Irvin Mayfield
Jazz Trumpeter / Founder
New Orleans Jazz Orchestra
New Orleans, LA USA
“That's why your passion is so important-that's one thing that no one else can do that you can do because you love it more than anyone else.”
Videos
By Roadtrip NationIrvin Mayfield
Milestones
My road in life has been direct.
Says that playing trumpet growing up didn't always make him the most popular person; people had their doubts.
He had a passion, could listen to and play trumpet all day everyday, so he didn't care about financial success, the feelings of his peers.
Says success is all relative; if he set a goal to make $400 one month and he made $500, he was on top of the world.
Parts of his family wanted him to have a tangible career, a degree, rather than pursuing his dream.
Father had taught him to play the trumpet, but was disappointed when he dropped out of college.
In 2009, he won a Grammy and was appointed to the National Endowment of the Arts by President Obama.
Once he had a Grammy, got his own apartment, his family started to come around to his choices.
Lives by a saying his mother taught him: "Blessed is he who gets paid for what he would do for free."
Keep following my journey
Career
Jazz Trumpeter / Founder
I'm an accomplished jazz trumpeter and artistic director of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Business
Music
Being Creative
Hurdles
Challenges I Overcame
Other
Interviewed By
Austin - New Orleans
: In a restaurant at the Grand Canyon, the Roadtrip Nation team unexpectedly books an interview with a documentary filmmaker named Bennie Klain in Texas. Then they head to New Orleans to interview jazz musician Irvin Mayfield. After this interview, the team heads across the bridge to the Ninth Ward, where they talk with Jim Pate, the executive director for Habitat for Humanity in the city, and then help to build houses.
