News imageOutlook, The Outlook Mixtape: The trumpet takes the lead

Outlook

The Outlook Mixtape: The trumpet takes the lead

11 September 2026

Available for over a year

Wynton Marsalis grew up in New Orleans in what's been called America's 'first family of jazz'. His pianist father Ellis gave him a trumpet when he was six years old, but Wynton didn't like practising and he didn't like jazz. Then, Wynton started listening to his dad's records and he had a musical epiphany. Mentored by his father, Wynton went on to sell millions of records worldwide and made history by becoming the first jazz musician to win a Pulitzer Prize.

Christine Kamau was a pianist but began playing the trumpet so that she could take part in an orchestra. Her love of the instrument grew and inspired by the sounds of African jazz she began to write and record her own music. Described as Kenya's first female jazz trumpeter she spoke to Outlook reporter Andrea Kidd about forging her own path.

In 1959 the late jazz radio host Jacques Muyal bumped into trumpeter Idrees Sulieman in the streets of Tangier. Jacques persuaded him to record a session in his radio studio with an out-of-tune piano. He went on to become a respected music producer and that spontaneous recording from Tangier in 1959 would become a one of a kind.

Presenter: India Rakusen

Producer: May Cameron

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(Photo: A transparent 60-minute cassette tape with a white label bearing the words: The Outlook Mixtape. Credit: Getty Images)