Mention to jazz trumpeter Winston DeGraff that he's considered to be a major talent and he will respond with characteristic modesty.

"Man, that's really quite a compliment, but I've still got a long way to go.

That's cool, but I'm still learning how to play,'' he says, smiling.

But if Winston's still learning how to play, then scores of local jazz music lovers need to have their ears medically examined! Simply stated, the boy can play and he's viewed as one of the Island's leading jazz lights; a musician who has shunned the trappings of contemporary popular music to embark upon the singular, sometimes unappreciated journey of a traditional jazz artist. And, according to Winston, he wouldn't have it any other way. "I want to be known as a jazz musician and I wouldn't be truthful to myself if I didn't play jazz.

Although I have played other forms of music, the focus is always on jazz.

That's how I want to be remembered. As a jazz musician,'' he says seriously.

He credits his former teacher and late national athletics coach, Clive Longe with introducing him to the majesty of jazz music. "Clive Longe taught me how to play at Robert Crawford,'' Winston explains. "Y'know, a lot of people didn't know that he was a musician, but he was a great musician. He was the guy who put the trumpet in my hand and said `I'm going to give you this trumpet just so you can learn how to breathe and read'.'' Ironically, at first, Winston's desire was to play the sax. "I always wanted to be a sax player. In fact, I still wanna be a sax player,'' he says. Why the sax? "Because it's earthy, it's home and it's a sweet instrument. Y'know, Clive Longe had promised to put me on a sax when one became available, but it never happened! I guess it was meant for me to be a trumpet player,'' he says smiling.

After high school, Longe proved instrumental in helping the budding musician to get into college overseas, where he studied jazz composition and arranging.

"Once I left Crawford, Clive made sure that I got off to the Berklee School of Music. He called the school and then convinced my parents to let me go.

That was in the latter part of 1979 and I started at Berklee in January, 1980,'' Winston recalls.

And it was there in that hotbed of jazz improvisation that his creativity began to take shape. "Being in the company of so many creative people in the jazz field was really humbling, but it helped to increase my desire to learn more about the music,'' Winston recalls. "You also had access to some great players. I mean some of the faculty had worked with Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Aretha Franklin, all the greats from all genres of music. That was the best experience and, of course, playing with other students. Y'know, Branford Marsalis was there when I was and Donald Harrison, another guy who's doing really well, was also a student,'' he explains.

"These were the guys who everybody looked up to, so just being exposed to guys like that could only help make you a better player.'' Although Winston returned home with a degree from that respected music institution in 1984, he took a cautious approach when it came to finding his place on the local music scene. "I felt I wasn't ready to do my own thing, so I thought I'd become a sideman with some of the more established musicians and learn the trade, learn how to play, as well as learn how to call tunes, engage an audience and interact with a crowd.'' His apprenticeship saw him work with such local musicians as Gene Steede, Tom Ray and Ron Lightbourne, among others.

Still, as a young jazz musician, he believes that he's been cheated by not having had the opportunity to see musicians of Ghandi Burgess' calibre perform more often. "It's a shame, really, because Ghandi is one of the greatest trumpeters we've ever produced. He can play with anybody, anywhere in the world and not enough of us have been exposed to that'' he points out. "When I was younger, I didn't have any mentors. The only guy out there playing trumpet who I knew about was Ghandi Burgess. But, I had never seen him continued on page 24 winton continued from page 19 play trumpet until about a year ago when we had a gig together and he reached into his bag, pulled out his trumpet and literally blew me off the stage,'' he says laughing. "Up until that point, I had never heard him play because I wasn't old enough to go to the clubs and since he was on the hotel circuit, locals weren't really exposed to his playing.'' It's exactly for that reason that Winston and his quartet, Legacy, which was formed a little more than one year ago, are committed to playing more in local clubs, rather than solely on the hotel circuit. Besides, he claims to find the experience more challenging musically. "On the local club circuit, you can stretch out and just play, but it's very challenging because you have to learn new material all the time,'' he explains. "When you play for tourists, you can get by playing the same thing every week, but you can't do that to the local crowd because they'll let you know right away that you played the same thing last week and then ask you ain't you got something new','' he laughs.

Featuring an electrifying mix of original compositions, jazz standards and a touch of fusion to sweeten up the flavour, Legacy, whose other members include John Lee on bass, Kevin Maybury on drums, and Dennis Fox on keyboards, are determined to remain true to their original mission.

"When we formed the group we wanted to play stuff that nobody else was playing. We're all jazz musicians and we made a conscious decision to play jazz music. And although we do a few originals, our repertoire is made up primarily of jazz standards. That's the main learning tool, the standards,'' he explains. "I don't care where you go, you always come back to the standards because there's always that classic tune that your audience wants to hear.'' "I want to be known as jazz musician and I wouldn't be truthful to myself if I didn't play jazz.'' -- Winston DeGraff.

RG MAGAZINE JUNE 1993