An excellent interview on the living legend, Adolph Herseth. It’s a long interview, but well worth your time. It also contains many excerpts of Bud’s famous performances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. No one produces a sound on our instrument like he does.
Tower of Power!
Tower of Power is one of the best horn bands of all time. They’ve been going strong since 1968 with a sound like no other in the business-a blend of R&B, Jazz, Funk, and Soul. The five piece horn section has always featured strong trumpet players and here are some great examples:
And last, a full concert from 1985 at Iowa State University:
Army Blues play Stardust!
The Army Blues playing the classic rendition of “Stardust” as played by Doc Severinsen. Mark Wood on the solo book. Killer band with a killer trumpet section!
More Mnozil Brass!
These guys are INSANE! Enjoy!
DCI 2012 Cadets Hornline plays Mahler Symphony No. 2 Finale
This brings me back to my days of marching band and teaching DCI corps. Drum corps is one of the hardest things on the chops and body, but it’s also one of the most rewarding things a brass player or percussionist can do. Learning to play and march with 100% precision takes talent, dedication, and perseverance like no other. This video will give you a taste of the musical precision the top level corps deliver. Enjoy!
Stockholm Chamber Brass plays Rameau!
Chicago Symphony does Mahler Symphony No. 6!
A great video showing fine playing all-around. Beautiful soft playing and some all out FF unisons in a large trumpet section lead by Chris Martin. Also, check out the hammer (yes, HAMMER) used in the percussion section around 3:05. You don’t get more impact than that.
Warren Luening, R.I.P.
L.A. studio trumpet player Warren Luening passed away March 18th of complications from cancer. He was one of the best “unsung” heroes of the L.A. studio scene, having played on dozens of movie soundtracks, the Lawrence Welk show, Bob Florence, Rosemary Clooney, the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, and most recently the “Dancing With The Stars” orchestra. Warren, in my opinion, was one of the best “unknown” trumpet players (except to the trumpet community of course), ever.
A great writeup and obituary (with videos) can be found here.
Precision trumpet playing-here’s why we aim for it!
I often stress the importance of playing accurately to my students. Rhythm, timing, pitch, articulation, style, purity of sound, evenness of tone in all registers, etc. all make the difference between a good player and a great player. I found a video that illustrates this perfectly. Listen to how every musician (not just the trumpets) matches style EXACTLY. Notice the dead-on pitch between the trumpets when they are in octaves towards the end of the clip. Every note from the trumpets speak perfectly with no hesitation or timidness. It doesn’t matter if it’s an Ab on the top of the staff, a low C, or a double Bb. Bam! There it is.
This video features three of England’s top studio trumpet players, including the great Derek Watkins on lead. These guys are the equivalent of our Los Angeles studio trumpet players (Malcom McNabb, Wayne Bergeron, Rick Baptist, Warren Luening, etc.). Derek has a phenomenal list of credentials, notably lead trumpet on ALL of the James Bond movies.
Maurice André, 1933-2012
Another legend in the trumpet world has left us. French trumpeter Maurice André, known for his spectacular piccolo trumpet playing, passed away a few days ago. His sound and musicianship have been an inspiration to trumpet players for decades. Some argue that Maurice was the best classical trumpet soloist on the planet. Others say that he had great joy in his playing, akin to a young child, and that was what made him special. I believe that Maurice will be remembered among the great icons of trumpet playing like Raphael Mendez and Louis Armstrong. He will certainly be missed.