dbacon

I, too, was at the clinic and concert in Tacoma, WA and all I can say is
"wow!" The clinic was less than totally exciting with respect to "how to
play" but was very entertaining as Wayne related stories of working the LA
scene, some of his favorite and most memorable musical experiences and he
demonstrated his mellow and friendly attitude. (In an interesting parallel
to our recent aperture thread, he mentioned pulling his corners further in
to his teeth as he ascends in order to increase the amount of pucker and
flesh between the mouthpiece and teeth. He envisions an opening that NEVER
closes down as long as there is plenty of pucker holding it open, and the
air going straight down the leadpipe. The upper body (chest, throat, oral
cavity) are as relaxed and opened as wide as possible for the biggest
sound.) I asked him about air compression for high-note playing, but he got
off on a tangent (relaxed breathing with a breathing tube he pulled out of
his case.)

The concert was another story altogether. The big band features some great
high-note trumpet playing (Rich Wetzel and Greg Lyons were nailing lots of
Maynard licks) but the reality becomes apparent as soon as Wayne joined in
and let us all know what it really can sound like. Not to put down the other
players at all - the band was swinging and playing great all night - but the
sheer power, size, continuity and overall presence of Wayne's sound into the
extreme upper register is simply astounding. I have an entirely new and
refreshed concept of that sound that lead players should strive for.

Wayne did make some great comments about high note playing. First, for some
us, it just "floats our boat." Of all the trumpet playing one is able to do,
many of us simply enjoy soaring over the top of a big band; it's not for
everybody. He admitted to favoring that playing over the jazz chair; every
band always has a couple of jazz specialists and a couple of lead players
and they are entirely comfortable in their respective roles. (Wayne admitted
to being embarrassed to play in front of those jazz guys, but I must admit,
his love for Freddy is clearly audible in his wonderful flügel solos, where
he seems far more comfortable improvising than on trumpet.) Second, Wayne
stressed MUSICAL playing over everything else. We should all know that the
musical approach to the upper register (and all playing) is a key to
overcoming difficulties on the horn. He also mentioned one of my favorite
concepts to teach: the quality (nature) of the inhaled breath controls the
quality of the exhaled breath. We gotta relax breathing in for it to be
relaxed on the way out.

Can y'all recommend some albums with Wayne playing lead? I already ordered
his solo disc (to be released soon) but am aching to hear more of that
sound. Wow.

Burt Codispoti

ChasStarr

Check out the Tom Kubis albums. WB is playing lead on a lot of them.

dauminator3

Gordon Goodwins Big Phat Band.......I saw them a few months ago.....very entertaining..........

Jared

Lawler Bb

Gotta dig the early Kubis album "Slightly Off the Ground". George Graham on Lead, with Wayne Bergeron and Warren Luening in the section.

djm6701

I think Wayne's playing all the lead on the Sammy Nestico album, "This Is The Moment". Gary Grant is first credit but it sure sounds like Wayne playing lead. I don't see a date on the album anywhere. This is a wonderful album with some really fresh writing from Sammy regardless of who's playing which chair.

CJDJazzTpt

Gary Grant is a heavy-hitter as well. His lead playing is serious too! Wayne Bergeron isn't the only lead player out there in L.A. Gary is in the same mix as Wayne is in L.A. or vice versa. Their lead sounds become similar at times through necessity.