Trumpet Dude » Featured CD

Maynard Ferguson: “The Lost Tapes Volume 2″

Trumpet Dude — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:29:35 +0000

For all you Maynard fans, listen up! “The Lost Tapes Volume 2″ has now been released and is available today! This has been put together and produced by Sleepy Night Records. This recording is the second in a trilogy project by Sleepy Night and you can purchase it in MP3 form through the link below. When Volume One of this series came out, I waited anxiously for its arrival. When it came, I played it repeatedly for weeks. It is awesome and so is this one. The music captures Maynard’s playing at his peak and is just incredible. Ernie Garside is the Executive Producer of this project and was a close friend, musician, promoter and manager for Maynard. He holds the rights to this music and has worked quite hard and put up a lot of money, along with producers Sean and Gary Gillies, to make this possible. The project is derived from old reel-to-reel tapes found in Ernie Garside’s house. To ensure this project’s continued success, tell everyone you know that this is available. In MP3 format this is a two-disc set and includes 10 tracks and a priceless and fantastic booklet containing rare photos and new comments from Ernie Garside, Lynn Nicholson, Adrian Drover, Brian Smith and others.

Disc one includes: ‘Give it One,’ ‘Blue Birdland,’ ‘In the Mood,’ ‘Ole,’ ‘Sunny,’ ‘Eli’s Coming,’ ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water,’ ‘The Meeting of Shiva Shakti,’ ‘LA Expression,’ and ‘La Fiesta.’

Disc two includes: ‘MacArthur Park,’ and ‘Meet a Cheetah.’

Maynard Ferguson was truly one of the greatest trumpet players ever! He was not only the best trumpeter to ever master the stratospheric register of trumpet playing, he was also a talented soloist and multi-instrumentalist. He began playing music when he was quite young, and by the age of 15 was playing in a group with Oscar Peterson. Maynard was an internationally famous big-band leader, one of the world’s great brass players, an instrument designer, record producer, composer, arranger, producer of film soundtracks, and a truly dedicated teacher. He also studied yoga extensively, lived in India and was cited as being at a house gathering in Connecticut where Timothy Leary was present.
For those of you who would rather purchase the CD versions of this project, you can purchase them directly from Sleepy Night at http://www.sleepynightrecords.com/

Roy Hargrove Quintet, ‘Earfood’

Trumpet Dude — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:26:15 +0000

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
2. Brown
3. Strasbourg/St. Denis
4. Starmaker
5. Joy is Sorrow Unmasked
6. The Stinger
7. Rouge
8. Mr. Clean
9. Style
10. Divine
11. To Wisdom the Prize
12. Speak Low
13. Bring it on Home to Me

Recordings from Art Farmer and Kenny Dorham

Trumpet Dude — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 01:32:21 +0000

Art Farmer, ‘Brass Shout/Aztec Suite’

Check out these re-mastered albums originally created with Big Brass sections and full orchestras in 1959. On Brass Shout an outstanding version of APRIL IN PARIS is just one of the surprises presented. On Aztec Suite, along with some multi-faceted exoticism, you can dig the Latin rhythms in HEAT WAVE and DRUME NEGRITA. A great release for Art Farmer fans!

Kenny Dorham, ‘Afro-Cuban’

Wow, this CD is awesome. Kenny is one cat everyone should listen to. Not only does he play beautifully on this one, the charts are just stellar. Give it a listen!