The Journey
Long hailed for his work as a trumpeter, composer, and improviser, as well as for his deep knowledge of rhythms from his native Trinidad & Tobago and around the Eastern Caribbean, Charles has mostly worked with small combos over his nearly 20-year career.
He had written only a few pieces for large ensembles when vocalist Rene Marie tasked him with arranging for a full set of big band tunes to take on the road. Since then, he’s gone on to write for ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic, Airmen of Note, Charleston Jazz Orchestra, Chicago Jazz Ensemble, Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Jazz Orchestra, and UK All Steel & Percussion Orchestra (UKASPO).
That was “baptism by fire,” Charles recalls. “Okay, now I’m a big band writer.” And, as Creole Orchestra makes clear, he is a shrewd and inventive one. It’s not just anyone who can orchestrate both the classic swing anthem “Stompin’ at the Savoy” and Bell Biv Devoe’s new jack swing hit “Poison” with equal flair and crispness. Those are just two of the many dimensions Charles explores on the album.
Marie herself is a featured guest, taking the vocal spotlight for four of the 13 tracks, including “I Wanna Be Evil,” Eartha Kitt’s theme song that was the centerpiece of Marie and Charles’s first collaboration (her 2013 album of the same name), as well as the jazz standard “Centerpiece” and two of her originals. Rapper Brandon Rose and turntablist DJ Logic appear together on “Poison,” connecting Charles’s arrangement with the song’s hip-hop roots.
The ensemble and its various soloists put in exemplary work as well. Lead trumpeter Jumaane Smith and trombonist Michael Dease both give standout performances on Monty Alexander’s reggae-spiced “Think Twice”; bassist Ben Williams wows with his soulful improv on the hard-swinging “Night Train”; while Charles, alto saxophonist Godwin Louis, and pianist Sullivan Fortner illuminate the leader’s calypso “Douens.” Of course, the real stars of Creole Orchestra are Charles’s sterling charts. “In many musical situations the Arranger has become the ghost,” he writes in the album notes. “One of the first working on a project and often the last to be recognised.”
In 2013, his album Creole Soul reached number one for three weeks on the Jazzweek chart and was eventually named number three Jazz Album of the Year by Jazzweek.
A Man of Many Accolades
Charles has many accolades. In 2012, he was written up in theUS Congressional Record for his musical contributions to Trinidad & Tobago and the World, in 2013 he received the Caribbean Heritage Trailblazer award from the Institute of Caribbean Studies (Washington, DC) and in 2015 became a Guggenheim Fellow. In 2016 he received the Michigan State University Teacher Scholar Award and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Millennial Swing Award.
He made his debut as producer and songwriter on the album Petite Afrique by Somi (Sony/Okeh 2017) which won Outstanding Jazz Album at the 2018 NAACP Image Awards and he has been featured as a bandleader at the Newport Jazz Festival (RI), Monterey Jazz Festival (CA), Atlanta Jazz Festival (GA), Pittsburgh Jazz Live International Festival (PA), San Jose Jazz Festival (CA), Java Jazz Festival (Indonesia), Ottawa Jazz Festival (Canada), St. Lucia Jazz Festival, Barbados Jazz Festival, Library of Congress (DC), Carnegie Hall (NY) and Koerner Hall (Canada).
As an educator and conductor, he has done residencies at the Juilliard School, Stanford University, Columbia College Chicago, Oakland University, Kent State University, Walnut Hills High School, Cultural Academy for Excellence, and the US Military Academy. Charles currently serves as Professor of Studio Music and Jazz at the University of Miami, Patricia L. Frost School of Music.