Thomas Erdmann, a professor of music, has had his fifth book published. How Jazz Trumpeters Understand Their Music is a collection of 27 interviews with the world's best jazz trumpeters, including Freddie Hubbard, Donald Byrd, Enrico Rava, Kenny Wheeler, Tomasz Stanko, Mathias Eick, Tim Hagans, Eddie Henderson and Terence Blanchard.
“This book is the result of an unusual mix: a jazz musician turned journalist turned music professor,” Bradley J. Hamm, dean of the Indiana University School of Journalism, writes in the foreword. “The musician understands the field; the journalist understands the interview; and the professor understands the need to learn and teach others, both aficionados and beginners.”
James L. Olcott, a professor of music and trumpet at Miami University, writes, “It is clear that Dr. Erdmann’s experience, first and foremost as a musician of the first order, and as an interviewer and writer, pays great dividends. He has interviewed trumpeters of every stripe, and in each case, both in his questions and in the subsequent article, his expertise becomes evident.”