Homer Alaska - Arts

Call him a late bloomer, call him one smooth musician who knows how to make that trumpet sing or just call him Joe. In the long Homer tradition of young musicians going off to study and coming back to shine, Homer-grown jazz star Joe DeCino performs next week.

DeCino, 19, fresh from his first year in New York City studying at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, plays in two concerts at Bunnell Street Arts Center. On Monday for a free outreach jam session and potluck dinner, DeCino plays with his mentor at Idyllwild Arts Academy, Marshall Hawkins, and Hawkins' fellow Los Angeles jazz giant, Markus Burger.

The son of Michelle Waneka and Bob DeCino, DeCino, studied band and choir at Homer Middle School and Homer High School. It wasn't until his junior year at Idyllwild Arts Academy in California that he began playing the trumpet seriously. Attending the New School and living in Greenwich Village, he's found himself immersed in the vibrant jazz scene. It's the sort of place where jam sessions start after midnight.

"The first night I was in New York I went to a jam session that started at 1:30 in the morning," DeCino said. "This 70-year-old woman came in on alto saxophone and just killed it."

New York was just where he needed to be.

"Within a couple of days being there I was more comfortable there than I had ever been here," DeCino said. "The culture really meshed well with what I'm interested in, kind of that old style."

DeCino compared Alaska's natural beauty to New York's culture.

"Here there are the trees and the mountains. That's the setting. There, the people are the setting. The people are such a constant," he said. "It makes it so it's always changing and always interesting."

At the New School, DeCino plans on getting a degree in performance jazz. Although he anticipates playing all his life, and would love to make a career performing, he's realistic about making a living as a full-time jazz musician. DeCino also plans to continue studying music in graduate school, perhaps at the Julliard School in New York. DeCino got some exposure to Julliard playing as a substitute with the Julliard Jazz Orchestra.

"I was playing with the most amazing musicians ever," he said.

For his performance, DeCino will have a few new compositions and arrangements of old jazz standards. This fall, he plans to take time off to earn money for school.

"Amazing as New York is, it's also expensive to do anything," he said.

For next summer, he also wants to audition for bands on cruise ships — a perfect gig for a young musician, with free room and board and nightly performances. That fits right in with his main goal: play every day, get more experience and practice, practice, practice.

Michael Armstrong can be reached at michael.armstrong@homernews.com.

Jazz performances

Joe DeCino, Markus Burger and Marshall Hawkins

WHERE: Bunnell Street Arts Center

WHEN: 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 2

Free outreach concert, jam session and potluck.

7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 7

Gala fundraiser and art auction food and wine. $150 a person suggested donation