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Hubnub,
Tons! You really do not see any post from me directly related to jazz, not due to lack of interest, more due to little personal experience. I do play lead on a regular basis, but that has nothing to do with the chorus book. I also do not have much experience in the very extreme music covered by Ed in his Forum, but do attend concerts because I am always looking to stretch the envelope.

The scope of things discussed here at TM is actually quite small and many things repeat themselves very often!

I am living proof that curiosity did not kill the cat although I have had my share of electric shocks, sleepless nights, band aids and personal rejection (I would not do anything differently if I had to do it over knowing what I know today!)!

I gave some further thought to my post. Think about this:

We have learned (with the advent of the InkJet printer) that all colors can be reproduced by mixing Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black and White. Just imagine Manet, Monet, Picasso, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Kandinski all being forced to use one brand of oil paint, the same brush and only those colors (they would be free to mix to get "infinite color" however). No doubt we would get very different results, different strokes for different folks! What possible advantage could that be to the world of art though? What other dimensions would be lost?

With the trumpet, we have the brush strokes that are stylistic, but the palette borders are fixed based on the hardware. A specific embouchure, mouthpiece, horn combination determines the spectrum of overtones available. The claim of playing efficiently, means that the trumpet has an even BIGGER part of the sound our audiences hear.

I see no reason to impose artificial limits on music, and if a Phil Smith, Charlie Schlueter, Mark Ridenour or any other "pro" sees this differently, then we simply have different views.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra was on tour in Europe may years ago and they used rotaties for Mahler in the first half of the concert. It was magnificent! The second half was something more modern and I saw Bach. The sound was much more brilliant and clear as glass- a much different experience. Does the average person in the audience hear this or even care? Probably not, but many of them are also happy with facimiles of major art works, printed on paper with no "texture". Texture is a very important aspect of oil painting however, as is the canvas used. An ARTIST usually does incorporate artistic detail that the casual observer will not see or hear.

There is simply NO ARGUMENT against diversity! I am not in a position to tell the greatest trumpet players on earth that THEY are not doing an adequate job. I am in a position to tell them that they are missing something important, intriguing and enriching however! The rest is up to them and the audiences that pay to see them................

Buy a CD of the Mozart Requiem or a Beethoven Symphony played by Christopher Hogwood and the Academy of Ancient Music, a Mahler 3 or 4 by the Berlin Philharmonic under Karajan, Symphonic Dances from West Side Story by the New York Phil under Bernstein, Pictures at an Exhibition by Chicago/Solti. There is infinite diversity, and all of those trumpet players CAN cover that range if they desire. Wake up America!

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Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.