Enter the mind of trumpeter, composer, and SFJAZZ Collective member Mike Rodriguez, whose approach to his instrument is based in awareness of the physical process of music making, being open to inspiration, playing off his emotions, and tapping into a state of pure expression.
A GRAMMY-winning trumpeter and composer hailing from Queens, New York, Rodriguez was inspired to pursue music by his father, drummer Roberto Rodriguez, and came up through the music programs at the University of Miami and the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music at the New School in Manhattan.
He’s worked alongside Joe Lovano, Quincy Jones, Wynton Marsalis, and Chico O’Farrill, and has had lengthy associations with Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, and Chick Corea, with whom he won a GRAMMY as part of Corea's Spanish Heart Band.
Rodriguez has recorded four albums with his pianist brother Robert and a pair of releases as a leader including his latest, 2021’s Pathways. He is currently on the faculty at NYU and San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Up Next in Season 1
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In My Mind w/ Soweto Kinch
Enter the mind of saxophonist, rapper, and composer Soweto Kinch, who traces his path to jazz mastery, comparing it to learning a foreign language, and his formative experiences as a young artist who used the influence of the greats to form his own musical identity. The London-born Kinch is seaml...
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The Breakdown: Clave w/ SFJAZZ Collec...
World-class musicians break down musical concepts at various levels of difficulty, from beginner to advanced.
SFJAZZ Collective pianist Edward Simon and bassist Matt Brewer break down the concept of the clave, the fundamental rhythmic basis of much Afro-Cuban and Afro-Caribbean music, using exa...
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The Breakdown: w/ Soweto Kinch
Saxophonist, rapper, and composer Soweto Kinch breaks down his process for building rhymes through freestyling, and how this free associative approach parallels the key elements of jazz improvisation.
The London-born Kinch is seamlessly aligned with jazz and hip-hop. A progenitor and leading fig...
