Musician Rodney Marsalis comes to Worcester, talks travel tips

If you could travel anywhere right now, where would you go? I would go where I am now: the Cayman Islands. There are wonderful people from all around the world there living in peace and harmony sharing delicious food, stunning beaches, and there is a vibe that makes you relax from the moment that you step off the plane. I am director of Brass Studies for the Cayman Arts Festival and their visionary leadership team and board allow me to go there frequently to help elevate the level of brass playing on the island. Plus, I have many dear friends living there.
Members of Worcester’s South Community High School band will have an opportunity to learn from a top-notch team of musicians at a Jan. 24 master class offered by members of The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass band. Marsalis, whose cousin is famous jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, and several of his bandmates will conduct the workshop during the day and a performance — open to the public — that night at Mechanics Hall in Worcester. As part of the workshop, members of one of the country’s premier concert brass ensembles will help students prepare two pieces of music that they will perform on stage that night at Mechanics Hall. “I love doing this because I had such great mentors growing up,” said Marsalis in a recent phone interview from Grand Cayman, where he holds music retreats for visiting musicians and those who live on the island. “It gives me a chance to give back, and when the kids play with us, it changes the energy in the room. They’re on stage with us, their parents are there … it’s pretty amazing.” In addition to performing regularly, holding workshops, and teaching/mentoring fellow musicians, Marsalis, 57, founded an artist management company in Philadelphia, Marsalis Mansion Artists, LLC. “I like to keep busy,” he said, adding that he enjoys helping other musicians achieve their musical visions and goals. The New Orleans native said he is looking forward to coming to Massachusetts and plans on stopping by his alma mater, Boston University, and seeing friends and colleagues in the area. We caught up with the renowned musician, who lives in Philadelphia and has an 8-year-old daughter, Amati, to talk about all things travel.
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Do you prefer booking trips through a travel agent or on your own? I book my own flights. However, the trombone player in The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass, Gregory Freeman, is also a travel agent with an encyclopedic memory of the roads in the United States. He has steered us in the right direction many times.
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Thoughts on an “unplugged” vacation? I have practically never unplugged. I really should … that would be amazing. If I could, I would do it either in the Berkshires, Caymans, or in Austria in the beautiful city of Hohenems, where my daughter and I have cherished friends who happen to be the duke and duchess of the region, Nini Waldburg-Zeil and Clemens Waldburg-Zeil.
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What has been your worst vacation experience? I don’t really get to take vacations and I try not to label any experience as bad. Sometimes that travel delay ends up letting me have an experience that I would not have had otherwise or meet people that I would not have met otherwise. Recently, my daughter and I were traveling abroad and our flight was delayed. We were sad at first, but on the rescheduled flight the pilot invited my daughter to sit in the cockpit. It was a cool experience made possible by the delayed flight.
What is your favorite childhood travel memory? When I was 19, my mom traveled to Boston for the first time to see me play as a soloist on the Arutunian Trumpet Concerto with the Boston Pops with John Williams conducting.
Do you vacation to relax, to learn, or for the adventure of it all? I travel to show my 8-year-old daughter, Amati Marsalis, the world and introduce her to different cultures. The best way to broaden the horizons of a young child and eliminate ignorance and prejudice is to share the joys of travel with them. It is a chance to relax, learn, and have adventures. With The Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass, we are traveling for work, but the group tends to figure out the interesting things to do wherever we go.
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What books do you plan on bringing with you to read on your next vacation? So many on my list: “The Alchemist,” by Paulo Coelho; “Zen and the Art of Archery,” by Eugen Herrigel; “Outliers,” by Malcolm Gladwell; “The Bible as History,” by Werner Keller; “Siddhartha,” by Hermann Hesse; “The Tao of Pooh,” by Benjamin Hoff; “The Story of My Experiments With Truth,” an autobiography by Mahatma Gandhi; and “Webster’s New World Dictionary.”
If you could travel with one famous person/celebrity, who would it be? My cousin, Wynton Marsalis. He was my first serious trumpet teacher when I was 11 years old and has been a friend and mentor ever since.
What is the best gift to give a traveler? Free time to explore somewhere new. The company that I founded over 37 years ago, Marsalis Mansion Artists, LLC, arranges all of my concerts in a way that is based on my daughter’s schedule. I am blessed to spend so much quality time with her and to have an agency that prioritizes quality time with family for all artists on our roster and quality time with the communities that we serve.
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What is your go-to snack for a flight or a road trip? Usually trail mix and — let’s be honest — peanut M&M’s.
What is the coolest souvenir you’ve picked up on a vacation? In my travels, the most treasured souvenir that I have received is the favorite trumpet from my teacher Frank Kaderabek, iconic principal trumpet player with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Also, a picture of my daughter’s name painted by a monk in a temple in China.
What is your favorite app/website for travel? WhatsApp is amazing for keeping in touch with people while traveling.
What has travel taught you? That we are truly one big human family. I have been to most continents on this planet and met thousands of people and it has molded my view of our imperfect world to believe that we are all bound together by our common humanity.
What is your best travel tip? Don’t be afraid to get a little lost. One of my favorite quotes is, “all who wander are not lost.” All the magical experiences that I have had while traveling were unplanned and involved a bit of wandering around and finding the magic outside the box of my usual experience.
Juliet Pennington can be reached at writeonjuliet@comcast.net.