Welcome to the show notes for Episode #160 of The Other Side of the Bell – A Trumpet Podcast. This episode features trumpet educator, improviser and composer Kris Tiner.

How do you turn improvisation into an album, without taking forever to finish? How do you know when it’s ready and complete?

Kris Tiner has been improvising his whole life, in fact, he would point out that we all are:  ”We’re all improvising right now. You get up and walk to the door, and which room do you go into next? That’s an improvisation. What are you going to have for dinner?  You get in your car and you drive down the highway, that’s an improvisation.”

Improvisation is a natural state of being for musicians, just witness when kids pick up an instrument and start exploring.

But as adults (and professional recording musicians), well, time is money, the album’s gotta get released, and you’ve got to decide when to stamp that recording and send it out into the zeitgeist.

Kris shares some of the fascinating mindset of recording improvisational jazz pieces, as reflected on his brand new album, “Sung,” a collaboration with pianist Cathlene Pineda.

We also talk about the experience of providing music education in a small city, not a big urban hub, and the connections and community that can be found therein. Kris teaches trumpet, jazz, composition and improvisation as Professor of Music at Bakersfield College in California, helping students gain access to music and opportunities that they may not receive otherwise.

Of whom one of those students was himself, having embarked on his musical education at CSU Bakersfield in the 1990s. A full circle journey, indeed.

Listen to or download the episode below: