Hours after the final bone-jarring tackle has been made at the Allstate Sugar Bowl and the tremendous roar of the Louisiana Superdome crowd has finally died down, Irvin Mayfield and his family and buddies will be enjoying great New Orleans food, laughter and each other's company at the home of a longtime friend. Eventually, someone will sit down at a piano, another will set up a drum and still others may grab a guitar or bass before Mayfield reaches for his trumpet. Then the real party begins.
"The big shows I do are wonderful and I love performing the National Anthem and "God Bless America" at sporting events," said Mayfield, founder of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (NOJO) and cofounder of the New Orleans-flavored Latin jazz band Los Hombres Calientes. "But the real fun comes later, long after the event is over and you're at somebody's house after midnight and you start playing together. That's when it really gets shaking."
The incredible talent of Mayfield, 29, an accomplished jazz musician who has performed all over the world, will be on display immediately prior to the 2007 Allstate Sugar Bowl when he plays the National Anthem with a trumpet solo in front of a sold-out Superdome crowd. Although the New Orleans native and resident could regale his audience with any one of a number of different musical styles in which he is accomplished, his choice for this song is a no-brainer.
"As far as I'm concerned, there is only one way to play the National Anthem," Mayfield said recently while touring in Italy as the Cultural Ambassador for the City of New Orleans. "And that's seriously, with the utmost respect for our country and our forefathers. But I may save something special for the last note."
Back in September 2005, Mayfield played ''America the Beautiful" prior to the New Orleans Saints' home opener. Nothing unusual about that moment for the gifted and highly sought-after trumpeter. But this particular "home" opener was at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., because the Saints had been forced to relocate their home games for the 2005 season due to Hurricane Katrina.
Performing at the Louisiana Superdome before the 2007 Allstate Sugar Bowl will be an emotional moment for Mayfield, as it's certain to bring back a flood of memories. The Superdome housed tens of thousands of New Orleans residents during the devastating hurricane and its aftermath, but Mayfield's father was not among them. Mr. Mayfield had decided to ride out the storm in his home, and it was three months later before his drowned body was finally found.
''At his funeral, I told about how he would dress me in a white suit every Sunday and have me perform in our church," Mayfield said. "To me, that small act of love, of making a fuss over how I looked before every performance, reflected his grace."
Among the other activities planned around the 2007 Allstate Sugar Bowl, Mayfield will lead the Jazz for Generations program, which is an Allstate/NOJO partnership that includes a ''Visit with Jazz" session with the teams and a benefit concert featuring the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra. “Visit with Jazz” will connect the football players with the culture of New Orleans, as Mayfield explains to the players how integral jazz is to New Orleans, how the diversity of the city's population gave birth to this international phenomena and how jazz and its spirit are helping the region recover from Katrina.
In addition to being a headliner, Mayfield and his bands have performed as back-up acts to Tim McGraw, Carlos Santana, Widespread Panic and many others. He also played for President George W. Bush and other dignitaries at the White House in June 2006 – along with B.B. King and Patti Austin – in a celebration of Black Music Month.
Selecting a song taught to him by his father, Mayfield performed a stirring rendition of ''Just a Closer Walk with Thee" for his White House audience. His version of this classic song is part of the New Orleans tradition of the jazz funeral, where a sorrowful song accompanies a funeral procession to the cemetery. Once the mourners leave the cemetery, the music speeds up and becomes more joyful in a celebration of life.
At the age of nine, Irvin received his first instrument, a trumpet, and by 14 he was playing gigs in Europe. He led a band that toured Greece and other countries at the age of 17, and remarkably he was the oldest member of the group.
"Over in Europe, if they hear you're from New Orleans, they want to hear you play," said Mayfield, whose music draws from all aspects of New Orleans life and culture and blends them into an authentic 21st century New Orleans sound.
"You have to understand – if you're a kid in North Carolina, you have a basketball and that's what you play with every day. But if you're a kid in New Orleans, you have a musical instrument and that's what you play every day. In New Orleans, to be a drum major in a marching band is better than being captain of the football team. Music is everybody's passion in New Orleans. Everybody sings or dances or plays an instrument, and if they don't do that, they cook. You're strange if you don't do one of those things in New Orleans."
In addition to his music, Mayfield also enjoys football. ''Another thing you have to understand about New Orleans, besides music, is that you're not really a New Orleanian if you're not a Saints fan and an LSU fan. That's just the way it is."
Mayfield's skills on the trumpet and his song-writing ability have taken him on a quick journey to the top of the music world. Also contributing to Mayfield's success has been his astute comprehension of the significance of jazz to music and society.
"Jazz is the most democratic form of music on Earth. It's the manifestation of democracy into music, and that's what makes jazz so important," Mayfield said. "It's an essential tool for bringing people together. It's America's music. Jazz is doing your own thing while at the same time letting others do their own thing and having it all blend together seamlessly. When it works, it works beautifully."
Long after the frenzy of the Allstate Sugar Bowl is past, the Jazz for Generations "Visit with Jazz" program will continue. Professional musicians will reach out to the area's children through the ''Visit with Jazz" presentations in public schools. These presentations will be enhanced with online educational materials and an information sheet, produced by Allstate and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra.
Mayfield founded the Institute of Jazz Culture at Dillard University in January 2003, and nine months later he debuted "Strange Fruit," featuring the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and the Dillard University Concert Choir. This composition was the first commission of its kind made possible by a historically black university.
Mayfield and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra made history again on Nov. 17, 2005, when they symbolically reopened New Orleans with the performance of another historic piece – composed by Mayfield – titled "All the Saints." This commission was the first of its kind by an Episcopal diocese, and it served New Orleans as the first major cultural event inside the city following Hurricane Katrina.
Story by Timm Boyle.
