Trumpeter and pianist plead guilty to $1.3 million fraud

Trumpeter and pianist plead guilty to $1.3 million fraud

main

norman lebrecht

November 11, 2020

The jazz virtuoso Irvin Mayfield has pleaded guilty to defrauding New Orleans Public Library Foundation of $1.3 million to buy a trumpet, pay himself a $100,000 salary and book his orchestra at Carnegie Hall.

His pianist Ronald Markham admitted to the same charge.

They await sentencing.

Full story here.

Comments

  • Ben G. says:

    How can you not break the law when you’re a TRUMP-eter?
    It seems that those 5 letters seem to stigmatize anyone and anything they encounter with a bad omen…. 😉

  • Bill says:

    I don’t know about the other stuff, but the best Trumpet money can by will set you back about $12,000. But most top shelf players manage on $2000-$4000 horns. Whatever he spent that 1,000,000 on, it wasn’t a Trumpet.

  • Rob says:

    Seems to be a talented trumpeter and let’s face it, the governments around the planet are robbing the poor on a daily basis. The world economy is a massive ponzi scheme.

  • Alexander Graham Cracker says:

    Not exactly old news, but certainly long-percolating: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irvin_Mayfield#New_Orleans_Library_scandal P.S.: As a New Orleans guy, Mayfield almost certainly pulled the lever for Biden.

  • Lord Bus Stop says:

    This sucks (regardless of airflow). New Orleans has many great musicians and never enough money. What’s more, our trumpeters are local heroes.

  • Sue Sonata Form says:

    Lest it be thought that musicians are morally superior to anybody else, this example proves once again that the morality of society moves vertically through all the stratem and not simply horizontally through one.

  • Sashimi says:

    RESPECT! As a violinist I couldn’t buy even a broken Strad with that, but for a trumpet player, not bad at all! Hope it was worth it bud

  • Patricia says:

    I am willing to be he can’t play a Baroque trumpet. That requires real talent.

  • Rich Patina says:

    He is evidently quite accomplished at tooting his own horn.

  • David K. Nelson says:

    The Wikipedia article indicates that 1) this is well-seasoned news and 2) it was a 24 karat gold plated trumpet.

  • miles junior says:

    only way a jazz trumpeter should have gotten 1.3 mil is if miles davis himself came back from the grave.

  • Mr. Knowitall says:

    Focusing on that trumpet misses the point, although it is attractive headline foder. It appears as though the custom commentative trumpet was meant to be public property that Mayfield could use, like a loaner violin. The bulk of the charges are for misdirecting funds to inflated salaries and support for concerts outside of New Orleans. https://www.basinstreetrecords.com/the-elysian-trumpet-is-unveiled/

  • MOST READ TODAY: