Conn Vintage One
August 12, 2008
Since the Conn Vintage One (aka Wicked Connie) is the trumpet I have chosen to play, I figured it would be a good place to start my equipment writings. This horn is sweet, combining the best of classic CG Conn trumpets with a modern design. It has a 459” bore size (11.66mm), hand lapped monel pistons, a patented Modular Valve Weight (MVW) system kit, a 1-1/2 CKB mouthpiece, a deluxe double case and carries a Five year warranty.
The Vintage Ones all come with an annealed one-piece hand hammered bell and can be purchased with a variety of bell materials and horn finishes. The bells come in yellow brass, rose brass bell or sterling silver.
Vintage One Brochure (requires Adobe Reader for viewing)
A purchaser had this to say about the Vintage One, “I own several trumpets as do most pro players and I found myself gravitating to the Vintage One over all the others (which include a vintage Benge, Martin, Yamaha, and Schilke). These are all great horns but the Conn Vintage One combines the intonation and slotting of a Schilke with the rich warm sound of a Martin. It plays clear and colorful in all registers and really sings. I love the fast short throw valves.”
The Vintage One is available to you through my online Trumpet Superstore. Buy one today, you’ll be glad you did!
Roy Hargrove Quintet, ‘Earfood’
August 12, 2008
You’ve all heard of ‘eye candy,’ well this one is most assuredly not just ‘Earfood’ it’s candy for the ears!
Roy’s goal on this project was “to have a recording that is steeped in tradition and sophistication, while maintaining a sense of melodic simplicity.” He truly achieved that goal and then some. Roy Hargrove, one of the ‘young lions’ to arrive on the scene in the late eighties and early nineties, is continuing to do very nice things. With a style most closely aligned with Lee Morgan, Roy knows how to sound like a ‘badboy’. This compilation is masterful, taking post-bop to the next level. Roy has beautiful and warm ballad ability and demonstrates that here as well.
|
The tracks are:
1. I’m Not So Sure |
Mathias Eick
August 12, 2008
Recently I came across an upcoming jazz player, trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist, Mathias Eick. Mathias was the 2007 Recipient of the International Jazz Award for new talent. I was impressed with his style and sound. The Guardian aptly described his playing as, “silky un-brass like sound…an undulating groove landscape.”
Mathias has previously worked with the divergent likes of Chick Corea and the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra to Norwegian psychedelic rock band Motorpsycho.
[Read more]
Visualization
August 12, 2008
Unlike a piano or guitar that are color-coded and allow for one to consider multiple notes at a time, the trumpet is not an instrument that lends itself to harmonic visualization while playing. We only have three keys to choose from, so we must learn to practice visualizing in our minds what it is we want to play. I noticed that prior to playing anything in the upper register, Louis Armstrong’s eyes would look to the heavens. I can only assume that was his way of visually telling his mind what he wanted to occur. Perhaps not exactly the example I would like to convey, but worth some thought.
Just like the lungs and lips, the mind needs to be warmed up and focused too. You might want to begin thinking about your playing throughout the day, without your horn in hand, and practice visualizing various scales and other musical idioms. This approach will get the mind thinking about your musical desires and also help you to practice planning out your musical efforts in advance of a session. It will also make the physical aspect of your playing come easier when the actual time comes to either practice or execute.
Back to my thought about Louis’ eyes, I also recommend getting in the habit of thinking about a passage before you play it. You will be surprised as to how much this will improve your execution. In addition to the mental visualization thing, I recommend singing whenever possible. This also will greatly assist with the physical side of playing.
Scat singing might be a way for you to simply practice your singing ability, regardless of any particular passage. Scatting will aid you in opening up your throat and of course relaxing!
Personality Disorder or Disorder of Personality?
August 12, 2008
I recently came across a quote regarding the trumpet that struck me as crass but quite intuitive. The quote was, “the trumpet is not an instrument, it’s a personality disorder.” Now, I’ve heard some disparaging lines about trumpet players before, but wow! OK, well the quote may be a bit strong, but think about that for a moment. To be a good trumpet player, you definitely have to have a strong will. Not only does a good trumpet player have to be a good musician, but they must also be a self-counseling psychologist, a manager, a leader, a breath yogi, internally powered air compressor, and of course a musical gymnast. Each of these traits, of course, contains numerous subsets.
[Read more]
Freddie Hubbard – Fantasy in D
August 11, 2008
New Trumpet Store & More, Here For You Now!
August 7, 2008
Trumpet Dude is pleased to announce the grand opening of its Trumpet Superstore. You may enter this store at anytime of the day or night, seven days a week. How cool is that? This store carries all the top brands of the highest quality and the best deals anywhere. [Read more]
2,3, Bopdoodle-ooo
August 6, 2008
In the last doodle, I began talking about jazz improvisation as its own language and conversation. It is just that, but of course there has to be more than questions and answers. As ‘jazzheads’ we need to be able to make statements, sentences and paragraphs. A statement can be thought of as any ‘phrase’ that is longer than two bars. [Read more]
Happy Birthday Louis Daniel Armstrong!!
August 4, 2008
Happy Birthday Louis Daniel Armstrong!!
August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971, although Louis thought that he was born July 4, 1900!
Trumpeter, Vocalist, Bandleader, Actor, All-round Great Guy
[Read more]
Life on Jazz
August 2, 2008
Personally, between you and me, coming up with new ideas and sounds and executing them nicely, is the biggest rush that I receive from playing music. I think that to be creative you must attempt it often, not just in your music, but in your overall life. I call this, ‘Life on Jazz.’
Now, I’ve termed this column, ‘creativity,’ but it’s not going to be limited to the literal sense of that word. The process of being creative involves numerous subjects. Although from time to time I will be discussing various aspects of ‘creativity’ in the “Playing/Improvisation’ section of this site and also within the ‘Player Well Being’ section, I think that it is a broad enough and important enough topic that the dividends of its pursuit are worthy of a separate section. [Read more]
