Alphonso Horne

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Review:

This is the hundredth and twenty-second in a series of special Jazz on the Tube reviews of live stream performances.

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The up-and-coming trumpeter Alphonse Horne has a spectacular and extroverted style along with a wide expressive range.

Born in Jacksonville, Florida, he began playing trumpet while in the sixth grade, played in his school band, and participated in the Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Essentially Ellington competition, graduating from Florida State University in 2010.

He earned a Masters in Jazz from Juilliard and has since toured with Wynton Marsalis and Jazz At Lincoln Center (2013), the Cab Calloway Band, Jamison Ross, Joey Alexander, the Count Basie Orchestra (2016), Rhiannon Giddens and his own early jazz group the Gotham Kings

On his LiveStream from May 4, 2020, Horne pays tribute to Louis Armstrong during a set of colorful duets with the versatile pianist Chris Pattishall (who pays tribute along the way to several pianists who worked with Armstrong).

They perform such numbers as Duke Ellington’s “Portrait Of Louis Armstrong,” “Struttin’ With Some Barbecue,” “St. Louis Blues” (which Horne also sings), “King Porter Stomp” (which surprisingly changes tempos twice), “Weatherbird Rag,” “Ain’t Misbehavin,’” a dramatic “Black And Blue,” and an unusual version of “What A Wonderful World,” not closely imitating Louis Armstrong but paying homage to him within his style.

– Scott Yanow