Steve Turre joins the stellar Armstrong Summer Camp faculty to celebrate its 25th Anniversary

8th July 2019   ·   0 Comments

By Geraldine Wyckoff
Contributing Writer

Steve Turre presently reigns as a preeminent multi-faceted jazz trombonist who is also noted for creating some stunning tones on conch shells. Turre, who will join the Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp faculty for a fundraising concert on Wednesday, July 10 at the Jazz & Heritage Center, remembers when he attended a similar type camp as a high school student and the importance it played in his musical life.

“Trombone instructor Phil Wilson, who played with (clarinetist/bandleader) Woody Herman was very encouraging,” says Turre who will be acting as the Armstrong camp’s artist-in-residence. “He made me want to continue,” Turre adds then describes the camp experience. “It wasn’t like in school it was more like what the music is about. We played music all day. The whole time you’re there it’s all about music. When you are a professional musician, you live the music. During that time at camp we got to live the music.”

The faculty band for the paid event includes many educators/musicians who have been instructors at the camp since its inception. It’s been fascinating to watch these talents like saxophonist and the camp’s artistic director Kidd Jordan work with the young musicians many of whom, like Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and others, have gone on to successful careers. These teachers, such as vocal coach Germaine Bazzle, take their work seriously and thus expect the kids to do likewise. They can be stern though there’s always a sense of caring.

“Being serious is not a drag,” says Turre, who has blown besides such legends as trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, drummer Art Blakey, and multi-instrumentalist Rahsaan Roland Kirk. “If you love what you’re doing, being serious about something is exciting.

As with everything in life, you get out of it what you put into it. If you just want to learn a few hot licks and play in one or two keys and just kind of get over, that will work but sooner or later it will catch up with you.”

Turre echos the sentiments of the entire artistic staff at the camp, all of whom are professional musicians – saxophonist Roderick Paulin, trombonist Maynard Chatters, trumpeter Kevin Louis and more – who know the importance of embracing a next-generation of musicians.

“To keep the music alive, you have to pass it on,” Turre says. “One of the things that I tell my students is that I’m a student too; I’ve just been doing it longer. I’m still learning things. It never stops and it’s a beautiful thing because it is a lifetime challenge.”

Turre, a modern jazz artist who has performed in New Orleans numerous times starting back in 1974 with Rahsaan Roland Kirk, is well suited to offer guidance to young musicians from the city. The trombonist’s first jazz experiences were with traditional New Orleans style bands. In junior high school he and his brother were in a group that played classic jazz staples like “Muskrat Ramble” and “Bourbon Street Parade” at basketball games.

“I played New Orleans tailgating up until high school and then all of a sudden somebody gave me a J.J. Johnson record and I jumped to that,” Turre relates. “I said, ‘Golly, what’s this guy doing? This is unbelievable.’ I didn’t even know you could play a trombone like that.”

“I still love to go down to Frenchmen Street and hear the kids on street in the brass bands,” Turre offers. “Ain’t anything like that anywhere else in the world.”

The Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong Summer Jazz Camp culminates with a free performance by the students at 8 p.m. on Friday, July 12 at Loyola University’s Music/Communica-tion Building’s Roussel Hall, 6363 St. Charles Avenue. The students, who will be joined by Turre on several of his compositions, will pay homage to the late choreographer Norma Miller and drummer Alvin Fielder, both of whom were instructors at the camp, as well as New Orleans legends Dr. John and Dave Bartholomew.

Photographer
Kichea S. Burt passes

Kichea Burt displayed a certain calmness as she walked up to a music stage, a Mardi Gras Indian gathering or social aid and pleasure club second line to take a picture. A talented and instinctive photographer for Data Weekly and for the love of New Orleans culture, she always respected the people she was capturing and wasn’t one to push someone aside to get her shot. She surely utilized that demeanor when, as a board certified MSW psychiatric social worker, she consulted her clients at St. Claude Avenue’s Healing Center. Kichea Burt, who was born and raised in New Orleans and was the widow of musician/poet Eluard Burt, died on Sunday, June 23, 2019 at the age of 71.

“She was able to fix things, not just for the family but for many people,” says her son Eric Burt, who found his own musical path as a stage manager and Black Indian percussionist and vocalist. “She loved music and (community radio station) WWOZ and really knew how to work that camera.”

Burt’s interest in photography dates back to the days of film and developing her images in a dark room. She left the city several times though her passion for New Orleans’ unique traditions lured her return. In more recent years, she became a fixture at all the big and small festivals – Jazz Fest, French Quarter Fest, Essence Fest, Bayou Boogaloo – most often teamed with her dearest friend and fellow photographer Demian Roberts. The passing of Kichea Burt, a gifted and caring artist, will leave a big hole by his side and in the hearts of her family, friends and the New Orleans community.

This article originally published in the July 8, 2019 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.