Mind, Air, Chops (MAC)
December 3, 2008
I intended about a month ago or so to write an article sharing some insights I had gleaned from my own efforts and from what I had read in some of the entries on the TPIN site. Sadly, I did not get to it until now and have forgotten exactly what it is I wanted to convey. However, in my efforts to locate what it was I wanted to share, I came across some other thoughts that will hopefully be useful. [Read more]
Upcoming Clifford Brown Symposium and Concert Series
October 15, 2008
Clifford Brown passed over the rainbow at an early age in a year before I was born. His life was cut very short but his music remains and thankfully lives on. If you have not had the privilege to hear the magic he created with his horn, please give a listen to the MP3 I’ve inserted here. Of course, if you can attend the Symposium entitled, ‘Brownie Speaks’ which is being held in the Philadelphia area October 30th through November 1st, by all means please do!
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Watch out Trumpets, the Cornets are making a comeback!
October 12, 2008
Cornets! What the heck is a cornet? Sounds like some kind of flying saucer!
Just kidding. But until I came across Dennis Gonzales’ video a few weeks ago, I hadn’t thought about cornets since High School, some thirty plus years ago! I also forgot about the pretty sound you can produce on them. Well, it started me to thinking I needed to add a cornet to my arsenal. In the process I came across a real gem that I wanted to share with you all.
There’s this guy named Nick DeCarlis, who started to play as a kid, quit, and later, while in college, taught himself how to play. Well, since that time, he’s become a collector/restorer, gifted cornet player and avid promoter of jazz music. There is some really neat stuff on his web page ‘vintagecornets’, including an article and photos of cornets with two bells. I have placed some of the links to Nick’s sites below. Check these sites out and find out what the ‘Cornet Conspiracy’ is all about. Also, if you haven’t listened to the Dennis Gonzales video, please do!
TD
http://www.pocketcornets.com/index.html
http://www.decadesign.com/scptest/classicjazzbrochure.pdf
Trumpet Players Extravaganza
September 11, 2008
A dedicated lot of extraordinary musicians and trumpet players will present their sixth ‘Festival of New Trumpet Music,’ beginning this Saturday. The festival will run from September 13 through the 28 at various venues around New York City.
Festival of New Trumpet Music is a two-week celebration of the diverse contemporary music scene, including its international contributors. Through a series of commissioned works, concerts, master classes and panels it focuses on the multitude of ways the trumpet is being sounded, and in the most grassroots sense it brings players and communities together in an embrace of creative culture. This year’s festival will open with their first award of recognition. The award will be presented to Wadada Leo Smith for his visionary musical and cultural analysis, his revolutionary approach to composition and of course his brilliant brass playing. In addition, FONT Music 2008 is commissioning new music from three extraordinary players: Chris DiMeglio, Nabaté Isles, and Reut Regev. Participants will also witness a host of new collaborations amongst trumpeters of varied persuasions, including performances by Dave Douglas, Ralph Alessi, Avishai Cohen, Ingrid Jensen, Jeremy Pelt, Ambrose Akinmusire, and many others. FONT asserts that, “far from an exhaustive survey, these two weeks are but a small sampling from the vast ocean of current practice – how it has changed the world of brass and been changed by it.” FONT Director, Curator and Trumpeter, Dave Douglas says, “the sea change here is in the radical, dangerous proposal for the coexistence of all music, a dismantling of all the institutional barriers erected to preserve the separation of genres and communities. Our mission in brass is to proclaim this all over the city, with a clear tone and a pure sound, as a font of inspiration: that all music is one.”
Trumpet players and fans, this is one festival you don’t want to miss!
Bill Chase – Jazz Rocks!
September 10, 2008
Jazz Rocks!!
This has always been one of my favorite jazz genres. I mean it was the first sort of rock I heard. Although my mother was a very capable singer with a beautiful voice, the music available in the household was fairly limited, Perry Como, Johnny Mathis, Nat King Cole. Soft stuff, you know. No Elvis or Beatles or anything close. When I started playing the trumpet, I gravitated to the trumpet records by Louis Armstrong, Al Hirt, and of course the old ‘Echoes of an Era’ Maynard Ferguson Orchestra stuff. So, when my friends showed up one day with the Bill Chase ‘Pure Music’ album, I was completely blown away. Mind you, I was all of 12 years old at the time. To this day, that is still one of my favorites. Although, I now find myself listening to Bill Chase’s ‘Ennea’ album more than the others. Strange what age will do to you! I mean if you want a practice work out, start transcribing and playing some of that stuff. Four highly skilled trumpet players playing just absolutely amazing. Songs like Poseidon and Zeus. Oh yeah!
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Happy Birthday to Kenny Dorham
August 30, 2008
McKinley Howard Dorham, aka Kenny Dorham
August 30, 1924 – December 5, 1972.
Trumpet Dude salutes one of the best today, Happy Birthday Kenny! Yes, Kenny Dorham was one of the best voices to ever travel the trajectories of a trumpet. While his playing voice was incredible, he never received the accolades he should have from the jazz establishment, always overshadowed by the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Lee Morgan, Clifford Brown and Fats Navarro. Perhaps this is simply because he didn’t have a flamboyant personality like the others. I can only speculate, but in fact, he was referred to as ‘quiet Kenny.’ Regardless, his playing has stood the test of time and is now considered some of the best and a must listen for any aspiring jazz trumpeter today. I myself had not heard of Kenny until trumpeter Dave Scott turned me on to him some years ago, asserting that Kenny was his favorite. To this day, I am utterly amazed and challenged by the music that Kenny composed in his improvisations.
[Read more]
Happy Birthday Art Farmer!
August 20, 2008
Happy Birthday Art Farmer!
Arthur Stewart Farmer, August 21, 1928 – October 4, 1999.
I would like to say a special Happy Birthday to one of my personal mentors, Art Farmer. Art began performing as a jazz trumpeter in the 1940’s and 50’s. He, along with Clark Terry, was influential in bringing the flugelhorn into the sounds of jazz. He also later played what I just learned was called a Flumpet, a combination trumpet and flugelhorn designed for him by David Monette.
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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.
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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]
Life Force
August 2, 2008
In order to play the trumpet well you must be in strong health, mentally and physically. As such, I have decided to include a column that addresses this topic. This article focuses on one of the eight branches of yoga, known as pranayama.
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