In my original post introducing this musician, who I considered to be a moving force in the universe, was on September 29, 2012 when I published “Please Welcome Victor Haskins”.
At that time I predicted his continued success and I wanted to share his talents with my readers. As in all predictions, sometimes you get it right and sometimes you learn to eat your words. I am pleased to announce that my earlier predictions are continuing to come true for this unique individual and for that reason; I have asked Mr. Haskins to share “in his own words” what has transpired during these past three years.
In his own words-
“I have launched into a number of new ventures over the last several years. In 2013, I released my debut album—“The Truth”—which contained seven of my original compositions for an improvising quintet. Later that year I began to be an endorsing artist for Sonaré Pro Brass (trumpets and flugelhorns) and Denis Wick (mouthpieces and mutes). In 2014, I created the content for and began directing the Jazz Outreach program for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and later in 2014 I announced the official release of a new musical genre/concept called ImproviStory.
ImproviStory combines improvisation, audience interaction, and storytelling to generate unique musical experiences. It is a concept that I developed as a result of trying to find a way to connect with audiences in an improvisational setting where nobody needed to “understand” anything about music to appreciate and relate to what was being played. Instead, those present during the performance use their imaginations to access and control the direction of the where the music goes and what it means, thus involving the audience in a deeper way than they would normally be involved with a musical exhibition. I have been working (successfully) to get ImproviStory in front of different audiences, and especially in front of kids in educational settings.
After the release of my album, I changed my main ensemble project from a quintet to a trio (consisting of cornet, bass, drums), which was called the Victor Haskins Trio. In May of this year (2015), I began to learn how to play the Electronic Wind Instrument (EWI for short), and when I added this element to my trio, it changed the sound and my concept for what the ensemble would do and sound like, so the trio became Victor Haskins’ Skein (cornet/EWI, bass, drums), which just had its debut performance at the Richmond Jazz Festival.
In addition to my musical activities, I began dancing salsa in December of 2014, and as of June 2015, I have become a salsa dance instructor and I regularly host salsa-dancing events”!
Now enjoy a few of his videos which demonstrate his talents both as a performer as well as an articulate spokesman for his artistry-
ImproviStory TEDx talk:
Live Kennedy Center Jazz Outreach Ensemble performance:
