Dan Trudell, far right, a Marquette native and decorated jazz musician, poses for a photo with organist Chris Foreman, pianist Pete Benson and the late jazz trumpeter/organist Joey DeFrancesco at a Saturday Night After Hours Jazz Party at The Green Mill cocktail bar in Chicago. (Photo courtesy of Dan Trudell)

MARQUETTE — Dan Trudell, a born-and-raised Yooper and renowned jazz musician, will be playing a free concert at Blackrocks Brewery this coming weekend.

Trudell, whose professional career has led him to take the stage with iconic jazz and organ stars such as Aretha Franklin, has settled in the Chicago area and played with different ensembles and private bands for the past three decades. Long before he played beneath the dazzling lights of the Windy City’s stages, Trudell cultivated his musical talent right here in Marquette.

A child with a natural inclination towards music, Trudell received his first organ as a gift from his father at eight years old.

“My parents bought me an organ when I was eight or nine. Music was around (with) my sister, Marlene, playing the piano. They listened to music and they were into it, so then they bought me that instrument. My mother was my first teacher. After six months, I was better than her. Then they found Diane Case at the Melody Shop. She became my teacher and she would just let me be free,” Trudell recalled. “That’s so informal as far as, you know, being very disciplined with classical or anything like that. She would just give me sheet music and since I had an organ, it wasn’t like a piano, they had drum machines on it. I would find ways to incorporate the drum machine and play the bass with my foot, and then I was looking at the music and there (were) chord symbols for guitar. I started looking at the notes (so) that I could figure out what these chord symbols meant.”

Throughout his life, he had taken lessons with the late Ruth Matthews, a piano and organ instructor with Northern Michigan University, citing how she was a “great teacher” and how the recitals he gave in his youth reflected the lessons in technique and rhythm that Matthews taught him. Trudell played city events, local weddings, church services and NMU hockey games during his time in Marquette. While in school, Trudell played both tuba for the marching band and piano for the jazz band, winning many awards during his high school years. He was one of two Marquette Senior High School seniors, selected out of 3000 students to be included in the “100 Most Outstanding Musicians” for the Michigan Youth Arts Festival. His decision to pursue music professionally was heavily influenced by the support of his parents and their encouragement for him to pursue his dreams.

“This (came from) listening to records. In high school, I got my first stereo, hand-me-down from my sister. I would come home from school and I just listened to these records. I guess I had an imagination that, ‘Oh, they must be living the life,’ you know? ‘We’re out playing and traveling the world, and it’s all just glory and all that.’ I thought that sounds like fun, playing music is so fun…” explained Trudell. “I think I didn’t know what kind of clue about the challenges of being a musician. I wasn’t thinking about that. Some parents would just keep their kids from even considering having that as your profession because it’s not practical. It’s not very easy (where) people can make a living and it’s really comfortable. (My parents) just were like ‘Okay, it’s your dream.’ I have really good parents.”

Trudell graduated from MSHS in 1982, attending Western Michigan University on a scholarship to study tuba and organ. He transferred in 1984 to North Texas State University where he majored in jazz performance. Trudell began his professional career playing music on a cruise ship, bouncing from New York City to Boston and then eventually settling down in Chicago, where he learned more about the history of jazz and those who have influenced it during his time in a bigger city.

“I learned a lot about jazz after I got out of Marquette. I didn’t know a lot about it. I had the spirit of memorizing but I really learned a lot about what older musicians, particularly Black musicians, went through (while) traveling in the 1950s,” Trudell explained. “These guys, they’re so classy, like they’re masters…they’re my heroes, like they really play.”

After playing with ensembles and private bands for the past three decades, Trudell mentioned some pretty memorable performances he’s had during his time as a musician.

“I’ve played a couple gigs with Aretha Franklin. That was pretty special, I mean, what else can I say about that? I’ve played some gigs with Bob Mintzer and the Yellowjackets. There are great musicians that are older than me. I used to go to the Kennedy Center every year to play the Honors Awards Ceremony with the Chicago Jazz Orchestra. I did that for 20, 25 years. (While) going there, I played for Hollywood celebrities and so on. It was pretty cool,” Trudell shared.

He explained how throughout his career, he’s really enjoyed being able to experiment and try new things creatively with his music. Trudell mentioned how he can’t be content playing the same thing over and over again, and that it’s in the nature of jazz musicians to improvise and try something new with their music.

One interesting aspect of being a jazz musician that some people might not be familiar with is that sometimes, the musicians who play together in bands or ensembles may have never worked together before they perform onstage. According to Trudell, seasoned professionals are able to pull off combining their musical talents with brand-new musicians and making it sound like they’ve been playing together for years.

“We all might not play together, but we’ve all studied playing independently of each other. If you’re a real pro, we can just show up and play and make it work. People might think ‘Oh, they’re so tight. Wow, they must rehearse all the time,’ and they’d be surprised,” mentioned Trudell. “It’s like (for some of) my gig(s), I have three or four different drummers or three or four different bass players that show up, and people come up to me on any night (with) any combination of those guys and go ‘You guys are so tight and well-rehearsed.’ It might be like, the guy, it might be a person where (we’ve) never played together. We’ve never seen each other before. That’ll kind of blow their minds.”

Dan will be playing his specialty, a Hammond B-3 organ, alongside his band from 3:30-6 p.m. at Blackrocks Brewery on Saturday. The concert is free to attend, and the brewery is located at 424 N. Third St.

Abby LaForest can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 548. Her email address is alaforest@miningjournal.net.