Grammy-winning trumpeter Terell Stafford will perform a tribute to jazz great Miles Davis onstage at The Grand on State, 7-9:20 p.m. Sept. 9 at 1218 State St., Santa Barbara.

“Stafford has been one of the top trumpet talents in jazz for decades, performing and recording with his own quintet and with jazz luminaries such as Benny Golson, Jimmy Heath, and Kenny Barron,” event organizers said.

He is also a regular with the legendary Village Vanguard Jazz Orchestra in New York City, and a jazz educator.

For the Santa Barbara show, Stafford will perform as a duo with acclaimed pianist Tamir Hendelman.

“We are thrilled to welcome an artist of Terell’s stature to our stage,” said Brian Mann, a pianist and co-owner of The Grand on State.

“He has performed at the highest level around the world while also helping shape the next generation of jazz musicians as an educator. And now, on the Grand Stage, he’ll perform the music of Miles Davis, perhaps the most influential jazz artist of all time,” Mann said.
 
Stafford’s show with Hendelman will be a tribute to Miles Davis on the occasion of the centennial of that jazz icon’s birth.
 
“I’ve done a lot with Tamir, and I love playing duo with him,” said Stafford, who cites Davis as one his foundational influences. “There’s a few piano players that I really love playing duo with and he’s one of them.

“It doesn’t feel like a duo. It feels like we’re playing in a quartet. Playing [alongside just a piano] is a real passion of mine. And of course Miles had a big impact on me as young player. He was a true artist and innovator.”

Tickets for the show are on sale at thegrandonstate.com.

“I hope that people can hear [in the music of Davis] this passionate person who is just trying to share his heart, and that’s what I hope that we can convey to the audience in Santa Barbara,” said Stafford.

“Look, it’s about being vulnerable, and that’s what every musician’s goal is, to be vulnerable in front of an audience and share their heart at the deepest level,” he said.

As an educator at Philadelphia’s Temple University, Stafford is the director of jazz studies and chair of instrumental studies.

Stafford was born in Miami and grew up in Chicago and Maryland. He holds degrees from Rutgers University.

With his quintet, he has recorded a half-dozen albums, including “Taking Chances,” “BrotherLEE Love” (a tribute to Lee Morgan), and “Family Feeling.”