Irvin Mayfield

Professional Practice Professor, Jazz Trumpet

Irvin Mayfield is the latest in an illustrious line of New Orleans trumpeters and has quickly established himself as one of the most decorated jazz musicians of his generation.  After attending the University of New Orleans, Mayfield co-founded the New Orleans-flavored Latin jazz band Los Hombres Calientes with percussionist Bill Summers, and also leads his own band - the Irvin Mayfield Quintet - in addition to the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, which he serves as Founder and Artistic Director. 

In September 2003, Mr. Mayfield was unanimously appointed to the post of Cultural Ambassador for the City of New Orleans by the United States Senate and House of Representatives, the Governor's Office of the State of Louisiana, the Louisiana State House of Representatives and State Senate, the City of New Orleans, and the New Orleans City Council, establishing himself as a musician who embodies and represents the great New Orleans jazz legacy, as well as an international jazz and cultural spokesperson and chair of the New Orleans Public Library Foundation.  Mayfield, whose father drowned when the federal levees failed after Katrina, has been very active in post-Katrina rebuildling and recognition efforts.

Mayfield's numerous collaborative ventures have made him a sought after composer for special events, such as the New Orleans Museum of Art's commissioned musical tribute (Mayfield's first-ever commission) to renowned African American artist Gordon Parks. This piece, The Half-Past Autumn Suite was later recorded with Parks, Wynton Marsalis and the Irvin Mayfield Quintet and released by Basin Street Records. As a Basin Street Records artist, Mayfield has released 10 albums, and has appeared on or produced dozens of other records.

 Discography

Higher Ground: Irvin Mayfield performs on compilation benefit CD for musician’s relied. Blue Note Records, 2005

Strange Fruit: Irvin Mayfield, the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and the Dillard University Choir. Basin Street Records, 2005  

Carnival: Volume 5: Los Hombres Calientes. Basin Street Records, 2005   (Billboard Latin Music Award nominee)

Volume Four: Vodou Dance: Los Hombres Calientes. Basin Street Records, 2003  (Billboard Latin Music Award nominee)

Half Past Autumn Suite: Irvin Mayfield Quintet. Basin Street Records, 2003

How Passion Falls: Irvin Mayfield Quintet. Basin Street Records, 2001

Volume Three: New Congo Square: Los Hombres Calientes. Basin Street Records, 2001  (GRAMMY nominee)

Jaz Sawyer/Irvin Mayfield 20/20: Live at the Blue Note: Irvin Mayfield. Half Note Label, 2000

The Irvin Mayfield Sextet: Live at the Blue Note: Irvin Mayfield Sextet. Half Note Label, 1999

Volume Two: Los Hombres Calientes. Basin Street Records, 1999

Irvin Mayfield: Irvin Mayfield Quintet. Basin Street Records, 1999 

Los Hombres Calientes: Los Hombres Calientes. Basin Street Records, 1998 (WINNER Billboard's Latin Music Award for Contemporary Latin Jazz Album of the Year)