| 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.
__________________ Noel Langley - Eclipse Artist noel@eclipsetrumpets.com
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