Guess The Trumpet Player

Hello Readers, it’s time for the ninth installment of “Guess The Trumpet Player.” Here are two tracks for you. Same trumpet player, different albums/contexts.

Click the link (it’s safe), click play, listen, guess the trumpet player. The first person to leave the correct name of this trumpet player in the comments section of this post wins a CD – 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. The contest ends with Monday’s post.

Here’s the first song: http://www.box.net/shared/vfh06944m0

And here’s the second: http://www.box.net/shared/uqlnx5t9pk

Ok, I lied. One last one because of the sax solo and the tabla - turn up your volume: http://www.box.net/shared/2bff4hjps5

Practicing: Charlier

OK – slight change in plans. I had almost finished preparing a post with a bunch of Dennis Sandole material but my scanner is temporarily down. So…

Today’s post is a short one with a YouTube clip. About a year ago, I finally picked up the Charlier 36 Etudes book that probably every other trumpet out there already has. It’s a standard text in music schools, but for whatever reason, I never bought it. Well now that I have it, I can’t really claim to have used it much (gotta work on that because these are awesome etudes!), but there are a couple of etudes that I have practiced. Right now I am occasionally working on the first one (the second is really cool too – everyone plays the second, so that’s why I figured I should work on the first one). When playing these etudes I think it’s really important to pay attention to the markings that Charlier made in the music. If he says that the volume should be pianissimo, we should listen to him. We can interpret the notes but we should do so while honoring the composer’s intentions. Charlier One should sound like this:

Craig Morris is a master trumpet player. And for a while he was regularly posting on his blog. There’s still plenty of great past material on there though so check him out. And here’s his YouTube channel which has a few more Charlier etude performances.

Practicing: Saving Enough For The Third Set

Last week I had a several gigs and several rehearsals. All in all, it was a fair amount of playing for me. I only get to practice 1 ½ to 2 hours (a little more when I’m lucky) a day so I need to make the most of that time to build significant strength, endurance, and efficiency so that I can handle a decent workload when my playing schedule calls for it. And when the playing schedule is heavy I need to remind myself to play smart.

After the second set of a Warriors of the Wonderful Sound gig I remarked to friend and fellow Warriors trumpeter Adam Hershberger: “I feel pretty good tonight. I feel like my chops are still fresh and I could keep going. I should be in good shape to play all weekend now.” Adam replied “yeah, you gotta always remember to leave enough for the third set.” Well, considering all of the heavy and hard playing we have to do on a Warriors gig, I’m grateful that we only play two sets at our monthly Tritone gig. Three sets would probably shred my face.

Leader and composer Bobby Zankel writes really dense and long charts. The trumpets rarely get much rest. And these are long tunes. And usually pretty long sets. And they’re loud sets. So naturally trumpet players are going to get tired. Now, most of the guys in the trumpet section play music full-time and they also teach. They are playing several hours a day more than me. They usually have better endurance than I do because of this. I’m not complaining or making excuses, but it is what it is. The other thing in this band is that there is plenty of room for solos. If I wanted to be aggressive, I could play two or more solos a set. Solos in this band can be long and you have to blow loud and hard the whole way. It can – and will - tire you out. Sometimes I just get really into the music and I want to get up and take as many solos as I can (without being a jerk to my bandmates, of course) - just want to get that music out and get off. So yes, sometimes this an ego thing too. Stand up and do your thing. Show off what you’ve got. That’s cool. There’s a place for that sometimes. Although, I generally believe that the best solos/improvisations are completely devoid of ego. The music is divorced from those connections to “me” and “I” and when that’s the case, magic can really happen.

Well, the other night Bobby told the band before the first set “let’s mix things up tonight. Don’t take a solo in your regular spots. Let someone else take it.” There are a few tunes on which I often take solos. I gave them to other guys that night. I ended up only taking one solo the whole night. It was a decent one. I had fun. Said my stuff and that was that. I was fine with it. I didn’t let my ego fool me into thinking that I needed to blow a bunch of choruses on many solos to prove my worth as a trumpet player and musician. I was content to just play my parts, take my one solo, and not blow out my chops. I was thinking about the “third set.” In this case, the third set wasn’t really a third set, but the two rehearsals the next day, and then the next gig coming up. And because I was thinking ahead I was playing more intelligently and ultimately more efficiently. It sounds like a simple thing, but it really is something that I need to be more conscious of. Playing in the moment (you never know when it will be the last) but also thinking about what is coming next and making sure I will be physically equipped to play what is required.

Save some for the third set. Pace yourself. Play smart. I need to keep these things in mind – on stage and in the practice room. Thanks for the advice, Adam!

Adam Hershberger laughing at me NOT saving enough for the third set!!

Listening Contest Winner

The winner of the eighth installment of the Outside Pants Guess The Trumpet Player contest is……..talented Philly trumpeter Chris Aschman – Chris got this one quickly! And the correct answer is…….Blue Mitchell. Nice work, Chris!  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.

These recordings of Blue Mitchell’s playing are from saxophonist Lou Donaldson’s 1967 Blue Note release, “Mr. Shing-A-Ling.” The first song is called “The Humpback” and the second is called “The Kid.” And in case you were wondering, that’s Lonnie Smith on organ, the crazy funky Idris Muhammed on drums, and Pittsburgh’s own Jimmy Ponder on guitar. I found this CD in a used CD place about 10 or 12 years ago. It’s been a favorite ever since. I have it on vinyl now too. Of all of the Lou Donaldson albums I’ve heard this one is my favorite. At this point in his career Lou has moved on from his bebop days (he could really play like Bird when he was younger) and probably was looking for ways to make more money. And I’m sure that Blue Note was also happy to try to cash in one the growing trend of jazz musicians playing more rock and r&b/soul-influenced music (Lee Morgan’s “The Sidewinder” was such a surprise big hit that many subsequent Blue Note albums included a “boogaloo” tune in the hopes that it would be a big seller). Lou did end up with a (relatively) big hit with Alligator Boogaloo and a later hit with the Isley Brother’s “Who’s Makin’ Love.” Those are great records for sure (and they share similar instrumentation – and a few of the same players), but for me, “Mr. Shing-A-Ling” is just a better record. The tunes are better, the beats are better (90’s era hip hop people loved sampling Lou Donaldson records), and the solos are better. Trumpeter Blue Mitchell is also a big part of what makes this record better.

I once heard someone call Hank Mobley the Middleweight Champion of the Tenor Sax. Coltrane and Sonny Rollins being the Heavyweight Champions. That didn’t seem all that fair to me even it if there was some element of truth there. Mobley wasn’t Trane or Rollins. He was Hank Mobley. And he was an amazing jazz player. Endless ideas (nothing crazy but always super tasteful and melodic), killin’ blues player, awesome sound (especially in his middle years), and he would swing for days. To call him the Middleweight Champion takes something away from what Mobley contributed – he was indeed one of the heavies. I think you could say the same thing about Blue Mitchell. If you ask people who the giant “modern” jazz trumpet players are, you are going to hear names like Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard. You might hear people also include Kenny Dorham, Fats Navarro, Booker Little, Donald Byrd, or Art Farmer. And those guys are all certainly giants. But you might not hear people mention Blue Mitchell. And that would be a shame (there’s a reason why the Blue Mitchell-era of the Horace Silver band sounds so darn good – a lot of it has to do with Blue!). Blue never played as high or as loud or as fast as some players (but he did have chops, people, we shouldn’t forget). But he always played with class, amazing phrasing and melodies, and he always played with a warm and gorgeous tone. Oh and yeah, he could play the stuff out of a blues. He always had the blues up in his sound no matter what he played. He was also funky which is something that made him a popular sideman on sessions as the music grew more commercial as the 60’s turned into the 70’s. Need a funky but tasty trumpet solo on your record? Call Blue Mitchell. No nonsense and badass. Blue Mitchell was awesome.

Guess The Trumpet Player

Hello Readers, it’s time for the eighth installment of “Guess The Trumpet Player.” Look out, it’s Funky Thursday! Apparently last week’s episode featuring Malachi Thompson was a bit too obscure so let’s see how you all do with this one. Here’s a small hint: Hip Hop heads may find this track strangely familiar – Tribe Called Quest, Brand Nubian, Jeru the Damaja, De La Soul, etc.

Click the link (it’s safe), click play, listen, guess the trumpet player. The first person to leave the correct name of this trumpet player in the comments section of this post wins a CD – 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. The contest ends with Monday’s post.

Here’s the song: http://www.box.net/shared/pkxd5g0tci
OK fine, here’s another one from the same record – just cuz this one is so badass: http://www.box.net/shared/q0giyfusj0
Warriors tonight at Tritone!  Live webcast on Sunday with Tim Motzer.

Upcoming Gigs

Things have been busy for me musically so far this year and March appears like it will continue that trend. Here are a few open-to-the-public shows coming up that I wanted to let you know about:

Thursday, March 3^rd – Back at Tritone with Bobby Zankel and the Warriors of the Wonderful Sound. The band is just a few months away from celebrating our tenth anniversary and things have really been heating up lately. This week the Warriors are rehearsing with alto saxophonist/composer/band leader/force of Nature Steve Coleman. We have a big concert coming up next month (Saturday, April 9^th at Montgomery County Community College) featuring a program of Coleman’s (complex, but really cool) compositions. More on that show later. But catch us at Tritone this week. Good, cheap food and booze. Great, loud music starts at 9:30pm.

Sunday, March 6^th – I will be playing a 1K Recordings live web broadcast with guitarist Tim Motzer. Tim and I have had a duo thing going for a few months now and it really is a lot fun. Tim plays some amazing things on the guitar and I get to use a lot of extended techniques on the trumpet. We’ll be making some pretty cool soundscapes improvisations. Our session is part of a series that Tim has been doing – live audio and video recording broadcast live on the web. You don’t even need to put on your outside pants for this one! Here’s the link to watch us – we start at 3pm: www.webillishus.com/watch/1k-sessions.

Wednesday, March 16^th – Bobby Zankel and the Warriors of the Wonderful Sound hit the NJ Turnpike heading north. We will be performing at the Iridium in NYC with saxophonist and composer Rudresh Mahanthappa. Sets at 8pm and 10pm. Last May the Warriors played a concert with Rudresh world premiering a new suite of his, “Dasha.” The band sounded great and had a blast playing Rudresh’s music and we are excited to reprise that endeavor again – this time in NYC.

Friday, March 18^th – I’ll be playing at the Blockley with PhillyBloco. Last weekend PhillyBloco played a smoking show in NYC and on March 19^th we’ll be celebrating in Philly with a CD Release Party. I’ve got a copy of the new CD and it sounds wonderful. It’s a live recording but so much time was spent with the mixing and mastering that it sounds studio-quality. If you like Brazilian music, if you like to dance, if you like getting sweaty, this will be a great night for you!

I hope that some of you, dear readers, will be able to come to some of these shows.

Reading and Practicing: Herbert Clarke

Most trumpet players regardless of genre have played exercises out of Herbert Clarke’s books. If you say “Clarke One” to a trumpet player they’ll know exactly what you’re talking about. I play some form of Clarke One, Two, or Three almost every day as a warm down (I start at second line G and work my way down) and I go back to his books and exercises regularly.

From all accounts he was a monster cornet player and a legendary teacher. How did he get that way? Check out his autobiography: http://abel.hive.no/trumpet/clarke/bio/pdf/clarke.pdf. It’s an interesting read – from a trumpet/music standpoint, but also cool if you are into American history. Don’t have time to read it? Here’s the quick message you need to get then: Practice does not make perfect; Perfect practice makes perfect.

Here’s a wonderful page with more about Clarke and his books: http://abel.hive.no/trumpet/clarke/

Alright - now I gotta and practice!