John Raymond has a new vision for jazz trumpet

Downbeat magazine likes trumpeter/flugelhornist John Raymond.

“Electrifyingly new and strangely familiar at the same time," it says of him. "With his mix of modern sounds and old-fashioned feeling, Raymond is steering jazz in the right direction."

Recently voted a "rising star trumpeter" in the Downbeat Magazine Critic's Poll, Raymond has been making a name for himself as one of the most promising, up-and-coming jazz musicians in the world. Local jazz aficionados will have a chance to hear what the buzz is about when Raymond and his band, The Real Feels, make their first White Horse Black Mountain appearance on Sunday, Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 advance, $12 door.

Originally from Minneapolis, Raymond has performed with some of most well-respected names in jazz, including Billy Hart, Orrin Evans, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ethan Iverson, and Linda Oh among others. Since 2012 he has released four albums, all of which have garnered critical acclaim from The New York Times, Downbeat Magazine, JazzTimes and others. He has also been a featured artist at the FONT Festival and NYC Winter Jazz Fest, has been interviewed by The Gospel Coalition and WBGO “The Checkout,” and was a recipient of the 2015 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award. 

Raymond is also a sought-after educator and is currently the professor of jazz trumpet at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. He is also is an active guest clinician and soloist at schools around the country, such as the University of North Texas, Oberlin College, the Brubeck Institutue, New Trier High School and Lawrence University. Raymond has also presented at the Jazz Education Network national conference, and his two-part article “Developing the Entrepreneurial Mind: Teaching Students How To Bloom Where They’re Planted” was also recently published by JAZZed magazine.