Listen • 2:21 Trumpeter and composer Rod McGaha has a sound that translates through many dialects in the tradition of Black American Music. Nicknamed the Preacherman, he has a vocal and roots-driven timbre on the instrument as distinct as his choice of notes. The sensibilities in McGaha's sound can be traced to fellow Midwest trumpet heroes such as Miles Davis, Lester Bowie and Clark Terry. Growing up in Chicago, McGaha developed musically on local bandstands and abroad with explorers like Von Freeman and Steve Coleman, along with rhythm-and-blues singer-songwriter Gene Chandler. When Clark Terry heard a 21-year-old McGaha perform, he took note and invited the young trumpeter to an invitational band workshop that mentored and trained promising musicians. As an alum of both the Ellington and Basie bands, Terry taught McGaha a sound that was swinging and conversational.