[Dixielandjazz] Louis Armstrong Mouthpiece Grooves

[Stephen G Barbone]

Perhaps the answer about Armstrong's mouthpiece grooves is found in  
David Hickman's book " Trumpet Pedagogy. See the below site, a recent  
review of the book: (dated Jan 20, 2012)

http://talkingtrumpet.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/book-review-trumpet-pedagogy-by-david-hickman/

Scroll down to see a picture of the rim of an Armstrong mouthpiece  
with many grooves and this description:

"My favorite picture is this one of Louis Armstrong’s mouthpiece rim.  
It’s got grooves carved into it. The grooves grip his chops so that  
when he gave the horn a slight twist, he was able to play higher.  
This, btw, is not a recommended way to increase your range. Louis used  
to play 77 high Cs in a row at the end of a tune (I think it might  
have been St. Louis Blues, but am not sure). At a show England when he  
did this, he split his lip so badly that the front of his shirt was  
drenched in blood and he had to stop playing for a long period. It’s  
not clear whether he was using this twisting technique, but I’m  
guessing he was."

The book itself might be of interest to the trumpeters on the list.

Cheers
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband