Today we’d like to introduce you to Melvin Jones.
Hi Melvin, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I started out as a young trumpet player in the 6th-grade band class in middle school back in Memphis (in the days when Music was an integral part of K-12 public education!), and in the very next year started playing semi-professionally for my home church, Olivet Baptist Church. My time spent in school programs helped me develop my technique and really learn to play the instrument. But my time playing in church taught me how to sing on the instrument and improvise in multiple settings. Following high school, I was offered a range of scholarship opportunities for my heightened performance experiences, all of which were either reduced or rescinded completely after a string of terrible auditions. Through the personal relationships of my pastor’s family however I was afforded the opportunity to audition at the last minute for Morehouse College, and it proved to be my first successful audition EVER! I was given the college’s first Full Scholarship in Music and got many amazing opportunities as a result, including my first professional recording session! That culminating experience marked the beginning of my awareness of the music profession and ultimately laid the track which has led me to my current position in life. Since then, I have performed on 6 of the 7 continents, recorded on over 300 projects across multiple genres, made movie and Television appearances, and am currently enlisted as a part of the Usher’s Vegas Residency while being involved in Patti Labelle’s and Stevie Wonder’s bands.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It was never really smooth, but it was always worth it. In my earlier years living up north, I was unable to open a bank account. So I lived off of cash only for about four years and absolutely loved it. However, in hindsight I was spending more than necessary simply because I could physically see and access my cash to react to every impulse. This led to serious fluctuations in high points and low points before i finally learned how to reserve and properly manage my increased financial situation. While I was busy living an almost nomadic lifestyle while living with other musicians who would become legends themselves, I had no interest in doing anything else. Then within a week, I had gotten pneumonia and tore my ACL, but still had to find a way to perform in order to afford the medical bills and medication. This made me realize the importance of medical insurance or job benefits, and as if divinely ordered I was offered employment at my alma mater Morehouse College to serve as the Head Director of Bands.
At age 24 this new position while an honor in the highest degree caused many internal conflicts between the youthful, professional party animal I had become and the suddenly responsible and fully accountable Professor and Mentor that I needed to be. There was a lot of frustration in finding ways to balance the time commitments, newly learned skill sets and in learning how much I needed to take initiative to insure the everyday tragedies of work in music education do not affect the outcomes. It was a serious labor of love and to this day, I run into my former students and am shocked at how impactful they say those years were to their development. Even since resigning from that position, my work opportunities have been amazing and have stretched across every possible area I’ve ever dreamed of. The current challenges mostly involve creating time to spend with the family my art supports. It’s tricky balancing sacrifices because that is ultimately what family men and women do in this business daily. From the outside looking in, there is glory and a variety of exotic settings… but for us there is a football game or school Dad’s day that we will have to miss. That is the biggest challenge to any career in entrepreneurship, but in this industry, the all-encompassing creative element makes it even more difficult to find balance.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a professional Trumpet Player in multiple settings including jazz settings, horn section work, recording sessions, soundtrack and on-screen work, etc. I’m also an educator with decades of experience in higher education and in curriculum/ policy making in the public education sector. Some of the most recent appearances and arrangement work has been featured on the Oscars, Grammy’s, Super Bowl, NBA All Star Game, multiple movies and TV shows, earning multiple awards over the years. Currently, I am a part of Usher’s “MY Way” Vegas Residency, Adam Blackstone’s “Legacy” Band and BBE All Star band, Patti Labelle’s band, and Stevie Wonder’s band while performing for various groups, artists, and jazz groups.
I am most proud of the ability to effectively function in both the professional and education fields simultaneously. Growing up in music, I was always told that “those that can’t do, teach…and those that do can’t teach.” I was thrown very early into a situation that forced me to not only find ways to do both but to draw the lines connecting or bridging the two areas. In the end, they need each other. The less music is taught in the schools, the smaller the pool of performers and patrons of good music becomes. So for the professional industry to continue to flourish there needs to be a serious resurgence in teachers being allowed the necessary space and supplies to teach what is ultimately a life skill for any healthy adult.
All of that being said… I am most proud of seeing the output of students in successsful careers of their own matches up with the successes I’ve found in my own career. Currently, I am endorsed by Bach Trumpets, Denis Wick Mouthpieces and Mutes, Reunion Blues Bags, and Empire Ears. I sit on the Governor’s Board for the Atlanta Chapter of the Recording Academy, as well as the Artist Council of Atlanta Arts. And seeing professionals in multiple areas of the industry did so much for me, so I love that my own experiences seem to inspire the students I work with to believe in more than I ever knew was possible. I hope that this serves as my legacy as it is definitely my highest point of professional pride.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
I am truly the product of a village as I believe firmly that no single man is an island. In my beginning years, the church musicians, my pastor, and my family supported me so much that I felt an obligation to get better. In high school my band director Kim Hass took a special interest in the musical development of all of her students, supplying us with various performance opportunities and contact with amazing musical mentors and instructors. That paved the way for what would become a successful college career. With the late Dr. Tim Turner at Morehouse College, I was not only able to improve vastly on the trumpet but I was brought into contact with the highest caliber of musical legends especially in the jazz genre. But the bar was raised even higher once I was given access to the professional recording/ performing community. These were the days when I realized I could make a career out of the things I love to do. And once I got to graduate school, the late great William “Prof” Fielder gave me the tools and the necessary mentality to find success on my own terms. Since then, I’ve viewed many settings as my own post-post education, and I’ve encountered many other artists and legends who have each served as mentors or sorts for me. This I view as my own personal duty…to keep the spirit of the grio going strong. The artistic community is best served when past generations operate in concert with the current generations. This insures not only a level of quality control but the continuation of the cultures.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.melvinjones.net
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/melvinjonestpt
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/mjtrumpet79
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/melvinjonestpt
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/noiresoldier
Image Credits
Holland Reid Troy Nalls Shana-Gay Jones C’est La Zee Photography
