Joey Sommerville

Joey Sommerville has performed and recorded with the rock group Phish. He has worked with Prince's bassist Rhonda Smith on her new release "Intellipop." And, he was the featured soloist on Cirque de Soleil's Grammy-nominated album "Alegria." The trumpeter-songwriter-music producer also has contributed music composition and voice-over work to commercials for McDonald's, Ford, the NBA, and the U.S. Army. Sommerville, a 1978 graduate of St. Francis de Sales High School who now lives in Atlanta with his wife, Jean Barrett, returns to Toledo tomorrow to give a luncheon concert in Gladieux Meadows. Sommerville said his passion for music began while he was growing up in Toledo. "When I was a teenager, I would judge the caliber of my playing by the number of people in the congregation who 'got happy,' " he said of his hometown church, St. Paul Baptist. Sommerville's parents, Joseph and Mattie Sommerville, still live in Toledo. Sommerville attended Ohio State University as a music major, but transferred to Florida A&M University. After college, he worked various jobs, but the trumpet, songwriting, and music production beckoned. "Eventually, passion and love always win," Sommerville said in an interview from his Atlanta studio. "I'm not world-famous, but I've worked with some talented people in the business and I make a pretty decent living doing what I love to do." Sommerville released his latest album, "Ride To This," a 14-track CD of contemporary jazz tunes on the Sojo Music label. Read more at http://www.toledoblade.com/Music-Theater-Dance/2004/06/04/Trumpeter-comes-home-for-concert.html#M0tbY9Z8KwF7WgQA.99