The trumpeter brings passion, creativity and community to the forefront of Bull City arts and culture
By Leah Berry | Photo by John Michael Simpson
Al Strong has a distinct sound – one you can frequently hear around town, whether he’s performing at a jazz brunch at Alley Twenty Six or up on The Roof at The Durham Hotel. The trumpeter possesses a creative knack in reimagining existing works and a unique ability to work a crowd in the local scene. But he’s also a champion of the arts community, bringing local talent to the forefront through his work.
Al hails from a military family who bounced around from state to state early in his youth, though he spent most of his childhood in Washington, D.C. Much of Al’s appreciation for music can be attributed to his grandmother, Ruby Mae Strong, who shared in raising him early on. She played the organ and often hosted home church services with her sisters and other “Black church mothers,” Al says. “If there wasn’t music being played by her in the house, I would occasionally tinker around with the organ. I’d open up some of the piano books and teach myself the five finger positions of the major scale.”
At 10 years old, Al fatefully selected the trumpet as his instrument in band at school. “Possibly because of my awareness of the trumpet great Louis Armstrong and how our last names resembled each other,” Al says. “I guess I just somehow developed an affinity for trumpet.” He played in marching band and soon joined the concert band. “Aside from loving music, I loved the camaraderie and competitive nature of being in music situations,” he explains.
He later attended the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in D.C., honing his craft. He was playing in his school’s jazz band at a European festival when Ira Wiggins, the director of jazz studies at North Carolina Central University, recruited him. Al earned a bachelor’s in jazz studies and jazz performance at NCCU and was recruited again, this time by Northern Illinois University, to pursue his master’s. He lived in Chicago for a few years, but came back to Durham in 2009 to teach trumpet as an adjunct professor at his alma mater, a role he still holds 15 years later. Al says he loves the Bull City and its diversity of talent, culture and
people; he lives just a few blocks from NCCU, in Hillside Park. “[My neighborhood] is filled with families and some older people who keep the community there grounded,” he says.
Around the same time he returned to Durham, Al launched Al Strong Music Productions LLC, serving as executive manager, trumpet player, performer, curator and arranger. He’s taken the stage at various venues across Durham over the years, most often accompanied by local talent.
“I’m fortunate to work with really great musicians and artists,” Al says. “I think one of my great strengths is that I welcome input and feedback, and [I] identify strengths of players in ensembles and highlight them.”
His seasonal “Al Strong Presents Jazz on the Roof ” series at The Durham Hotel showcases this skill. The program, which began in 2016, invites regional jazz artists to an evening of improvisation against the backdrop of the Bull City skyline every third Thursday during the summer. “Traditionally, the headliner performs a set, and then it becomes a jam session after that,” Al says.
“Pre-quarantine, I was asked to present music there on a weekly basis,” Al says. “It seemed fitting to name it ‘Al Strong Presents,’ because the curator in me, if you will, has always been inspired by the talent that is local to this area; Durham has just always been teeming with exceptional talent. The series gives me an opportunity to not only perform under my various group names but also provide opportunities for other artists to have a platform of expression. And thankfully, the community shows up and supports, regardless of who is headlining that particular evening.”
The program is less frequent now – only once a month – but Al is happy that it’s still around. “It’s just an amazing opportunity to curate such a vibrant community space on the rooftop.”
He also works with Missy Lane’s Assembly Room to curate its seasonal Summer Jazz Jam series. “It was created as a filling for my fellow colleagues at NCCU, who, during the school year, host a jam session on Thursday nights called Eagles’ Nest,” Al says, adding that “the music is continuing on Thursdays, it’s just under a different name. It’s become an opportunity for me again to showcase talent that I think people will enjoy and also players who I think have earned the right and have demonstrated a certain level of leadership to be able to run the jam session or host the jam session.” Acts he’s presented have included his former mentor, Ira Wiggins, as well as young and budding female artists like Shaena Ryan Martin and Ti Harmon.
Performing in and curating shows are near and dear to Al’s heart, but he’s just as dedicated to arts education. He assumed the directorship of Creative Arts in Public & Private Schools – CAPS – and Community Arts Partnerships at the Durham Arts Council in 2022. The program brings professional teaching artists to community-focused locales like community centers, schools, festivals and older adult centers throughout Durham, Granville, Orange and Person counties. Al manages requests from returning arts council clients and works to attract new clients to the program. The CAPS program reached 24,129 students, 631 educators and 329 noneducators, served at 114 sites and delivered 151 total programs in the 2023-24 school year.
“Arts education enhances collaborations and problem-solving skills and increases school attendance and test scores,” Al says. “It’s also critical that we are able to provide integration in schools that are historically underresourced, like Title I schools; we’re really committed to this work that serves such a wide demographic of our North Carolina community.
“What we hope will happen is that, in the arts, we’re training innovators and problem solvers, as we need those types of thinkers living within our community to overall make it a better place,” he says. “The arts are a great conduit for unifying the community through artistic voices and creating a sense of belonging.”
