4 Jazz fans: Who is your preferred trumpet player?

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Trumpet players

Hi,
I agree with all your picks so far. Don Ellis passed away way too early. I saw him live once and he was incredible. You may want to check out Smokey Stover if you can find any of his recordings.

I also am a trumpet player.
 
I love the great Miles Davis ................... 🙂


regards: ragil.hastomo
 

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fcel said:
ragil.hastomo,
I notice that you're from Indonesia. I'm wondering ... is Jazz music popular over there? Music CD must be terribly expensive ... true?

Dear fcel ...

Yes, I'm from Indonesia ...
Jazz is minority here in Indonesia ... but "it's alive here" ... Maybe you know Indra Lesmana, Buby Chen, Luluk purwanto, Ireng Maulana, etc ... they're from Indonesia ... andif you not know them, you must hear their music ... In Indonesia, CD is cheap [maybe cheapest around the world] ... It's 80.000 rupiahs [about US$ 9] for legal copied [made in Indonesia] or 140.000 rupiahs [about US$ 15.5] for imported cd's ... and 50.000 rupiahs [about US$ 5.5] for local musician ... I have not much collection ... there's Pat Metheny, Miles Davis, Yellow Jackets, Keith Jarret, Acoustis Alchemy, Charlie Haden, Chat Baker, Jay Anderson, etc-etc ... 🙄

Regards:
ragil.hastomo
 
Some for the list (trumpet players)

How did I miss this topic 'till now?

Bernhard: I think it's interesting that you found Brownie difficult to get to like, but you didn't put Don Cherry in that category. Most would have some trouble with him.

I can't pick just one. In another 30 years (I'll be 75) when you can buy vials of 'knowledge' that you inject (or ingest), I'm going to spend the big bucks on 'jazz trumpet skills.':drink:

So my top guys are... Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Don Cherry, Lee Morgan. What? Lee Morgan? Yes.

Lee Morgan Played some great bebob that makes you tap your feet and bob your head. He was from Philadelphia, so we hear his music on the radio here more than most others would. It's real jazz, but I think it would appeal to open-minded pop/rock music fans too. It's good music too, not just a beat. Good ones are "Sidewinder" (blue Note CDP 7 84157 2) and "Tom Cat" (Blue Note CDP 7 84446 2); includes McCoy Tyner and Art Blakey!
Read about him: http://members.tripod.com/~hardbop/mogie3.html

Some more:
Donald Byrd was a very good bop player in the era following the death of Clifford Brown. He took over the trumpet position in Roach's quintet at that time. I have one disc that I like quite a bit. "Groovin' for Nat" (Nat Adderly I suppose?). It has some good unison playing with two trumpets (with Johnny Coles), especially on the second tune, "Child's Play," and fifth "Sudel." Interestingly, one of my favorites is the third, "Angel Eyes" that is solo piano (Duke Pearson); very quiet piece, with creaking of the piano stool heard (I love stuff like that; makes it more real!). He's done more pop-like things since the 70's which don't appeal to me so much, and I hear that more recently he's gone back more to earlier styles.

Others that always come up that I think are in the core of top trumpeters from swing era through bebop and early modern jazz are:
Buck Clayton
Roy Eldridge
Ray Nance
Harry "Sweets" Edison- played with a number of singers. Listen to Sarah Vaughan's Ain't No Use (From Roulette R52060) and the Billie Holiday album "Songs For Distingue Lovers" (Not as syrupy as the title- Verve 314 539 056-2) both good ones from late '50's.
Fats Navarro
Kenny Dorham
Clark Terry
Chet Baker. His version of "Somewhere over the Rainbow" from The Italian Sessions (Bluebird 2001-2-RB) is really nice.
Thad Jones
Blue Mitchell
Nat Adderley

Anybody know anything about Al Kiger? I see he played on one disc with George Russell, Dolphy and Don Ellis.

Wynton? Very skilled. I just don't seem to be itchy to put the things on again. I guess it just doesn't do it for me.

I'll have to search out Ellis and Booker Little.
 
Vince,

i loved Don Cherry the 1st time i heard him play. Call it a sudden understanding. Same wavelength.

Similar with Don Ellis, another same wavelength.

Lester Bowie, now that is another thing. I know him from the Art Ensemble of Chicago and also from records with him as leader. Art ensemble recording are always slightly taking the ease of life away; i would not go as far as calling them frightening and intimidating (which definitely do with early Cecil Talor recordings, "Unit Structures" and "Conquistador" coming in mind here) but it goes in that direcion. Lester Bowie is a hot one, no Q, but my admiration for him is not as emotional as it is the case with Don Cherry or Don Ellis.

Another musician i had to learn to like: Dizzy Gillespie. IMO he never could stand up to Charlie Parker as immprovisator when they two were competing. But there are some later recordings which i grow to like more and more. The best so far: a record named "Greatest Trumpet Of Them All" on Verve records. Here he is on par with Clifford Brown and the nobility of his play and of the tunes are unequalled IMO. A crown jewel.
 
WYNTON

Hi guys,

'fraid i join the crowd downgrading Wynton Marsalis a bit, unlike his father and his brother he is not a Jazz soul IMO.

Years ago Wynton Marsalis received high praise from the press and some of his recordings got awarded.
So I bought a few too.(Jazz)
Listened to them maybe a couple of times but although technically very sophisticated the soul wasn't there.
I prefer to listen to less technically outstanding music but with jazz if the spirit isn't there the whole recording has little value to me.

Re:Lester Bowie,anyone bought "The Pretender"?

Regards,🙂
 
Years ago I was at an impromptu "jam session" involving my old boss ( a P eng from Canada) and Dizzy Gillespie. We were all in New Orleans on a biz trip. Seems my boss and Dizzy went back a long way. It was the best I've heard (in person anyhow) and I was amazed when my "full of discipline boss" was invited out of the audience to visit the stage and help play out the last set. Then the night turned into "free booze and one hell of a party" once the place was cleared of the "riff raff". Amazing, wish I had known what a DAT was back then..... 😉

zardoz
 
Clifford Brown. Fats Navarro. The greatly underrated Jon Faddis. Roy Eldredge. If I added it up, I've probably seen Dizzy more times than any other musician. And of course Louis Armstrong, father of us all.

Biggest waste of talent: Freddie Hubbard. Most boring: Wynton Marsalis. Best appearance on a cartoon show: Chuck Mangione.
 
Give me a break.... Maynard??

sorry people, but MAYNARD IS CRAP
yeah yeah...
I've listened to my share of maynard..
I've listened to everything from his stan kenton days to the latest crap, and I've heard him live 2-3 times. That music is for high school students who are easily amazed by high notes if you ask me.
I understand this forum is about your "preferred" trumpeter, so I am not bashing the maynard fans, but I feel as though I have moved onto to better things. MF Horn and Brass attitude are probably my favs, not that I've heard them in years.

Faddis --> heard him live as well ( a long time ago). The concert I went to, he screwed up most of his high notes and gave off a stupid look. When he isn't playing insanely high, he is pretty cool though

James Morrison--> He came to the US for the Sarasota Jazz fest a while back (also when I was in high school). Got to meet him and hang out and play some trumpet for a few hours with him. He has got to be the coolest person I've ever met, and can play the **** out of his trumpet/t-bone. I don't like his new Scream Machine album nearly as much as Snappy Doo, as it is more high-note oriented, and less musical if you ask me.

Gillespie --> wow.... wish there were better recordings of the early bop days. amazing stuff.

Miles Davis-->Personally, late 60s up until his "break" is my fav. stuff, but very close second is the Gil Evans collaborations. The electric stuff is NOT easy to listen to, and I can't stand it when people dog it without giving it a good listen. It is not a "jazz" feeling kind of music. It is more raw and uncut. Bitches Brew is a must in anyone's collection. I reccomend the 4 disc set even though Miles himself didn't want all of that material released.

Freddie Hubbard--> Hubtones is an essential album. Don't like some of his later stuff, but Hubtones era stuff rocks. Also, his free jazz stuff is worth checking out. (OH NO, he just mentioned free jazz! what a weirdo!) He hasn't been mentioned yet so I thought I'd throw him out there. Definitely worth your time if you like lee morgan.

Nils --> Not my favorite stuff, but the guy can certainly play. The album I have, he combines electronic music with a milesian laid back style on some of the highlights.

As for wynton, I've also hear him live, and he is definitely a classical player. Excluding his rediculous claims about jazz music from the table, his jazz playing is pretty damn impressive.

Also, as for the early guys, I don't listen to them very often. I much prefer bebop and everything after.
I've skipped a lot of guys here, but I originally wrote this for the Maynard people --> LISTEN TO SOMETHING ELSE, unless of course high notes and college musicians will keep you entertained your whole life.

Officially getting off my soap box now.
-fask
 
Randy Brecker. Yes! I like his sound a lot. I like the Brecker Brothers also, but that is an entirely different story. Brecker Brothers is a more of a group and a style statement, where Randy blends in with the arrangements and the overall sound, in a higher degree than Michael B. does. If the only setup you have heard Randy B. in is the Brecker Bros , there is more to find out about him.
I heard him live in a local jazz club about ten years ago, and that was great. In concert and perhaps on one of his better solo albums (I only have "Toe to Toe" and according to allmusic.com he has made better recordings) is the way to find out if you like him.
 
vpharris said:
So my top guys are... Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Don Cherry, Lee Morgan. What? Lee Morgan? Yes.
Lee Morgan. Fantastic player. He could play gut-bucket funk, he could play changes like Brownie.

His solo on "Blue Train" is my favorite trumpet solo of all time. Simply bad-***.

Search for the New Land is a fantastic album and shows what a great writer he was.
 
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