Seattle-born trumpeter Bell Thompson’s name was destined to represent her passion even before she knew what that passion would be. She was born Annabella Thompson, but her parents called her “Annie” from the time she was a newborn. Her love of the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast led to a discussion with her Mom about changing her nickname, and she decided on Bell.
I guess you can call it fate, but in our recent conversation at WRTI, Bell shared more about how she found her love for the trumpet, as well as her way to Temple University. And of course, we also talked about her debut album of original material, Most Prized. Here is an edited version of our interview, along with a full-band performance from our studio.
I understand that you started playing the trumpet in grade school in Seattle.
I'm originally from Seattle, and I started playing the trumpet in fourth grade, I think when I was nine. One day at school, they handed out this form that was like, "If you want to play an instrument, pick which one." So then I was like, "Well, should I play clarinet too, like all my friends? Or a different instrument?" And then I picked a trumpet, not knowing anything. I was playing at school, and then my parents signed me up for lessons at the same place where my clarinet friends took lessons. And I met my first teacher, Owuor Arunga, who went on to tour with Macklemore. He was so kind and encouraging, and even though I was so young, in like a 30-minute lesson, we'd have so much fun that it made me get excited about playing the trumpet.
You found your way to Temple University after meeting Terell Stafford, who is truly one of the greatest trumpet players. Talk to me about that first meeting. What was it that you heard from Terrell that kind of lit you up?
In Seattle, there is this jazz workshop every summer called Centrum Jazz Port Townsend, and the first year I ever went was probably in 2015 or 2016. Terell was one of two or three trumpet teachers, and it was just incredible. Each day at the workshop, they have concerts with the artists. So Terell played I think just a few standards. And from the first note, there was so much intensity. Obviously he's such a serious musician, but to me his playing is so joyful and intense and clear. At that time, I had never heard someone play like that. And in that setting, I'm sitting right there, like three feet away, and I was like, “Wow, that's incredible.” So then he was teaching this class where you can ask any question you want to the trumpet teacher. People are asking a mix of questions about learning trumpet or learning jazz, and he had such thoughtful answers even for questions that I was like, "Oh, that's sort of a weird question." He'd really think about it and come up with a very thoughtful answer for each person that was very useful. So I’m writing it all down, and then at the end of the class, some of the other guys from the class are, like, fist-bumping with him. He's like, "Hey." Like, he knows their names. So I go up to these kids and I'm like, "How do you know him?" And they're like, "Oh, we go to Temple." And that's how I found out about the program and that you could study with him every week, that that exists. So that’s how I got excited about coming out here.
Now, how has Terell impacted your career and your growth as a musician?
One of the things I really admire about Terell is that he's really able to address each person and, and it's very sincere. I can tell that he likes trying to help people and answer questions. He knows how much it means to people, to chat with him about music and stuff like that. I feel like I'm just starting to do gigs where not everyone in the audience is someone I personally know from my real life, and it's interesting. And in studying with Terell, to me the biggest musical lesson was, how do you make your articulation sound different, and how do you have your sound be strong — but also you can play quiet sometimes. He is one of the greatest teachers I've ever had in just being so serious about accomplishing your goals. He will be like, "OK, here's what we're trying to do, and here's how we're gonna do it." And then maybe you play a few seconds, he's like, "No, no, no." Like, "Do the breath again."
During your time at Temple, you published a paper funded through the Temple University Diamond Research Scholars Program, titled "Gender in Jazz: The Experience of Women in Jazz." Can you tell us a bit about that paper, and what led you to explore this topic even further?
Throughout my life, there had been fewer and fewer women playing in the jazz band with me, like in middle school and high school. And then when I came to Temple freshman year, Maria Marmarou, the drummer from the session, was my freshman roommate at Johnson & Hardwick. And so we are living together and we're like, "Oh, we can't wait to meet the other girls that play instruments in the program." And there wasn't any. So we showed up to the big band audition, like, "Oh, it’s just us." And I was like, "Whoa." So then when I was thinking about what I would like to do a research project about, I really like interviews and storytelling. So I started figuring out about qualitative research, where you're going in depth with a few subjects, versus quantitative, where you're doing many subjects, like a survey. I had to get a little more realistic about what project I was going to do, because first I wanted to interview like 100 people and write a book. My dad was like, "That's not a one-year project." So I decided to interview girls in high school that play instruments in jazz band, and have it just be open-ended about what their experience is. It was interesting doing it in a research setting versus a personal setting.
And what did you find from that research? What stood out to you?
Right when I started the project, COVID began. So I did it all on Zoom, which actually was really interesting; I interviewed 16 girls across the U.S. and Canada. Basically the biggest thing I found that really opened my eyes is that, across all the different regions, girls talked about how they really love playing music, and they love learning about jazz, and they love that it's so collaborative and that you're kind of part of this team. You know, you're all working together. And that the social dimension of high school jazz band feels like it conflicts with the musical dimension of the jazz band. They really like music, but the social dimension feels really hard, because it feels really isolating. Like, it feels like if I just practiced more, maybe I'd be more accepted with all these guys. But because they're all saying that, it's more of a cultural issue; it's not a personal failing.
After graduating from Temple, you earned a master's from the Berklee Global Jazz Institute. I can imagine that the heartbeat of these two cities are pretty different.
It was really different. And at Temple, towards the end of my undergraduate studies, I started writing more music, with Dick Oatts and Bruce Barth and Greg Kettinger. So, I got really excited about writing music. Then one of my good friends, Katie Webster, this great alto player, was at the Berklee Global Jazz Masters program, which I had never heard of at that time. I went to visit her, and went to some of the classes, mostly just out of curiosity. Everyone in the classes was working on original music all the time, so every day in the class, they'd go through each person's song. That was enough for me to feel excited just to do more. And I knew there was a recording project that was funded as a part of that program. The other big thing about that program is if you get in, it's fully funded, tuition free. So, that really motivated me to go as well. The main teachers you work with are Danilo Pérez and John Patitucci, and Nicholas Payton and Brian Blade came to play with us.
And you feature all original music on your debut album, Most Prized. Why that title?
While I was working on writing the music, I was going to Tim Brey’s jam session at Time a whole bunch. Some of my friends were playing this Cedar Walton tune, "Martha's Prize." So I was practicing that, and having a hard time trying to decipher the chord changes. And one of my friends told me: "You know, when I am trying to work on a song, I try to take something I like from the song and write my own song with that." So the "Most Prized" tune on the album, there's something in the chords that is reminiscent of "Martha’s Prize."
We've got some Philly Made questions for you. What were some of your favorite places to hang and gig in Philly?
We mentioned the Time Cafe. I used to go to Chris' a lot. I liked to go to some smaller sessions that friends would start hosting a few years ago. I just went to Cellar Dog for the first time recently.
What's something that anyone visiting Philly should do?
I'm just laughing 'cause I'm not from here. But my favorite restaurant is Terakawa Ramen in Chinatown. If I'm here for, like, a few hours, I will go out of my way to try to go there. And my favorite activity: I used to have a bike. I loved biking by the museum and down the river. Every time I come in on the train, I'm like: "Oh, I just wish I had my bike."
What is a record by a Philly Made artist that everyone should check out, and why?
It's Shirley Scott's record. It's either called "Girl Talk," or the song "Girl Talk" is on it. I love that record. To me, that's so Philly.
If there was one word that described Philly for you, what would that word be?
I would say “heartfelt.” A lot of people here in the jazz scene are from Philly or from the surrounding area. That means a lot to them. And now it means a lot to me, and I'm not even from here. Like, I think that's really beautiful.
