For Jon Lampley, the trumpeter for the house band on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” every day begins with movement and intention. Whether he’s grinding coffee beans in his Brooklyn kitchen or lacing up his running shoes, he approaches each morning as if it were the first notes of a song — deliberate, focused and alive with possibility.
The discipline comes naturally to Mr. Lampley, 35, who has been with the “Late Show” band since 2015, first under Jon Batiste’s leadership and now with Louis Cato at the helm. He also co-founded the jazz-funk band Huntertones and tours with O.A.R., adapting his personal rhythm to whatever the music and the moment demands.
His days flow between the sacred and the secular, rooted in the gospel traditions of his Akron, Ohio, upbringing. He lives in a one-bedroom apartment in Park Slope.
Mr. Lampley recently talked about how he spent a busy Tuesday in his private studio and taping “The Late Show” at the Ed Sullivan Theater in Manhattan.
This interview has been condensed and lightly edited.
RISE AND SHINE I wake up between 6:15 and 7 a.m. and go for a run in Prospect Park. Even on a day when I’m not working out, I like to move through the morning without feeling rushed. I usually make either oatmeal or eggs and spinach for breakfast, but I got a ham and cheese croissant at Variety since my coffee pourer broke.
GETTING IN SOME GREENERY I’m fortunate to live right next to Prospect Park, so I pop in, do a loop and head home. It’s a little more than three and a half miles, and it’s nice in the morning because it’s not too hot. It’s good to experience trees at the beginning of the day, specifically in a city where most of the day is spent commuting on a subway underground or being surrounded by buildings.
SOUNDTRACK FOR THE DAY Once I’m out of bed, I put on music that reflects my mood or head space, whether it’s a chill morning or I’m trying to hype myself up. Emily King is perfect for any morning, because it’s a low-key, chill sound, but there’s good energy to her music. I like having music on all the time. I always have a soundtrack happening in my world.
COFFEE TIME I’m really into coffee. What are the different beans? Why do they taste good? I’ve looked into different processes of hand pouring. When I’m on the road traveling with O.A.R. or Huntertones, I try to find really good coffee shops. I started to get into the culture a little bit, and then I dove into doing it at home. Every morning, before I get out into the world, I grind the beans and I have the whole dripper set up. The ritual of pouring gives me something to really focus on at the beginning of every day.
ROUTINE ON THE ROAD When I’m on the road, it is much less structured than when I’m home. On some tours, I get to the city at 2 p.m., and the gig is at 9. So if I want to work out, I have to see if I have time to work out before soundcheck or after soundcheck. But then the next day, the van leaves at 7 a.m. and we’re not going to get to where we’re going until 3.
BOOK BAG Having a book on the living room table helps. If I’m looking at it — if I wake up and it’s there — it’s easy. I read a little bit. I usually read nonfiction in the morning, like a biography or a historical account. Currently, I’m reading “A Promised Land” by Barack Obama. I have a different book in my bag if I’m reading on a commute — typically fiction. Sometimes it’s sci-fi.
SECRET STUDIO My studio is my own little cubbyhole. You go down a staircase to walk in, and it’s underground. There’s no windows in my little room, but I set up warm lighting so it feels very cozy. I’ve got stuff on the walls that makes it feel homey. There’s an Ohio State flag, a LeBron James print, a signed Jalen Brunson jersey. When I walk in, I feel like I’m entering my sacred space.
Some days, I just practice trumpet for 30 minutes. I warm up, I work on music I have to play or learn, and then I dive into recording projects. After spending about two and a half hours at the studio, I grab my second coffee at Variety near my studio — a cortado with oat milk — and hop on the train to head to rehearsal at “The Late Show.”
SONGS AND SUSHI Rehearsals are typically on Mondays, and we rehearse all of the music we’re going to play for the week. For two hours, we run through everything we need to run through for the week, and the rest of the week, we show up a little later. But this rehearsal day is longer. It started at 12:30 and went to 3. There are a lot of sushi spots near the theater that have a lunch special, and I’m usually able to catch the very tail end.
ZONING OUT After lunch, I head back to the theater. We have a dressing room with two sections — a section to chill and a section to warm up, get ready, play and make some noise. I always zone out for 10 to 15 minutes, take a nap, scroll on my phone and turn off my brain.
Up until this point in the day, it’s a lot of thinking and playing. Sometimes when I’m at my studio, I’m playing with different bands, working on my own next record or working on a podcast I’m hosting or producing. At my studio, I often address the things I need to do not just musically, but logistically. So by the time I get to that 4 p.m. slot post-lunch, I need 15 minutes to turn my brain off. If I don’t do that, inevitably, I end up pulling out my laptop.
SHOWTIME Around 4:30, I start to warm up. Play a little bit on the trumpet. Listen through the music we’re going to be playing on the show that evening. Around 4:45, I get dressed. We have a wardrobe team, so I change into my show clothes, and at 5, I go down to the hair and makeup chair, and they make me look pretty. The team is really amazing. And then at 5:15, we’re set to be backstage. We take the stage, warm up the crowd and tape the show. After we wrap up, I hop on the train and stop at Pasta Louise in Park Slope for dinner — cacio e pepe and a glass of wine.
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