[Dixielandjazz] Bernie Glow

[Charlie Hooks]

>>> This is a great article about a great player; and the only reason 
>>> it does not mention Mike Vax among the superstars is that Mike was 
>>> far too young when this was written.   I'd welcome comments from 
>>> Mike on this peice.

Charlie Hooks

>>> >  This article about Bernie Glow was from the Dec.10,1969 issue 
>>> of the New Yorker.  
>>> >
>>> >           LEAD PLAYER...by William Whitworth
>>> >  At a dance several years ago in the Midwest, Stan Kenton gave 
>>> his
>>> > band the downbeat for a final chord of a tune, then turned to 
>>> smile at
>>> > the audience, with both his arms dramatically outstretched. He held
>>> > the smile and the chord a little longer than usual---for maybe 
>>> eight
>>> > or ten seconds. Just as he turned toward the band and brought his
>>> > right arm down to signal the cutoff, The first-trumpet player at 
>>> the
>>> > time, a gifted musician named Al Porcino, passed out,  slumped 
>>> in his
>>> > chair, and fell over backward. Another Kenton  trumpet player, 
>>> Buddy
>>> > Childers had a similar experience one night in a small New Jersey
>>> > town.  "It was at the beginning of the job, during the band's
>>> > theme,'Artistry in Rhythm,'" Childers recalled recently. " I was
>>> > playing a high D, which isn't that high, as trumpet parts go, but I
>>> > had to hold it for four incredibly slow bars, and the next thing I
>>> > knew I was on the floor on my back, with my horn still at my mouth,
>>> > and Stan was leaning over the sax section, peering at me."
>>> >
>>> >  Blacking out is hazardous enough, but something worse happened 
>>> to
>>> > Porcino during another performance with the Kenton band, at the
>>> > Paramount Theater in New York. As Porcino huffed his way through a
>>> > loud, demanding passage, he suffered an abdominal rupture, or
>>> > hernia--the sort of injury men sometimes get from lifting something
>>> > heavy. At an outdoor concert near Reno a couple of   summers 
>>> ago, a
>>> > trumpet player named John Glenn Little felt a terrible pain in his
>>> > neck and back while he was playing a loud solo passage. After the
>>> > concert, it was discovered that he had slipped two discs in his 
>>> neck;
>>> > he was in the hospital for a week, and was warned not to play the
>>> > trumpet for a year. Many professional trumpet players in New York
>>> > complain of leg aches after an especially rough day in the 
>>> recording
>>> > studios, and some of them have suffered for months at a time 
>>> with> Angeles, is so wary of the horn that he stays in constant 
>>> training for
>>> > his daily bouts with it--he neither drinks nor smokes, and he 
>>> devotes
>>> > an hour a day to yoga and isometric exercises. Ten years ago, after
>>> > conducting a series of tests with the instrument, an English 
>>> physician
>>> > and an American trumpet player suggested in the BRITISH MEDICAL
>>> > JOURNAL, only half facetiously, that it might be a good idea to 
>>> equip
>>> > trumpet players with pressurized pilot suits. As all this may
>>> > indicate, the trumpet is hard work. It is generally agreed, in 
>>> fact,
>>> >   that the trumpet is more taxing physically--especially when 
>>> played
>>> > in the upper register and at great volume--than any other commonly
>>> > used instrument.
>>> >
>>> >  Trumpet players amaze themselves. Playing the instrument really 
>>> well
>>> > requires such an unlikely combination of manual dexterity, 
>>> musicality
>>> > and  physical strength that once a man learns to do it, he just 
>>> can't
>>> > get over it. Trumpet players often feel themselves to be men apart,
>>> > like members of a secret society. While a saxophone player's best
>>> > friend might be a piano player   or a drummer, a trumpet 
>>> player's best
>>> > friend is likely to be another trumpet player. To a saxophone 
>>> player,
>>> > a trumpet player is merely a musician, but to another trumpet 
>>> player,
>>> > he's something wonderful, a trumpet player.
>>> >
>>> >  Hearing a saxophone player or a pianist play a difficult 
>>> passage may
>>> > give a trumpet player intellectual or emotional pleasure, but 
>>> when he> hears a trumpet player play a difficult passage, his 
>>> aesthetic
>>> > pleasure is accompanied by the sort of delicious physical thrill 
>>> that
>>> > a football fan gets from seeing a big guard crash through the 
>>> blockers
>>> > and tackle the quarterback. "He's a real brute," a trumpet 
>>> player will
>>> > sometimes say approvingly of  another trumpet player. It is not 
>>> so
>>> > much the soloists who are admired this way as it is the "lead" 
>>> trumpet
>>> > players--the men who play the first-trumpet parts in the four- and
>>> > five-man trumpet sections that are employed in the recording 
>>> studios
>>> > of New York and Hollywood, in the network-television staff 
>>> orchestras,
>>> > in the Las Vegas casino orchestras, and in the few remaining big 
>>> jazz
>>> > and dance bands. The lead players are regarded as an elite 
>>> because of
>>> > the difficulty of the job they must perform. To oversimplify it, 
>>> some
>>> > trumpet players play with taste but not enough strength, and others
>>> > have the strength but lack the taste. The lead player must have 
>>> both.
>>> > He must be able to play constantly in the upper register--the most
>>> > treacherous and tiring range of the horn--while providing an
>>> > interpretation of the arrangement that will be definitive for 
>>> the rest
>>> > of  the brass section and sometimes for the whole orchestra.
>>> >
>>> >  Though there are hundreds of professional trumpet players in the
>>> > country        and dozens of talented trumpet soloists, there 
>>> are only
>>> > a handful of real lead players. Among the names frequently 
>>> included in
>>> > this category by arrangers and conductors are Porcino, Childers, 
>>> John
>>> > Audino, Ray Triscari, Ernie Royal, Snooky Young, John Frosk, Al
>>> > DeRisi, Ray Crisara, Mel Davis and Bernie Glow. None of these 
>>> men is
>>> > more highly regarded as an all-around lead player by the lead 
>>> players
>>> > themselves than Glow, a bald, bearded, exceptionally cheerful 
>>> man of
>>> > forty-three, who traveled with Artie Shaw and Woody Herman bands
>>> > during the the nineteen-forties and has worked in the New York
>>> > recording studios since the early fifties. Other trumpet players 
>>> speak
>>> > of Glow with admiration and  sometimes with awe. "Bernie is the 
>>> Big
>>> > Daddy of us all," Frosk , who plays lead trumpet with the N.B.C.
>>> > "Tonight Show" band , said recently when Glow's name came up in
>>> > conversation."He has endurance, taste, accuracy, an incomparable
>>> > sound--everything."  Trumpet players tend to defer to Glow in 
>>>  quiet
>>> > flattering ways. If five first-rate trumpet players, including 
>>> Glow,
>>> > have been hired for a recording session, Glow normally finds 
>>> when he
>>> > arrives at the studio that the other players, without any 
>>> instruction
>>> > from the arranger, have sat down behind Parts 2 through 5, 
>>> leaving the
>>> > first part for him. "When you see Bernie coming, you move over," 
>>> one
>>> > of the trumpet players explained at a recording session several 
>>> months
>>> > ago. This deference has not made Glow arrogant. He is bowled 
>>> over by
>>> > how well so many of his colleagues play. Mention one of them to him
>>> > and he will invariably say something like, "Oh, what a fantastic
>>> > player he is", or "now, he's something really special".
>>> >
>>> >  Outside the music business, almost no one has ever heard of 
>>> Glow, but
>>> > nearly everyone has heard him play, without knowing it. He has
>>> > recorded more than any dozen recording stars put together. The only
>>> > way an American can be sure of getting through the day without 
>>> being
>>> > exposed to Glow's playing is  avoid movies, television shows,
>>> > television commercials, radio commercials,  phonographs, 
>>> jukeboxes,
>>> > discotheques, and radio disc-jockey shows of all types, ...jazz,
>>> > pop,mood-music, Latin, rock, and rhythm-and-blues. At a 
>>> conservative
>>> >  estimate, Glow has recorded a thousand tunes every year for the 
>>> past
>>> > sixteen years. He has worked with Frank Sinatra, Aretha 
>>> Franklin, Moby
>>> > Grape, Peter Nero, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, B.B. King, Wilson
>>> > Pickett,  Ella Fitzgerald,  Dizzy Gillespie, Teresa Brewer, Artie
>>> > Shaw, Woody Herman, the Rascals, Patti Page,  the McGuire 
>>> Sisters, the
>>> > Four Seasons, Billy Eckstine, Kay Starr, Tito Puente, Mel Torme, 
>>> Buddy
>>> > Greco, Perry Como, Al Hibbler, Wes Montgomery, Miles Davis, the 
>>> Lovin'> Spoonful, Dionne Warwick and just about everyone else who 
>>>   has
>>> > recorded extensively in New York. Glow has recorded  hundreds of 
>>> radio
>>> > and    television commercials--or jingles, as the sound tracks 
>>> for
>>> > commercials are called in the business--for most of the soft-drink,
>>> > cigarette, airline, and   automobile companies. If Glow had done
>>> > nothing but jingles, that would be enough to keep the sound of his
>>> > trumpet constantly in the air. Most people  haven't heard Woody
>>> > Herman's "Lemon Drop", but has anyone escaped "Pepsi Beats the 
>>> Others
>>> > Cold"? Recording sound tracks for movies and television shows has
>>> > occupied a relatively small part of Glow's time over the years,
>>> > because most of the movie work is in California, and because 
>>> working
>>> > on television shows is not as lucrative for musicians as jingle 
>>> dates
>>> > are.
>>> >
>>> >  Glow is a free-lance performer. Unlike the gracious free-lance
>>> > literary life, which consists, to a great degree, in sitting in 
>>> bars
>>> > and restaurants and talking about what one isn't writing, the
>>> > free-lance music life is  grueling. Most weekdays, Glow arises 
>>> at 7
>>> > a.m.--an hour at which it is unnatural for musicians to be 
>>> conscious.
>>> > This is so he will be able to drive in to Manhattan from his 
>>> home , in
>>> > Great Neck, where he lives with his wife, Gail, and three teen-age
>>> > daughters, in time for his first recording date of the morning,
>>> > normally around nine or ten o'clock. He is likely to have a session
>>> > from 9 a.m. to noon, another from 2 p.m. to 5, and another from 
>>> 7 p.m.
>>> > to 10. On a fairly relaxed day recently, he recorded a single 
>>> with a
>>> > pop group called Jay and the Americans from noon to three, at the
>>> > O-D-O studios, on West Fifty-fourth Street; and recorded part of a
>>> > jazz album with the arranger and orchestra leader Gary McFarland 
>>> from> Street. Counting the time he logs on the expressways, he 
>>> often puts in
>>> > a thirteen- or fourteen-hour day. This is almost as rough  a 
>>> schedule
>>> > as he kept during his road days, though the circuit he travels 
>>> now is
>>> > much smaller than the Herman band's was. Glow seldom has to stray
>>> > below Thirtieth Street or above Fifty-seventh now since most of the
>>> > recording studios are in midtown Manhattan. He is active enough to
>>> > keep an agent or a booker busy in his behalf, but things aren't 
>>> done
>>> > that way in the studio business. Anyone who wants to hire him for a
>>> > record date just calls Glow's answering service in the city a 
>>> week or
>>> > so in advance and leaves a message. (New York musicians who 
>>> don't have
>>> > steady jobs and can't break into the studio fields may have to 
>>> go out
>>> > and look for their work. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday 
>>> afternoon,
>>> > they gather by the thousands in the Roseland Ballroom, on West
>>> > Fifty-second Street, where the leaders of pickup bands hire them 
>>> for
>>> > dance jobs.) One of  the impressive things about Glow, or any 
>>> other
>>> > top studio musician, as he moves from record date to record date 
>>> every
>>> > day, is the seeming casualness with which he handles his varied
>>> > assignments. Glow makes his rounds as matter-of-factly as a 
>>> telephone
>>> > repairman or a plumber, leaving behind him a trail of perfectly 
>>> played
>>> > trumpet parts. There is never a chance for rehearsal, except for 
>>> a few
>>> > run-throughs at the record session itself. The musicians are 
>>> expected
>>> > to walk into the studio cold, sight-read the music, and make the
>>> > record, with a minimum of fuss. An entire album is usually 
>>> recorded in
>>> > three three-hour sessions
>>> >
>>> >  Almost half of Glow's working time these days is taken up by 
>>> jingle
>>> > dates, and the percentage is about the same for the other leading
>>> > studio players in New York. It is one of the curiosities of the
>>> > present-day music business that men like Glow, who have spent their
>>> > lives mastering their instruments,  find themselves progressing 
>>> from
>>> > Woody Herman and Tony Bennett to Chevrolet and Pepsi-Cola. This 
>>> may be
>>> > less a case of the musicians' debasing their art than of the
>>> > advertising agencies' upgrading their commercials. The musicians 
>>> take>  the jingle work because it pays well, of course, but they 
>>> don't feel
>>> > that they are slumming: jingle scores are often as demanding as any
>>> > they encounter elsewhere. As the name implies, a jingle was once
>>> > almost an after-thought in a commercial - a musical 
>>> accompaniment that
>>> > tinkled along unobtrusively behind the visual and spoken message.
>>> > Today, when the United States seems literally  crazed with music,
>>> > advertising agencies want more originality in their jingles, and 
>>> it is
>>> > only a small exaggeration to say that in search of it they are 
>>> looting
>>> > all of American music, from jazz through electronic to hard 
>>> rock. This
>>> > is a development of the past five or six years. Jingles are now 
>>> played
>>> > by the best musicians, sung by the big pop vocalists and groups, 
>>> such
>>> > as Petula Clark, and the Fifth Dimension, and written by name
>>> > composers--men with established  reputations in other fields, 
>>> such as
>>> > Chico Hamilton, the jazz drummer and composer  Sid Ramin, who 
>>> arranged
>>> > the music for the stage and movie production of "West Side 
>>> Story": and
>>> > Nelson Riddle, who has arranged and conducted numerous Sinatra 
>>> albums
>>> > and is one of the leading conductors on the West Coast. Many men 
>>>  of
>>> > this caliber work part time or even full time for what are known as
>>> > jingle houses--the production companies that oversee the writing,
>>> > arranging, and recording of jingles. The president of one of the
>>> > biggest jingle houses--MBA Music, Inc. in New York--is J. J. 
>>> Johnson,
>>> > who is arranger and composer and one of the great trombone 
>>> soloists in
>>> > the history of jazz. This is almost, but not quite, the 
>>> equivalent of
>>> > J. Walter Thompson's having say, Norman Mailer as copy chief.
>>> > Naturally, with such classy talent producing the jingles, they are
>>> > recorded with some care. It isn't unusual for a jingle producer to
>>> > keep ten or fifteen musicians in a studio for three hours in 
>>> order to
>>> > get a perfect recording of a single thirty-second sound track. When
>>> > Glow gets bored during such a repetitious session, he can console
>>> > himself with the thought of his paycheck. The pay scale for 
>>> jingle is
>>> > forty dollars an hour, plus $13.33 for every  twenty minutes 
>>> after the
>>> > first hour. If the player has to double on the date--that is, play
>>> > another instrument in addition to his regular one--the scale is
>>> > fifty-two dollars an hour, plus $17.33 for every twenty minutes 
>>> beyond
>>> >  one hour. Glow, like most other trumpet players in town, 
>>> doubles on
>>> > flugelhorn and piccolo trumpet (a small-bore horn that produces a
>>> > brighter sound in the high register), and some of the reed players
>>> > double on four or five instruments. In addition to this basic 
>>> scale,
>>> > there are payments for various reuses of the jingle 
>>> recording--with,
>>> > for instance,  a new vocal track or a new film. The pay scale 
>>> for work
>>> > on network television shows is $13.42 an hour, and the pay scale 
>>> for
>>> > ordinary recording is eighty-five dollars for the minimum call of
>>> > three hours, plus royalties. At these rates, a busy trumpet 
>>> player in
>>> > New York can make more than fifty thousand dollars a year.
>>> >
>>> >  If it seems strange, in this age of guitars, that there is a big
>>> > demand for trumpet players like Glow, there is a simple 
>>> explanation:
>>> > The so-called big band, a form of musical ensemble that was 
>>> invented
>>> > in the nineteen-twenties is not dead. The big band is supposed 
>>> to have
>>> > died in the late nineteen-forties, and its funeral has been widely
>>> > publicized. What actually died then was the era of the traveling 
>>> big
>>> > band  (though some of the best of the traveling bands of that 
>>> time
>>> > have survived to the present, and though some enormously successful
>>> > traveling bands were born after the era had supposedly ended). 
>>> As an
>>> > ensemble form, the big band, or some variant of it, not only is 
>>> alive
>>> > but is pervasive in American music. The big-band sound--basically a
>>> > brass ensemble playing in a jazz-oriented manner-- is heard on 
>>> almost
>>> > every television show, in hundreds of commercials, in all big night
>>> > clubs of the Copa or Las Vegas variety , behind all pop singers, 
>>> and,
>>> > increasingly, on rock and blues records. This is for at least 
>>> two> practical reasons. First, the sound of the big-band ensemble 
>>> is showy.
>>> > If Johnny Carson or Jackie Gleason came onstage backed by a 
>>> quartet,
>>> > the effect would be hollow and dowdy: instantly the atmosphere 
>>> would
>>> > be that of a budget-minded afternoon show for housewives. 
>>> Second, the
>>> > big band does great things for the staple of the entertainment
>>> > business. Vocalists, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Frank 
>>> Sinatra, and
>>> > Peggy Lee would sound good in any setting, but with emphatic,
>>> > percussive big bands behind them they sound wonderful.
>>> >
>>> >  All this means steady work for Glow, because, in general, the 
>>> most
>>> > important men in the big-band ensemble are the drummer and the lead
>>> > trumpet player. The loss of a soloist or a good section player will
>>> > damage the  ensemble, but the loss of a strong drummer or a 
>>> strong
>>> > lead-trumpet player will destroy it. During a break in a jingle
>>> > session recently at the Fine studios, in the Great Northern 
>>> Hotel, on
>>> > West Fifty-seventh Street, Glow, prompted by a friend, talked about
>>> > the requirements of his profession.
>>> >
>>> >  "First of all, the lead player has got to be able to play the
>>> > instrument with a good, big sound," Glow said. "He's got to have a
>>> > good high register. He's got to have endurance. Above all, I think,
>>> > he's got to understand what a melody line means when he plays
>>> > it--whether it's supposed to mean some-thing syrupy and Guy
>>> > Lombardo-ish or supposed to be something gentle or  something
>>> > swinging. A first-trumpet player's job is to look at a piece of 
>>> paper
>>> > and make it sound like music. It's a piece of paper with black 
>>> dots on
>>> > it, and of itself it's not music, and if it's played by the wrong
>>> > people it'll  never be music. It's a matter of interpretation. 
>>> There
>>> > are dozens of trumpet players in New York who can play as high as I
>>> > can, or higher. Or who can play as strong as I can--though, in all
>>> > frankness, there are very few guys in town who can play as 
>>> strong as I
>>> > can or as long as I can. I never reach a point where my lip is so
>>> > tired that I just can't play anymore. But what you have to do is 
>>> play
>>> > music. Some people play the trumpet instead of playing music. There
>>> > are  players who are technically marvelous but get so wrapped up 
>>> in
>>> > playing technically marvelously that they ignore the fact that the
>>> > only purpose in playing that well is to play music. The playing 
>>> of the
>>> > instrument is not the end. To me, that's the basic difference 
>>> between
>>> > a great musician and a good one. There are musicians in New York 
>>> who
>>> > do pretty well because they never hit clams-- you can't put 
>>> anything
>>> > in front of them they can't play. They have all the qualifications.
>>> > But they just don't have any musical sense. They never sound as if
>>> > they understand what they're playing. They play it perfectly, but
>>> > somehow it just doesn't add up. All those perfect notes don't 
>>> add up
>>> > to a song.
>>> >
>>> >  "Beyond this, there's a certain attitude that's necessary for 
>>> the
>>> > lead player--toward the men he's working with and toward the 
>>> leader. A
>>> > man can't be a good lead player if the fellows he's working with 
>>> don't
>>> > respect him. If they don't respect him, they're not going to
>>> > cooperate, and you can't browbeat people into playing music. 
>>> Music is
>>> > not that sort of animal. You shouldn't , ordinarily, have to say a
>>> > word to the other guys if the music is fairly well written. They
>>> > should listen to you and play with you. Your interpretation is
>>> > definitive. Of course, sometimes the music is not plain enough. Or
>>> > sometimes arrangers will mark phrasing on the music that turns 
>>> out to
>>> > be the opposite of what is required to make it fit with the rhythm
>>> > section. When this happens, the lead player will ignore the 
>>> markings,
>>> > and nine times out of ten the arranger will look up and say, "Gee,
>>> > thanks. Beautiful. It's just what I had in mind."
>>> >
>>> >  Worrying about such niceties as making one's perfect notes add 
>>> up to
>>> >  a song is a luxury of a few. Most people who try to play the 
>>> trumpet
>>> > find that their problems with it are as much  physical as 
>>> musical, the
>>> > instrument evidently having been designed for maximum 
>>> discomfort,> annoyance,  and a pain to the player. With a sensible 
>>> instrument such
>>> > as a clarinet or a saxophone,  the sound is produced in part by 
>>> the
>>> > vibration of a reed. But in the case of the trumpet, the player 
>>> must
>>> > vibrate his lips, which are tightly pursed and and then buzzed 
>>> against
>>> > a metal mouth-piece. During long performances, the muscles of 
>>> the lips
>>> > and face tire, and the lips may eventually give out and refuse to
>>> > buzz. Playing in the high register of many instruments is largely a
>>> > mechanical matter--pressing a different key or combination of keys,
>>> > for instance. To play in the trumpet's high register, the player 
>>> must
>>> > press his lips tighter and tighter as he ascends, and provide 
>>> more and
>>> > more air pressure, supported by his diaphragm and by muscles in his
>>> > back and elsewhere. This pressure further tires the mouth, and can
>>> > also bring on leg and back aches. If the pressure is incorrectly
>>> > applied, from the abdomen instead of the  diaphragm, it can 
>>> apparently
>>> > cause a hernia. Normally, though it will produce nothing  worse 
>>> than
>>> > dizziness and blackouts--the phenomenon discussed in the March 14,
>>> > 1959 issue  of the British Medical Journal, in the article by 
>>> the late
>>> > Dr. E. P. Sharpey-Schafer, who was professor of medicine at St.
>>> > Thomas' Hospital, in London, and Maurice E. Faulkner, a 
>>> professor of
>>> > music at the University of California in Santa Barbara. "The 
>>> effects
>>> > [of playing the trumpet] on the circulation," they wrote, "are 
>>> those
>>> > of a formidable Valsalva maneuver [a hard nose-blow with the 
>>> nostrils
>>> > and mouth blocked]: peripheral venus valves shut and blood 
>>> accumulates
>>> > distal to them. The effective cardiac-filling pressure, stroke 
>>> output,
>>> > and mean arterial pressure fall off rapidly. After about 7 
>>> seconds the
>>> > slight rise of arterial pressure indicates onset of reflex
>>> > constriction, which persists, after cessation of blowing, during 
>>> the
>>> >  overshoot. Since the brain is not protected by venous valves the
>>> > supply  pressure across it falls so that the cerebral blood flow 
>>> may
>>> > become inadequate during the period of blowing. More usually 
>>> dizziness
>>> > or blackout is maximal immediately on release of intrathoracic
>>> > pressure...."
>>> >
>>> >  Dr. Sharpey-Schafer, who made the observations while Faulkner 
>>> played
>>> > the horn, reported that Faulkner reached a mouth pressure of a 
>>> hundred
>>> > and sixty millimeters of mercury (about three pounds per square 
>>> inch)
>>> > while playing a high D. It would have been interesting if he had 
>>> made
>>> > similar measurements during a  performance by a 
>>> "commercial"--that is,
>>> > a jazz or dance-band player, such as  Glow, to compare with 
>>> those of a
>>> > "legitimate," or symphonic, player, such as Professor Faulkner. 
>>> In the
>>> > past twenty or thirty years, the commercial players have 
>>> extended the
>>> > range of the trumpet far beyond it's textbook limits: today they 
>>> play
>>> > in a register that the legitimate player would never attempt, and
>>> >  with a brute force that he would never employ. (Editor's 
>>> note..The
>>> > above is not entirely true. Whereas, the so-called "legit" 
>>> players did
>>> > not have to play in the upper register continuously (as a matter of
>>> > course) as modern day demands,  Herbert L. Clark finished a 
>>> number of
>>> > solos on a high "F", and the old  St. Jacome books have 
>>> exercises up
>>> > to and including a high "F", albeit  with disclaimers. The old 
>>> Ernest
>>> > Williams book has exercises in the upper register among others 
>>> of the
>>> > old school...now back to the Whitworth article) The range of the
>>> > standard B-flat trumpet was once considered to be roughly from 
>>> the F
>>> > sharp below the staff to the high C above the staff. Commercial
>>> > players are now expected to be able to play F's and G's above 
>>> the high
>>> > C all day, and some of them occasionally will play as high as the
>>> > double C (an octave above high C), and even beyond. (Editors 
>>> note... I
>>> > once had a record of Doc  Severinsen's on which he finished a 
>>> piece
>>> > with a very nice double E, but have forgotten the name.. If anybody
>>> > knows the record or piece, please let me know.. at
>>> > morriek at halcyon.com) Trumpet playing has taken on a more 
>>> athletic> quality than ever, with each generation of players 
>>> pushing the limits
>>> > upward,  like runners or pole-vaulters shooting for new records.
>>> >
>>> >  Glow's preparation for this strenuous profession was literally
>>> > perfect. He began his study of the trumpet , at the age of nine, 
>>> with
>>> > Max Schlossberg, who was then the foremost trumpet teacher in this
>>> > country and perhaps the world. His second teacher, after 
>>> Schlossberg's
>>> > death, was Harry Glantz, one of the great orchestral trumpet 
>>> players,
>>> > who played under Toscanini in the New York Philharmonic and N.B.C.
>>> > Symphony, and his third teacher was Nat Prager,  another great
>>> > orchestral player. Glow's career was planned in some detail by 
>>>   his
>>> > maternal grandfather, Sam Finkel, who had been a musician in Europe
>>> > and then in the Yiddish theater in New York. Without consulting 
>>> either
>>> > the boy or his parents, Mr. Finkel announced one day that Bernie 
>>> would
>>> > be a musician--specifically, a first-trumpet player in a symphony
>>> > orchestra. Glow's father, who was in the millinery business, was 
>>> not
>>> > musical, but he didn't object, and neither did Glow himself. "In my
>>> > family, I was not asked, I was told", Glow says. Luckily for 
>>> him, his
>>> > grandfather had known Schlossberg in Europe, and was able to 
>>> persuade
>>> > the great man, who had settled in New York around the turn of the
>>> > century, to take Glow on as a pupil. Schlossberg, ill and only a 
>>> few
>>> > months away from death, had not been accepting beginners: his 
>>> students
>>> > were advanced players, many of them members of major orchestras. 
>>> "It
>>> > was funny," Glow said recently, " I was a nine-year-old kid, and 
>>> I'd
>>> > come out of my lesson and there would be one of the guys from the
>>> > Boston Symphony waiting his turn." For the first two weeks of his
>>> > studies, Glow was not allowed to touch the trumpet. Scholssberg 
>>> would
>>> > let him do nothing but learn to set his lips correctly and make a
>>> > sound with the mouthpiece. This was to insure that his 
>>> embouchure, or
>>> > position and use of the lips, would be perfectly formed: it was, 
>>> and
>>> > to this day Glow is grateful for this careful beginning, which he
>>> > regards as the foundation of his present strength as a player. Glow
>>> > was as bored by practicing as the next young musician, but his
>>> > grandfather saw to it that he   put in an hour a day on the 
>>> horn. To
>>> > impress upon the boy the desirability of playing things 
>>> correctly, Mr.
>>> > Finkel would call attention to any mistakes that Glow repeated by
>>> > whacking him on the shoulder with a blackboard pointer.
>>> >
>>> >  The Bronx, where Glow grew up, and Brooklyn, where he often 
>>> played as
>>> > a high school musician, seem to have been rich in musical talent
>>> > during the thirties and forties. Glow played in teenage bands then
>>> > with a number of boys who were to become famous jazz musicians,
>>> > including Stan Getz, the tenor saxophonist, Tiny Kahn, the drummer,
>>> > Shorty Rogers, the trumpet player and arranger and George 
>>> Wallington,
>>> > the  pianist. In this fast company, Glow took his turn at 
>>> improvising
>>> > jazz solos--without much success, he now thinks. But he already 
>>> knew
>>> > that his real interest was playing lead in a section. He had 
>>> made that
>>> > decision during long afternoons at the Fiesta Danceteria, at
>>> > Forty-second and Broadway, where he heard Snooky Young play lead
>>> > trumpet with the Jimmie Lunceford band, and at the Paramount 
>>> Theater,
>>> > where he heard Billy  Butterfield with the Benny Goodman band. 
>>> The
>>> > soloists in these bands impressed Glow, but the sound of the
>>> > lead-trumpet players, soaring above the brass section, gave him the
>>> > chills.
>>> >
>>> >  Glow was precocious. At the age of sixteen, immediately after 
>>> his
>>> > graduation from high school, he became the lead-trumpet player with
>>> > the  Richard Himber Orchestra, and spent his first year on the 
>>> road.
>>> > At eighteen,  he was with Xavier Cugat and then with Raymond 
>>> Scott,
>>> > playing a daily show on C.B.S. radio. At nineteen, he was 
>>> playing lead
>>> > with Artie Shaw, and at twenty with Boyd Raeburn. At 
>>> twenty-three--an
>>> > age at which some musicians have barely begun to travel--he retired
>>> > from the road. This was in 1949,after more than a year with one 
>>> of the> best large groups in history, the Woody Herman band that 
>>> was known as
>>> > the Second Herd. For the next four years, Glow worked around New 
>>> York
>>> > in Latin bands, on radio shows, in theaters, in night clubs and on
>>> >  weekend dance jobs. Though he didn't think of it as such, this 
>>> was
>>> > the last phase of his education for the studio musician. By the 
>>> time
>>> > Glow was twenty seven, he not only was technically accomplished but
>>> > was also schooled in a  greater variety of musical styles than 
>>> many
>>> > trumpet players encounter in their whole career. From 1953 on, 
>>> as his
>>> > reputation grew in New York, he began to be called frequently for
>>> > record dates and for television jobs as "The Milton Berle Show", 
>>> "The
>>> > Perry Como  Show" and the "Tonight Show." He and Doc Severinsen, 
>>> the
>>> > virtuoso trumpet player who now leads the "Tonight Show" band, 
>>> quickly
>>> > came to be regarded as the successors to the top men in the 
>>> previous
>>> > generation of studio players.
>>> >
>>> >  Despite his success, Glow has let his grandfather down, in a 
>>> way,
>>> > since Mr. Finkel's dream was that Glow would grow up to be a 
>>> symphonic
>>> > player. Glow is unrepentant for having strayed into jazz and studio
>>> > work. "It's really been fun," he says, "I'm a guy who's making a 
>>> good
>>> > living doing something he'd rather be doing than anything else 
>>> in the
>>> > world." He still remembers the sting of the blackboard point, 
>>> though,
>>> > and he rarely misses a note.
>>> >
>>> >     Reprinted from the Dec. 10, 1969 issue of The New Yorker 
>>> Magazine
>>