Pablo Masis
Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Pablo spent his childhood years in northern Arizona on the Navajo Indian Reservation before moving to Billings, Montana. After graduating from High School, he studied classical trumpet with Robert Levy and received a Bachelor of Music degree from Lawrence University. Following a year of Graduate study in classical trumpet under Dennis Najoom at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, he moved to New Orleans, where he studied with Terence Blanchard, Clyde KerrJr. and Ed Petersen, and received a Masters Degree in Jazz Studies from the University of New Orleans.
Pablo moved to New York City in 2009, and has become an active freelancer and educator.
In February 2015, Pablo traveled from his home in New York City to Kabul, Afghanistan as a guest artist with the Afghanistan National Institute of Music for their Winter Academy. While there he gave individual and group lessons to the school’s brass students, taught a series of introductory jazz classes, performed in recitals, and assisted with outreach for Afghanistan’s only music school. His new recording (his fourth), Thought and Memory, out on Brooklyn Jazz Underground Records on September 8, 2023, is a musical snapshot of these two vastly different cities, both of which have affected Masis greatly, altering and shaping his view of the world.
The first half of this recording consists of four compositions, performed by Masis and his rhythm section of Jeff McLaughlin (guitar), Jeff Koch (bass) and David Hawkins (drums). “I wrote these compositions as an embodiment of my experiences of living in New York City,” said Masis. “’Supercollider’” and ‘Anticipation’ are both meditations on life in such a vibrant city. ‘Signal Problems’ was inspired by the experience of waiting on a NYC subway train, stalled in between stations.” The title track, “Thought and Memory”, comes from melodies floating in an out of Masis head during long walks through some of NYC’s dark and moody streets.
The second half of this recording consists of a three movement suite Masis began working on while in Kabul, Afghanistan, in February 2015. Masis elaborates, “I was there as a guest of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music’s (ANIM) Winter Academy. Teachers were brought to the school to give lessons and classes for Afghanistan’s only western music school. During my time there I spent many contemplative hours in my hotel room. Travel was restricted to the school and approved outings, so in my downtime, and with the backdrop of the sights, sounds, culture and history of Kabul, I began writing the music that became the suite you hear on the album.”
