When Loyola jazz instructor Frank Mayes was 15 years old, he sneaked backstage after a Louis Armstrong performance to get the great trumpet player’s autograph.”I got this incredible feeling of love and warmth,” Mayes said. “I thought that maybe one day I could do what he was doing.”Since that day, Mayes has pursued a life devoted to music. He has his name on albums recorded by some of the biggest names in music. He has played in venues where just going to watch a performance is a goal for some musicians.”People tell me I should write a book,” Mayes said with a laugh.Part of that life in music brought him to Loyola, where he teaches a course called “Jazz in American Culture.” “About ten years ago, Tony Dagradi [Loyola music professor] asked me if I want to teach the class,” Mayes said. “It touches on different styles of Jazz and how they relate to American culture.”Mayes first felt a powerful love of music when he was a child growing up in North Carolina in the 1940s.”I had this one Duke Ellington album,” Mayes recalled. “My parents didn’t have a record player, so I would take it over to the neighbor’s. I would play the same song over and over again… The trumpet had this ‘wah-wah’ sound, and I thought it was talking to me.”With that inspiration, Mayes began to learn the fundamentals of piano and saxophone by playing in school bands.His education brought him to North Texas State – or University of North Texas as it is known today – to dig deeper into the art of music.”I went there at a really good time,” Mayes said. “I was able to learn so much from the people around me.”After graduating, Mayes moved to California. There he lived in San Francisco and Los Angeles.”In 1966, my house burned down, and I lost all of my tuxedos. So I couldn’t play any gigs,” he said. “I lost a lot [of albums] in the fire, too. Some, I can’t even remember what they are.”Mayes said that this led him to turn from Big Band music to playing more Rock ‘n’ Roll.”I was sick of playing for people older than me anyway. I wanted to play for people my age.”Mayes then enjoyed a successful career. He recorded with artists such as the Beach Boys and Arlo Guthrie. He played Carnegie Hall – three times — and the Filmore West.Mayes earned his master’s degree at California State, and in 1977 he returned home to North Carolina, where he taught at Barton College. But it was not long before life began to change again. Mayes met his wife Cindy, who was also in the music industry, in Pensacola, Fla.”We got married and took our honeymoon in New Orleans. We both fell in love with it.” Mayes said. “We spent a few years trying to figure out how we could move [to New Orleans] without being jobless… In 1985 we decided to just do it.”[I made money] by playing music. … I played with people like Aaron Neville and Allen Toussaint. … I just started to build a reputation.”Mayes also taught at Xavier University. In 1988, Dagradi asked him if he had ever taught woodwinds.”I said, ‘Yeah, that’s what I used to do,'” Mayes replied, and so began his teaching career at Loyola.In the early 1990s, Dagradi again came to Mayes — this time to ask if he would teach “Jazz in American Culture.”With between 30 and 40 students enrolled each semester, the class has enjoyed considerable success.”He always used really interesting lingo, like ‘jive’ and ‘cat,'” said Lauren Jaffe, communications junior, who took the course. “The class really broadened my interests in music.”Mayes still performs as well as teaches. He has composed and recorded for television and plays for Loyola alumnus Al Belletto and his Big Band. His performances have included Mardi Gras Balls, Tom Benson’s Super Bowl party and the Louisiana Jazz and Heritage Festival. In fact, Mayes does not see the end of his career near. He and his wife are renovating their garage into a music recording studio.”I don’t plan on retiring,” Mayes said. He said he still hopes to record in different styles of jazz, and the new studio will allow him to do that. “I want more creative control,” Mayes said.Mayes said he believes that this will come in time. “I let things happen in a pretty natural course,” Mayes said. “When I was young, I listened to Fats Domino’s “Blue Monday” and admired [the trumpet playing of] Dave Bartholomew… I’ve been able to play with him. Those kind of things are the experience of a lifetime.”

Loyola music instructor Frank Mayes practices his jazz chops. Maye’s up-tempo life and laid-back personality have taken him on an American jazz journey. He has played with the likes of the Beach Boys and Dr. John. (Ignacio Chacon)