Guess The Trumpet Player Winner

Today is my birthday so this post will be short and sweet. The winner of the ninth installment of the Outside Pants Guess The Trumpet Player contest is…….excellent Philly trumpet player Josh Lawrence (check out Josh’s website). And the correct answer is…….Dave Douglas. Nice work, Josh!  Your prize is your choice of Outside Pants Vol. 1 – Old School Players or Outside Pants Vol. 2 – Ron Miles Mix or Outside Pants Vol. 3 – Brownie Mix or Outside Pants Vol.4 – Dave Douglas Mix.

The three tunes were “Play It Momma” (Mary Lou Williams) from Dave’s 2000 RCA release Soul on Soul; “Observer” from Dave’s brand new triple record set Spark of Being (this one is from the Expand CD) on Dave’s own Greenleaf Music label; and the last one is called “The Great Schism” which comes from Dave’s RCA album Freak In. I just picked these three tunes randomly; Dave’s oeuvre is so vast that it’s impossible to pick a few tunes that accurately represent the variety of his recorded output. I just enjoyed these tunes when I was listening so I picked these ones for the contest.

I first saw Dave Douglas with his Tiny Bell Trio at the Pie Gallery on South Street about 12 or 13 years ago at the suggestion of my friend, former Philly-but-now-New York guitarist Jon Madof. After some gigs with Jon, he told me that I needed to check out this NYC trumpet player who Jon was sure I would really like. A month or two later, Dave was in Philly performing behind his new Winter and Winter label “Songs For Wandering Souls” album (it’s a ridiculously good record BTW). I was blown away. Dave played the hell out the trumpet that day. After the show I remarked to my girlfriend (who is now my wife) “This guy is the most complete trumpet player I’ve ever seen.” I don’t really have much to say other than that. Dave is the complete package – trumpet player, musician, composer, band leader, label owner/manager, blogger, trumpet festival creator, promoter of other musicians. He excels at everything he does. I asked him once “With everything that you are doing, Dave, when do you sleep.” He replied “On the train.”

Today is also Einstein’s birthday. Happy Day of Relativity.