| Uan Rasey
Hi Dave,
I also took from Uan and he is truly more amazing than any other trumpet player still around today. His credits would be too numerous to mention. I asked him once about it and his response was that I probably know more about that he did, all he did was show up to work everyday and came home every night, that was it.
Here's a couple of Classic's
" Ben Hur "
“Show boat”
“Mutiny on the Bounty”
“Red Badge of Courage “
“West Side Story”
“Meet Me in St. Louis"
“An American in Paris “- 1st trumpet plus trumpet solo
“Sing in the Rain”
“Anchors Away “
“Zigfeild Follies “
“Easter Parade “
“Take me out to the Ball Game “
“Annie gets your Gun “
“Show Boat “
“Guys and Dolls “
“Man of La Manchu “– 1965 version
“A Funny Thing happened on the way to the Forum “
“The unsinkable Molly Brown “
“That Entertainment parts I, II and III
“Pennies form Heaven “
“Victor / Victoria
And the most famous movie trumpet solo
“Chinatown “– lead trumpet and “trumpet solo “under the direction of Jerry Goldsmith.
Mr goldsmith told Uan before recording the track,( the 1st trumpet / solo part didnt have a trumpet I, II, II or IV on it, it just said in the upper right hand corner " Uan Rasey " ) the movie is about sex, lies, betrayal and incest, things like that, play the solo that way”.
Dave, your right, just off the top of my head I could keep going for a couple more pages.
If you some of you didn’t know, Mr. Rasey was struck with polio in his late teens ( right after a road trip with Sunny Durham’s band ) and there after had to use crutches as a young man and eventually was bound to a wheel chair, but that never let that stop him or his busy work schedule. He took lessons for Louis Maggie in the late 30’s after developing scar tissue on his upper lip ( forcing him to take a month off ) and from then on used the biggest mouthpiece ( bigger than a Bach 1 , which he told me they don’t make them anymore ) until his retirement. Louis Maggio wanted to be the principal trumpet for the Detroit Symphony, but Uan decided to head out West. When I took lessons form him he was still playing and he used and Olds and a King trumpet.
Even after taking lessons from John Cayman , then first trumpet at 20th century , who told Uan to give up playing because he’s never make it. ( I also took lessons form John Clyman ) , Uan never had a bad thing to say about anyone and after making it to the pinnacle of the trumpet world, he actually helped John Cayman whenever he could. That’s the type of guy he is.
Uan was born in Glasgow, Montana on August 22, 1921 (making him 82 now) and is still inspiring young players with his wisdom. In 2001, Calicchio trumpets actually had Uan (which I don’t think ever played a Calicchio) give a clinic here in Los Angeles and he was as engaging as ever, staying way past the allotted time answering any questions the audience, ranging from which School Students to LA session veterans such as Tony Terrain, Maury Harris, Malcolm McNabb, Big Bing, Roy Poper, Pete and Conti Candela, Zeke Zarchey, Rick Baptist, etc.
This is as unique an individual as they come.
Here’s one thing he told me that I’ll never forget
Uan - “When you go somewhere you can either leave positive or negative energy, and by all means leave a positive one, it all starts with you "
Words to live by.
Larry |