Etienne Charles: Creole Soul

About

Trinidadian jazz trumpeter Etienne Charles, recent winner of a Guggenheim Fellowship Award, will bring the jubilant Afro-Caribbean sounds of Carnival to the Shalin Liu Performance Center for his Rockport debut. Blending jazz with the spirit of his creole heritage and the myriad traditions of the American South (especially New Orleans), Charles has created a singular hybrid.

Hailed by The New York Times as “an auteur” and by JazzTimes as “A daring improviser who delivers with heart wrenching lyricism,” NPR’s All Things Considered calls Etienne, “a great young trumpeter…his records filter calypso, reggae and other Afro-Caribbean music into a modern jazz conception.” Critics and audiences alike continue to praise the Trinidadian’s exciting performances, thrilling compositions, and his charismatic onstage presence. Etienne is a Guggenheim Fellow in the Creative Arts, Associate Professor of Jazz Trumpet and Teacher Scholar at Michigan State University, and has been written in to US Congressional Record for his musical contributions to Trinidad & Tobago and the World.