Larry Gianni

Dave,

I have a album with Conrad Gozzo playing with the Ray Conniff ensemble and Gozzo even makes this album sound great.

Larry

lonelyangel

This is such a huge topic that it’s hard to know where to start.

Maybe I’ll think about bands I have heard live - in my face. One of the greatest trumpet sections I have heard was in a concert at The Royal Festival Hall in about 1989. It was Dizzy’s band with Faddis as musical director and playing lead. Byron Stripling was on second and I think it was a guy named Al Aaron (forgive/correct me if I got that wrong) and Glen Drews.
Faddis sounded amazing sitting on top of that big sassy section especially on the shout chorus of ‘Manteca’ where he octaved the whole last eight bars of the main riff with scintillating fast shakes on the double B flats - amazing. He didn’t dominate the band but added a sparkle and glisten to the whole timbre of the band - a bit like pulling out a high harmonic stop on a church organ. I thought he and Byron complimented each others playing perfectly.

I also had a very educational evening hearing Byron Stripling leading the line in the Basie (ghost?) band. His sound was like melted butter but what stopped me in my tracks was his expansive and glorious sense of TIME. That guy has such poise and authority in the way he swings. A truly elegant exponent of the art.

I’m also a big fan of Earl Gardener. I have seen him several times with the Mel Lewis band at the Village Vanguard and also at Ronnie Scott’s club. His is the kind of understated graceful lead playing that I really aspire to. It might not knock everyone's socks off - but to me he conveys a real intelligence when he plays and a passion for and understanding of the music. Plus he usually makes me smile.

Most recently I saw Walter White leading the Herman Band at Ronnie's (Castle Bravo, Jarrett and Leigh were there too) and he treated us to an awesome demonstration of power, accuracy and groovy lead playing - it was flawless. He was quite justified in his choice of T-shirt for the band stand. He had the superman logo emblazoned across his chest and I for one am not going to argue with him. However the real discovery for me that night - who really thrilled me - was Frank Green. He was playing second for most of the night. On a couple of tunes he played lead and in one or two passages he gave Walter a break before or after Walter’s solos. He was playing a vintage Burbank Benge and had that same beautiful lightness of touch and effortlessly shaped phrasing which I am so fond of - just sitting on top of the band and electrifying the tone of the ensemble passages. It’s like the icing on the cake for me. I had to speak to him afterwards to let him know he was awesome and he seemed like a really great guy - very genuine and humble - I think he rocks.

Finally I wanted to make some noise about some local talent. If you are talking about the perfect lead player for a certain band then I want to nominate Derek Watkins in the Kenny Wheeler Big Band. When ever I play Kens music, the whole band has to think like Kenny in terms of timing, phrasing and sound. I was once in a rehearsal as a student where Ken was the soloist. The director asked us to play an ensemble section and try to emulate the way Ken would perform it. “You mean flat and doomy?” came Kens self-deprecating reply.
Seriously though, if you listen to the way Derek plays lead in Ken’s band he sounds exactly the way that you would imagine Ken would sound playing lead - a great example of the music being more important than the individual performer.
Derek's association with Ken Wheeler goes back to the 1960s. Derek is playing lead trumpet on Kenny's seminal and highly influential album “Windmill Tilter” which was released as a John Dankworth Big Band album (although Kenny wrote all the music). This wonderful suite based on the story of Don Quixote is sadly no longer available although it did have a small revival last year.

I am the lead trumpet player in saxophonist Tim Garland’s Dean Street Underground Orchestra, a 10 piece mini big band. Last year we did a tour with Ken Wheeler as guest soloist. Tim had worked with Ken to re-orchestrate the Windmill Tilter music for his band and that suite formed the second half of the concert each night. I must say - as thrilling as it was - it was quite a tall order to play lead parts originally composed for Derek but in a trumpet section of two! Mind you the player on second was the inimitable Henry Lowther (who was also on the original 1967 sessions) so I actually had plenty of support.

Check out “Music for Large and Small Ensembles” ECM 1990. It’s essential listening in my view.

Also, if modesty permits, I would also recommend another recent British big band album. Stan Sulzman (another sax player and long serving member of several Kenny wheeler small bands) recorded an album “Birthdays Birthdays” with his big band on the Village Life label. The trumpet section featured all the players mentioned in the previous two paragraphs. Derek Watkins, Henry Lowther, Kenny Wheeler and Noel Langley (I was the one with my head spinning round and round thinking what am I doing here?). Ken, Derek and Henry all play great solos ( I was just sharing the lead and keeping my ears wide open) including a lovely ballad ‘The Thrill is Gone’ featuring Derek. When we listened to the play back after the first take Kenny complained, “Derek sounds just like me but an octave better” (this is British humour folks :) )
Seriously though it is a wonderful album. Stan’s writing is hauntingly beautiful and, on a personal note, it represents one of my dreams come true - to play in a section of my heroes.
I think you can order the album from the Village Life web site - I’ll go look for a link.

All the best, Noel.

PH

After I visited with Noel last summer I went out, on his recommendation, and found a CD of the Dean St. Underground. Holy cow!!!

The writing is fresh and fascinating and Noel will be too modest to tell you how fabulous he sounds, but he does.

I also picked up a CD of Saxophonist Frank Griffith's nonet with Henry Lowther on trumpet. Henry has one of the greatest sounds ON ANY COAST!

Cheers!

psalt

Great post Noel. The times I have heard Jon Faddis live, he impressed me with the way his lead didn't dominate, but rather blended in just like the organ stop you mentioned. His timbre was sweet with a beautiful blend of harmonics. However, when he switches on the afterburners, he has the capability to bury anyone.
To me, other players who play lead sounding like a harmonic of what's underneath them are Bernie Glow and Alan Rubin. Check out the high D played by Rubin at the end of the Blues Bros "Can't turn you loose".
While many people would regard Conrad Gozzo as a dominating kind of player, from the recordings I've heard, his timbre blended beautifully. It was his sheer unbelievable strength of personality that stood out. He was kind of like a wild animal.(albeit with musicianship)
One interesting story about Faddis, Marvin Stamm once told me that in all the years of playing with Jon in the studios, he never once saw him tire. He had endurance that was superhuman.
Peter Salt

Mikester

Noel,

You mentioned a couple of my favorites, Walter and Frank.

Walter White and Craig Johnson duked it out on "Fox Hunt" in my home town with Maynard's band. Those to guys were young, but electrifying.

My favorite MF lead was Frank Green. Thanks for writing about him. One time I saw/heard him playing 2nd with MF. During "Hoochie Coochie Man" he played the first half of the solo with a plunger. When the horns came in, he flipped the plunger over his shoulder to a sax player and RIPPED into the stratosphere. Another time, after the very long "Caravan" drum solo, he came in cold and nailed the run up to F (I think). Anyway, he really is a standout player. Had the stance of a leader.

Fortunately for me, I play in a big band with a rock solid 1st trumpeter. He and I split the lead book. The guy is a human metronome. Always right on with the correct rhythm. At a trumpet-fest in 2001, he was nick-named "The Sight Reading Beast". We read a 4 part piece written for the Eastman School of Music quintet. He read it straight down. So did Bruce Lee. Of course, Bruce played it in school and did not let on until later.

Regards.

Mike

Larry Gianni

Derek Watkins is so good , he's in a league of his own.

lonelyangel

Thanks Larry, for your kind words and to everybody for the positive feedback and encouragement. I’ll do my best to answer the questions about Derek but I’m a little concerned that I might leave you disappointed by my lack of detail.

I don't know if its to do with the famous cold reserve of the British as a nation but, when I was emerging as an eager young player, desperate for information, I soon found that my constant questions about mouthpieces, equipment and technique were not met with great enthusiasm from my superiors. The thing I love about TM is the openness and willingness of contributors to share information. The enthusiasm for all aspects of playing and the attention to detail is a real breath of fresh air for me and I am constantly surprised at the generosity and friendliness of the Americans on the site. I get the feeling that the prevelant attitude amongst the older generation of players in the UK was to keep what they knew to themselves. I often joke that the Dennis Wick tone enhancer/booster is so popular over here because it keeps the identity of your mouthpiece a secret (I don't use one myself by the way).

The usual topics up for discussion on sessions are the weather, the traffic, golf swings, cars and, of course, football and I guess that's the same the world over.
In the future I’ll endeavour to be a little more observant and ask some direct questions where necessary so that I can be confident about posting information here.

I know that Derek played Bosey and Hawkes instruments from the mid seventies. He helped Richard Smith, then a B&H employee, to develop and refine a line of professional instruments, The B&H Champion, I think. That relationship developed into the formation of Smith-Watkins who produce the trumpets we all know of today.

Derek has told me that he likes to have the resistance in his set up as close to his lips as possible for better control and feel. I think his basic horn is a large bore (.464) with the second largest bell (I don’t know about the weight) and usually a smallish pipe (number 10 or 12). Derek always has 2 or 3 lead pipes with him and changes depending on the musical setting. Lately he has also been playing a medium bore horn with the smallest bell - modelled after a Chicago Benge - which has a more cone-like flare and a smaller diameter. He told me that he feels this gives him a more compact, focused sound which records really well. I am pretty certain that with this bell he will use a larger pipe to compensate. He believes that what you take away in one area you have to put back in another to maintain the resistance you like to play with.

Of course the other factor in the equation is the mouthpiece. Derek will sometimes use a bigger mouthpiece on an orchestral session but basically he has played that Giardinelli 10S since the year dot. The rim is a 10W, as was the fashion at the time he started playing, which is very badly pitted and worn down to the bare brass! He is very skeptical about having it reconditioned in case it feels different afterwards and is always on the look out for vintage Giardinellis and rims (any offers out there?). I think that he modified it himself years ago with an old fashioned hand reamer - a kind of file - to open out the back bore. The end of the backbore is filed to a very thin edge which he told me helps to shoot the air into the lead pipe faster. I think it also has a pretty large throat too. My own 25 year old Giardinelli 6S has a bigger backbore than most mouthpieces I have seen - definitely much bigger than on the new Giardinelli range - but it is way smaller than the one Derek uses.

I hope that is of interest. All the best, Noel.

PS Thanks for everybodies support regarding the impending industrial action in the West End.

FlugelFlyer

Falls in the category of MF lead player you never heard of, but on the first track of These Cats Can Swing, i.e. Sugar, Joey Tartell swung his @$$ off throughout it and had a perfectly clean sound throughout all that CD, even up to a 5th ledgerline Bb. Much different sound than Scott Englebright, probably the most prominent lead player with Maynard in the 90's, but two fantastic lead players in their own right.


[edit: "that" can also be referred to as a song, blatant misuse of the English language on my part, and further edited for clarity of point]

tom turner

Noel,

Rich Ita, of Brass Instrument Workshop, has a couple of older, screw rim Giardinellis in #10 sizes.

You may wish to forward this link to Derek to see if he's interested in either.

http://www.brassinstrumentworkshop.com/mouthpieces.html

Sincerely,

Tom Turner

bigaggietrumpet

Getting back to the original topic, I'm curious how many caught this one-

Frank Sinatra-Harry James (!)

I believe this was in Sinatra's earlier days, and never really talked about it much, at least, not that I ever found. And then later, there was

Harry James-Betty Grable

And, if I'm not mistaken, Grable and James would go on to get married.