Trumpeter Charles Lazarus embraces the eclectic and diverse side of music

"I was drawn to the trumpet because it's such a dynamic instrument: not only in terms of sheer volume of softs and louds and the colors, but just its different styles. The trumpet is present in almost every style of popular music through time. So it was always natural for me to be involved in every style of music possible."

That last sentence could be the thesis statement for Charles Lazarus' career. He joined the Minnesota Orchestra in 2000, and his tenure has been marked by an embrace of the eclectic: everything from the standard orchestral repertoire to contemporary works to jazzy original productions.

His versatility will be on full display over the next few weeks.

On Dec. 15, his "genre-spanning brass spectacular" show, Merry and Bright, will get its Orchestra Hall audience in the mood for the holidays.

Then, on Jan. 12 and 13, as part of the orchestra's midwinter American Expressions Festival, he will be concerto soloist in Minnesota composer Steve Heitzeg's American Nomad, a 2015 work written especially for Lazarus. It's for trumpet soloist and orchestra, and it melds elements from both the classical and jazz worlds.

"Some of it sounds like Copland; some other times like Bernstein; some of it sounds like Shostakovich," Lazarus says. "But there's a Gil Evans spirit, too, where there's a lot of freedom for just wide open jazz improvisation. I have a lot of freedom to stretch out. … To my knowledge, there is not another trumpet concerto like that that exists. So having that opportunity, to have a vehicle to be so creative, I feel really, really fortunate to have that kind of collaboration with the orchestra."

That's in addition to his recent and upcoming video projects.

"Video adds another dimension to the way you can express yourself with audiences that might have previously been out of reach," he notes.

On Election Day 2018, he released Indivisible, a music video that (coincidentally!) was also a collaboration with Heitzeg.

"I liked that, because I felt that it had some meaning and purpose behind it. It wasn't partisan; it was just uplifting." And best of all, he says, it was fun.

Merry and Bright is one of the original productions he has spearheaded over the years. It has been an annual tradition at Orchestra Hall since 2015.

What is Merry and Bright?

"What it is," Lazarus says, enthusiasm palpable, "is it's a fun holiday show I do every year with the Minnesota Orchestra. It's my core jazz group with an all-brass big band and and guest singers."

Tonia Hughes will be one of those guests.

"She's just an amazing gospel singer: really, really amazing. Standing next to her onstage is like standing next to a hurricane; she's just so powerful; there's so much energy!"

It's a trope that musicians can't stand holiday music, presumably because of its simplicity and ubiquity.

But Lazarus sees it another way.

"What's really great about these traditional melodies is that they're a really great vehicle for fresh stylistic treatments, because everybody knows the tunes and so it's really challenging to put together a holiday show and try to be creative and inventive.

"At first, I wasn't sure how I was going to do it. But what I realized is there's so many older melodies that really lend themselves to different styles. So we can do a New Orleans brass band version of 'Frosty the Snowman,' or a salsa 'Jingle Bells,' or this year we have a neo-soul hip-hop version of 'My Favorite Things.' For a few years I did some Christmas tours with Elizabeth von Trapp and so I have a friendship with her. I've played that song a lot with her. And so to be able to do a more contemporary version of it is fun for me."

He's especially excited to take to the stage with fellow members of the Minnesota Orchestra brass section.

"Rather than a traditional big band, I decided I wanted to be all brass. So, instead of saxes we have French horns, and it maintains that rich homogeneous color of the brass ensemble, so they can play brass chorales and things that sound like the Minnesota Orchestra brass section playing!"

So what started Lazarus on the road to such a wildly busy, diverse career? The answer is simple.

"My older brother was a trombone player and was very interested in jazz, and my dad liked band music, and my mom enjoyed classical music. And so I grew up in a household where people just listened to lots of different kinds of of music."

He finds the creative cross-pollination of different styles more inspiring than intimidating.

"When you're improvising, it's really good for your ear training, and I feel like my jazz playing helps to keep me loose when I play classical music, and makes me really aware of where I am harmonically when I'm playing in the orchestra. And then definitely with classical training, that helps my jazz playing in terms of approaching it with hopefully more of a sense of refinement and tone quality and all of that. So for me they really feed on each other and each one makes the other side better."

The bottom line for Lazarus?

Wherever and however he finds it, "I really believe in presenting original music that is melodic and rhythmic. And I tend to err to the side of stuff that grooves, just because that's what I like to listen to."