“To be honest, people find it shocking I never wanted to be a musician,” he said. “As a child, I wanted to work at NASA. I was going to space. I wanted to be an astronaut. I told myself if that didn’t work, I also wanted to be a fireman. My dad said, ‘Trust me, if you’re a musician, you’ll be able to see the world, meet many people and experience different cultures.’
“I didn’t want that,” Wolf continued. “I kept telling him, ‘Yeah, that’s cool but I really want to be in space.’ He said, ‘Trust me on this, just stick to the music.’ He taught me many things in life when I was a kid, but I will say he made me do music.”
While the young stargazer still resisted the idea of going pro, Wolf soon became proficient on not just vibes but also piano and drums.
“Growing up in my house, my dad had me playing everything,” he said. “A lot of people know me mainly as a vibes player but that’s not the case with me. My dad gave me an equal amount of training on drum set, piano and vibes and marimbas. I play all those instruments equally well.
“They’re pretty much all on the same level,” Wolf continued. “The general public has basically made vibes the choice for me, which is totally fine. I’m just happy I’m able to work playing jazz in 2024.”
Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO ROY COX
Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO ROY COX
A change of heart
Wolf’s conversion moment also occurred at an early age.
“Things changed big time for me with my middle school jazz band, even though we didn’t play anything closely related to jazz,” he said. “We’d more or less play pop tunes like ‘Eye of the Tiger.’ My solos then consisted of me playing tunes off the radio that were very popular in like 1991. When I played those songs, I saw the joy it brought my classmates.
“I really didn’t enjoy it until then,” Wolf continued. “The reactions of my classmates in middle school really started me on my music career. My thinking back then was, ‘Wow, if my classmates enjoy me playing like this, what can happen if I really start to take music seriously?’ At that moment, I decided to buckle down and really focus on practicing.”
Wolf fully devoted himself to music. He continued to study and perform throughout high school at Baltimore School for the Arts. He attended Berklee College of Music and graduated in 2001. He is currently a faculty member at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Md. and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in California.
Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO ROY COX
Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO ROY COX
On the move
Wolf, 44, leads his own band and has released albums such as “Wolfgang” (2013), “Reincarnation” (2020) and “Chano Pozo: Origins” (2023). The in-demand multi-instrumentalist is also a member of SFJazz Collective and Christian McBride & Inside Straight. With these various commitments, it’s not surprising Wolf ushered in 2024 with a full slate of live performances.
“January was super packed and it’s the same with February,” he said. “When you’re one of the top performers in the world you’re always working. I had my first gig on New Year’s Day. That was gig number one. I was on the Jazz Cruise for a week, I had a couple of gigs with Christian McBride, and I’ve done a couple of things with my own band. My schedule for the next five months is very crazy. Weirdly enough things slow down in the summer.
“It didn’t use to be that way,” he continued. “A lot of people are still doing things in the summer. I have some work but not as much as it used to be. The majority of my work always comes in the fall, winter and spring. That could be because of flight costs. Everybody is traveling on vacation during the summer. Flights go way up that time of year so it becomes very costly to travel, let alone tour.”
Wolf’s schedule may slow down in the summer, but he’ll keep rolling along until then.
“I’ll be in Europe for like a month straight, from March 7 to April 7,” he said. “For about two weeks it will be with jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant. She composed this jazz opera, or you could call it a jazz fantasy called ‘Ogresse.’ It was orchestrated by Darcy James Argue. It’s a pretty large band with about 18 people. We have a couple of others that specifically handle the lighting, sound and things like that so it’s a lot of people.”
Life is a delicate balancing act for Wolf, who has a 7-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son with his current wife and three children ages 17, 20 and 23 from his first marriage.
“Time management is how I get through all of it,” Wolf said. “After Europe, I’m home for a few days and then I head out with the SFJazz Collective for about two weeks. Right after that, I’m coming home for a day or so and then I have a couple of residencies to do with my own group. “I’m also really big into fitness,” Wolf added. “I exercise a lot, so I try to make sleep a priority. I want to make sure I get enough sleep in order to function properly for my students and for my family at all times. It’s teaching, traveling, gigs, family time and gym time. My life really is a nonstop locomotive train.”
Contact this contributing writer at 937-287-6139 or donthrasher100@gmail.com.
How to go
Who: Cityfolk Jazznet Legacy Concert Series presents Warren Wolf with the UD Faculty Jazztet
Where: University of Dayton’s Sears Recital Hall, 300 College Park Dr., Dayton
When: 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28
Cost: $18 general public, free for UD students, faculty and staff
More info: https://udayton.edu and www.warrenwolf.com
About the Author
