TROY SAWYER, the winner of the Outstanding Millennial Award for Music presented by Offbeat magazine, is an accomplished trumpeter, composer, and educator from New Orleans, who is continuing the legacy of his great grandfather, Louis D. James, who played strings with the great Louis Armstrong and co-wrote songs with Buddy Bolden. Through hard work and inspiration, Sawyer has made quite a name for himself through his talent, not only on the Big Easy music scene, but on a national and international level as well.  

 From picking up the violin at the age of four to gravitating to the trumpet at the age of nine, to performing in various capacities at St. Augustine High School, the Heritage School of Music, the Satchmo Jazz Camp, to touring extensively throughout Spain with One-A-Chord, France with the Voices of the Big Easy and many other places around the world.

SAWYER has played at noted venues and festivals in New Orleans including Tipitina’s, Sweet Lorraine’s Jazz Club, Snug Harbor, Bacchanal, King Bolden’s, Irvin Mayfield’s Jazz Playhouse, Blue Nile, Satchmo Festival and New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

 SAWYER has opened for and played with legends Lalah Hathaway, Wynton Marsalis, Harry Connick Jr., Regina Belle, Bill Summers, Raheem Davaughn, Ruben Studdard, George Lopez, and the NBA’s New Orleans Hornets.  

 Post-Katrina, SAWYER spent time performing in Texas before a stint with Blakes Amose’s Brazilian Band in New York City. SAWYER returned to New Orleans during Mardi Gras 2006 to step out as a bandleader, which gave birth to the creation of the Troy Sawyer Trio and thereafter, Troy Sawyer and the Elementz. Troy Sawyer and the Elementz are the present and the future, with their new sound breaking through New Orleans’ music scene with its funky latin, jazz, soul rock fusion sound.  

 SAWYER believes in passing the tradition down to the next generation and giving back to the community, which was taught to him by his mother, Janice E. Sawyer and the great Educators that he has studied with such as Edward “Kidd” Jordan, August Fluery, Ron Banko, Herman Lebeaux, the late Alvin Batiste and Clyde Kerr Jr. 

 He also studied music at Xavier University, University of Texas, and Southern University where he received his B. A. in Music Education in 2008. As an educator, Sawyer has taught music in the charter school system for the past nine years. 

 Now residing in the N.O. Musicians’ Village, this dedicated and disciplined player is a consummate student, who isn’t above practicing for hours a day to hone his craft and perfect his technique.

 “I approach the trumpet like a saxophone player meaning that I play complex musical ideas that are difficult to play on the trumpet, but are easier to play on a sax,” said SAWYER, who also counts Lee Morgan, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie as inspirations. “When I play, every note has a meaning and color.” – Troy Sawyer