| Nick Drozdoff is someone whose opinion can be trusted to be 100% accurate. Nick was with Maynard for a year and is in great demand for all kinds of work in the Chicago area and I have the pleasure of working with Nick twice when he soloed with the community band I'm with.
The first time, he did a Vizzutti thing which I think was called "Blues for Trumpet". It's very difficult and Nick tossed in a couple double Cs for good measure. Vizzutti himself couldn't have played it better. (The trumpet parts in the band are no walk in the park. There a few of the same passages the solo plays and the first part gets up there, but not as high as the solo parts does. Thank goodness for that. The first part somehow ended up on my stand - along with a bunch of grins from the other three section members).
The second time, he did the Arutunian and played it wonderfully.
Two entirely different solo works played brilliantly.
To top it off, Nick is not only a superb player, but a very nice guy too. |