A 10 Year Evolution of Victor Haskins  

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 If you have been following our “every two-year update” on the evolution of this creative musician, the name Victor Haskins might be familiar. 

 My first encounter with Mr. Haskins’ musical abilities prompted my first post back in 2012- Please welcome Victor Haskins – Trumpet Blog (thetrumpetblog.com) 

 Our second post Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome back to our stage, Mr. Victor Haskins”. – Trumpet Blog (thetrumpetblog.com)followed on August 24, 2015. 

 The third post, entitled My “2017” Update on our Friend Victor Haskins – Trumpet Blog (thetrumpetblog.com) appeared on January 6, 2017. 

 The fourth installment appeared on this site on April 7, 2019- Victor Haskins Revisited, again and again and again – Trumpet Blog (thetrumpetblog.com) 

 My interest in Mr. Haskins was first prompted by his amazing ability to negotiate chord changes with the mastery of John Coltrane, the technical skills of Charlie Parker, the lyricism of Bix Beiderbecke and the creativity of Miles Davis. 

 The reason for my motivation to follow his evolution might be foreign to some, but when I first heard his recordings, I knew that I was listening to a musician who had something special. His history in the past ten years reinforced my prediction for his success. 

 Mr. Haskins’ drive to better himself is apparent and when asked to share his vision of his musical future, he responded with the following- 

“I continue to find new ways to grow more deeply, and to expand my understanding of myself and the world laterally.  These functions are intertwined: the deeper one goes, the wider one’s net becomes; similarly, the further one can see with their telescope, the more details can become visible under their microscope.  In terms of music and art, I have written a lot of original music based on my life experiences and growth.  I released an album of original music in 2019, and I have at least 2 (and possibly 3) albums worth of original music which I am currently (November 2021) in the process of recording with two different versions of my main musical ensemble–Victor Haskins & SKEIN.  At least one of these albums will come out in the Spring of 2022.  My goal for the records is to capture and engineer the recordings myself during live performances.  I play cornet and EWI (electronic wind instrument) with custom sounds I designed.  My solo, sound-based multimedia project, Victor Haskins & ImproviStory, has created several powerful presentations in the last few years for various situations.  We presented new original work at a teacher-professional development seminar, twice at a large-scale art installation, and once through a grant I was awarded

Through my never-ending quest to be as expressive and articulate of an artist as possible, my work has led me to become a functional bass player (via the EWI), and most recently, a functional piano player.  Being able to navigate these two very different musical worlds from the trumpet world has made me a better teacher, composer, and bandleader.  The takeaway from all of what I am saying is that if our goal is to continue to learn, we will find all kinds of unexpected surprises that will take us on a magical and unique journey.  Find the experiences (both professionally and personally!) that feed your spirit.  Those are the things that will make life worth living.  Those are the things that will make the hard times more bearable”.

To Learn even more about this amazing musician, visit his website at: http://victorhaskins.com/ 

Bruce was a member of the faculty at the University of Northern Iowa, School of Music in Cedar Falls from 1969 until his retirement in 1999. He has performed with many well-known entertainers such as Bob Hope, Jim Nabors, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Anita Bryant, Carman Cavalara, Victor Borgie, the Four Freshman, Blackstone the Magician, Bobby Vinton and John Davidson.

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