Jonathan Powell Talks About New Release 'Beacons Of Light'

Jonathan Powell Talks About Beacons Of Light With Jonathan Michel

His concepts behind the new recording and his band nu Sangha. 

“And the young trumpeter Jonathan Powell is brilliant. At times listening to Powell makes one think, of a young Freddie Hubbard tempered with Lester Bowie’s flair for unpredictable phrasing and melodrama.” Duck Baker, Jazz Times

On Beacons of Light, trumpeter Jonathan Powell pays tribute to some of the great minds of our time, people who touched the hearts and minds of many with the light of the truth. 

The music draws inspiration from jazz icons past and present, including John Coltrane, Freddie Hubbard, the Brian Blades Fellowship and Pat Metheny among others.

Powell describes his music as “modern jazz,” but the label barely scratches the surface of his range and abilities. Virtuosic compositions such as Malwana showcase Powell and his band’s aptitude for interweaving Eastern and Middle Eastern sounds with counterpoint melodies.

During a recent conversation with the publication, Jazz Speaks, Powell talked about the overall concept: “Each tune has a subject or person of interest. For example, Aung San Suu Kyi was an advocate for democracy advocate in Burma. Then there’s the Christian Mystic named, Stylianos Atteshlis, and the original Siddhartha Buddha, Rumi, the great Sufi mystic and poet, doctor Robert Lanza, Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th and current Dalai Lama.” 

While composing the material, he noted a specific sound and vibe that radiated from each of his subjects. When the material was completed, he reached out to Kickstarter, the world’s largest global crowd funding platform, and the universe graciously responded. 

Powell was born in Largo, Florida, where he took up the trumpet at the age of twelve. In high school, he excelled as a featured member of the All-State Band and All-State Jazz Band, met three like-minded students and formed the group Quantum, which earned the award for Best Student Jazz Group in the Downbeat Student Awards (1998, 1999).