Theo Croker Recalls a Trumpet Mentor, Marcus Belgrave, Before a Winter Jazzfest Salute

Summary: Theo Croker vividly remembers his first lesson with Detroit’s brass hero Marcus Belgrave. It was an encounter that rattled Croker to his core — leaving him in tears and forcing him to come to grips with his shortcomings and aspirations. Though he was already studying trumpet at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and a grandson of the New Orleans trumpet great Doc Cheatham, that first lesson called everything into question.