[Dixielandjazz] Trumpet high notes

[Don Ingle]

Let's not forget Connie Gozzo, who did all the upper register work on so
many Billy May Charts.
On a purely personal note, the high note stuff is often more for theatical
effect. The real heart and soul of the trumpet or cornet sound is the middle
and low range where the :fat and filling sound lies. Example, Hackett, Bix,
Stewart, Spanier. They could slip in a few upper notes for effect but we
remember them most for the warm and full sound they had in what we know as
the mid and low register of the horn. Think about Berrigan;'s classic "I
Can't Get Started." Not all high notes -- best saved for the ending. He
builds towards his out chorus with the a tempo obligotto lead in, goes up as
he reaches the chorus, drops back down into the low register before going
into the  final high notes. Makes the high ones all the more effective for
the contrast in range.
Incidently, the great teacher in L.A., Lou Maggio, worked with Gozzo and
other top studio guys to build their range by having them master the false
pedal tone range. It doesn't get lower than that!!
Another bit of Louis Armstrong's magic -- compared to Ferguson, Anderson and
other screamers, he just sounded like he was super high. He only played up
to one or two notes above a high C, but his build up, and the fact that he
put so much power and fatness behind the notes, made it seem even higher.
Don Ingle
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Livingston" <snargi01@yahoo.com>
To: "John Farrell" <stridepiano@tesco.net>;
<Dixielandjazz@ml.islandnet.com>; "David Palmquist"
<davidpalmquist@dccnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 1:54 AM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Trumpet high notes


> Yes, John, bands would have high note specialists. In
> the early 50's that is what Maynard Ferguson's job was
> in Stan Kenton's band. Kenton already had a solid lead
> player in Buddy Childers. Maynard would sit on one of
> the lower books until his high notes where needed.
> Then he would let it rip. Cat Anderson was another
> with Duke Ellington but I never have cared for the way
> he sounded up there.
>
> There are a lot of players today that can play in the
> extreme register but unfortunately, most of them
> aren't making music when they do.
>
>
> --- John Farrell <stridepiano@tesco.net> wrote:
> > David Palmquist said :
> >
> > " Cat (Anderson) did Summertime up high"
> >
> > So did Jon Faddis on his duet recording with Oscar
> > Peterson. Some of the
> > trumpet players I've used in my big band can hit
> > notes way up in the
> > stratosphere, they told me that the difficulty is
> > not reaching the notes but
> > maintaining power in the superhigh register. Is it
> > true that some bands
> > employ high note specialists called "screamers"
> > whose sole function is to
> > play notes written in the dog whistle range?
> >
> > John Farrell
> > stridepiano@tesco.net
> >
> http://homepages.tesco.net/~stridepiano/midifiles.htm
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
> http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
>
>
> =====
> David Livingston
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