumpet in sixth grade and began absorbing melodies through the three-step process of imitation, assimilation and innovation.

Rampton told the jazz band that the first phase involves learning about the rich history of jazz. He encouraged them to listen to world-class jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, John Coltrane and Miles Davis as often as possible. He said this would help them discover different chord progressions, approach notes and quartal harmonies that appear in songs.

“I think that’s really smart,” Julia said. “I’m glad I heard that, because now I’m going to go home and start transcribing.”

After developing a deeper understanding of jazz fundamentals through imitation, Rampton said the Silver Hawks could assimilate those ideas into their own musical routines. Advanced players could then take the next step of introducing innovative tones, beats and rhythms into their practices and performances.

Rampton offers private trumpet lessons to students and has worked as an adjunct faculty member at the New School in New York City. However, he told the Silver Hawks that he will always remain a jazz student. He said he continuously absorbs information from current JLCO bandmates such as Wynton Marsalis, Ryan Kisor, Marcus Printup and Christopher Crenshaw.

“We all learn from each other,” Rampton said. “We just support each other.”

Rampton told both groups one of the most important things they can do is realize they are the newest members of a century-old jazz family. He said one of those family traditions is trying to spread hope and joy to people through their songs. He shared several stories of audience members who told him that listening to music had helped them forget about their difficult circumstances for a while.

Rampton said that is one reason he enjoys tapping his trumpet valves everywhere from Lincoln to London.

“It’s about sharing my gift with other people to uplift them,” Rampton said.

Cooper and Julia both spent several minutes after the question-and-answer session talking in detail with Rampton about their shared love of trumpet playing. Both Silver Hawks left the classroom wearing wide smiles after their friendly conversation with one of the musical faces of Sesame Street.

What did Cooper feel he learned from Rampton’s visit to Southwest?

“Persevere,” Cooper said. “Don’t give up on this, because we can bring a lot of value to other people’s lives by playing music for them.”

Learn more about the lifelong lessons LPS students are receiving in their music education classes.

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