Raised from the fires of (now infamous) Ferguson, Missouri, Keyon Harrold has developed a reputation as one of the world’s most sought-after, emotionally electric young trumpeters on the scene. His latest album, The Mugician, examines our troubled times through a far wider lens than any one tragedy. Sweeping and cinematic, the music draws on elements of jazz, classical, rock, blues, and hip-hop to create something uniquely modern, unmistakably American, and triumphantly cohesive—thanks to Harrold’s virtuosic skill as a trumpeter and songwriter, and his relentlessly optimistic belief in brighter days to come.