Trumpeter Marcus Printup bringing gospel, funk and contemporary jazz influences to Randolph performance

Marcus Printup

Jazz trumpeter Marcus Printup will perform at Randolph on Saturday, Nov. 11, as part of the College’s Guest Artist Series.

“It’s exciting to have a jazz musician like this in our series,” said Emily Yap Chua, Randolph’s Catherine Ehrman Thoresen ’23 and William Erness Thoresen Professor of Music and director of the Guest Artist Concert Series. “Marcus Printup has been a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra for 30 years, and Wynton Marsalis himself has told audiences about Printup, ‘You can’t get any deeper than he is.’”

Printup’s first musical experiences were hearing the fiery gospel music his parents sang in church. While attending the University of North Florida on a music scholarship, he won the International Trumpet Guild Jazz Trumpet Competition.

In 1991, he met his mentor, Marcus Roberts, an acclaimed pianist, composer, and educator. Roberts introduced him to Wynton Marsalis, which led to Printup’s induction into the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in 1993.

He has recorded with Betty Carter, Dianne Reeves, Eric Reed, Madeline Peyroux, Ted Nash, Cyrus Chestnut, Wycliffe Gordon, and Roberts, among others.

Printup has recorded several records as a leader: Song for the Beautiful Woman, Unveiled, Hub Songs, Nocturnal Traces, The New Boogaloo, Peace in the Abstract, Bird of Paradise, London Lullaby Ballads All Night, and A Time for Love. He made his screen debut in the 1999 movie Playing by Heart and recorded on the film’s soundtrack. Aug. 22 has even been declared “Marcus Printup Day” in his hometown of Conyers, Georgia.

At Randolph, he will be joined by Lovell Bradford Sr. on piano, Steve Haines on bass, and Brevan Hampden on drums.

“This promises to be an amazing concert,” Chua said. “Printup draws musical inspiration from his background in gospel and funk as well as contemporary jazz.”

The concert, which is free and open to the public, will be at 7:30 p.m. in Smith Hall Theatre.