Trumpet – The Woodshed | Jazz Improvisation

50 Killer Living Trumpet Players: Chad & Mike’s Excellent Adventure

Correction: The names of Jim Rotondi, Bert Joris, and Jonathan Finlayson were previously misspelled and have been corrected below. Sincere apologies for the lack of proofreading, we still love your playing!

This week, trumpeter Chad McCullough joins me for The Woodshed’s first ever jazz fantasy draft. After the interest I received in a previous post, 50 Living Sax Players You Need to Check Out. Right Now., I knew Chad was the perfect companion to help me follow up, hipping you to a more stylistically and geographically diverse set of trumpeters than I could possibly concoct on my own.

Chad’s a wonderful trumpet player; look out for his upcoming Origin release with Belgian pianist Bram Weijters:

Chad and I sat down last night and geeked out for a few hours, taking turns picking our trumpet idols off the top of our heads and sharing YouTube clips until we came up with 50 names. ...read more

Roy Hargrove: Playing “Out”

Say what you will about Roy Hargrove’s current lifestyle choices; the man has blown some serious trumpet in his day. Roy’s ability to effortlessly glide between playing “in” (playing notes that fit the harmony) and “out” (creating tension by playing notes that don’t fit) has always impressed me, so I recently decided to pick a few lines to analyze his various harmonic devices.

Although he released a slew of post bop material throughout the 90’s, I reached for his more groove-oriented stuff in order to cut to the core of his soulful harmonic concept. His solo over Rich Man’s Welfare off RH Factor’s “Strength” fit the bill nicely.

But First, A Few Observations

Before getting into the meat of the analysis, I want to note a few keys to Hargrove’s playing in this era that made it all work. His time is impeccable, he shapes his lines with clean, clear articulations, and his style is…well he really swings. ...read more

Marquis Hill – Live at the Whistler

In honor of Chicago’s own Marquis Hill’s big win at the 2014 Thelonious Monk Trumpet Competition last night, here’s a bootleg iPhone recording I took of his group playing at The Whistler on 10/21/14. Crushing it.

Marquis Hill – Trumpet
Dustin Laurenzi – Tenor Sax
Stu Mindeman – Keys
Bryan Doherty – Bass
Makaya McCraven – Drums

Bootleg a Day #2: Mark Turner @ Constellation w Avishai Cohen, Joe Martin & Justin Brown

Next up in our series, we present the incomparable Mark Turner in a set from just 4 days ago! He brought his group to Chicago’s newest and hippest jazz venue, Constellation. They played 2 sets that drew mostly from his latest album, Lathe of Heaven, which hit the shelves only a couple weeks ago. What an experience!

I must admit, I picked up the album as soon as it came out, and I listened to it a few times with a bit of difficulty. My ears were unsure of how to process some of the 2 part horn harmonies without chordal support. However, witnessing this group live in such an intimate setting as Constellation drew me in, and I was spellbound by the end of the show. Mark’s tone coated the room with such a lush, dark, and gentle hue, and his compositions proved both creative and satisfying. ...read more