NickD

OK, I have a terrific evening alst night. I was hired to play lead trumpet in a big band led by Jon Faddis (a one shot gig last night). I must admit to feeling a bit intimidated when I walked in. Faddis was sitting there reading the score. The music I was to play was brutally hard Latin big band music crawling with high G's and snaky rhythms - all original and written by Mike Mossman. Mike was there, too! Mike is a MONSTER player and this just added to the pressure of playing all the lead with a composer who could play the stuff right back into my face. I was essentially sight reading. I had received the scores via email a few days earlier, but lack of tempos to practice on most along with lack of context put me on the spot.

Well, the evening, IMHO could not have been more fun and exciting. Faddis was most genial and supportive. I had some heavy solos on one chart and it was so gratifying to get a yeah out of him. It was an honor to catch up with Mossman, who lived in Chicago over 20 years ago.

The real capper was that on one movement, Faddis had a big feature solo. Now comes to the real crux of the post.

I've been a Faddis fan for many years. I've heard him live a few times, but I've never worked with him before. He picked his horn up, stone cold two hours of conducting and just tore the place apart. Needless to say, his high chops were just flat out astonishing - casually tossing off F#'s over double C like they were in the staff. But he is not just about high notes. His sound was smooth as silk - gorgeous. His style, all his own, was pure artistry, plain and simple. It was inspiring.

As I was leaving he was most gracious and complimentary at my holding my own in a tough spot (I made a few mistakes in the reading, but I THINK I pretty well held the section together - a group of stellar Chicago trumpeters). In short, this was the highlight of my week! I hope to get to sub on this band again!

Peace!

Nick

Clarence

oh snap nick, dat be sossme heavy hard-core sh*t!
like there wasn,t enough pressure!
like they say baby boy ,never ,let em see you sweat!

NickD

Yeah, Clarance! I know what you mean. I don't really sweat any more. What's the point, eh? If I mess up, I mess up! Nobody's going to keel over and die if I make a bad entrance. It's over after it happens. It was just, a bit daunting to walk in there. I knew I could do the job, but, heck, it was Jon Faddis AND Mike Mossman sitting in front of me!

Both of the guys were perfect gentlemen and pros. Had they resorted to the old Buddy Rich style of rehearsing a band, I would have been bummed. Faddis was professional and soft spoken - very cool to work for.

OK, gotta split!

ND

wiseone2

Welcome to the New York City way of rehearsing
That style makes the most difficult situations doable. Jon has grown to be the leader everyone thought he would be........With Diz in your corner,how could it be otherwise?
Wilmer

Eclipsehornplayer

Wow Nick nice post!

For me it would have been like:

Do you want death by leathel injection or death by electricution?

You must be made of stone!

I hope I can be 1/4 of the player you are someday!

Way to go!
John

NickD

John,

You sure flatter me. I'm also a bit embarassed. I was just posting because of being excited about having such a neat opportunity to work with a heavy. I'm sorry if I came off as arrogant in some way.

I am a student of the trumpet and I always will be. I am just a trumpeter, just like you are!

Nick

wilcox96

Nick..you are probably still on an adrenaline high. ha. I have to agree that Faddis is just terrific. Much more than a high note guy. He really does have great tone all over the horn...that includes mid and low registers. He is also a great "student" of tpt history & players. Can mimick the heck out of many!

I chatted with him at one of the ITG things several years ago and he relayed a similar experience as what you had (Nick)...I asked him about the Michel Camilo cd "One More Once" (latin..and also with Michael Mossman). Killer cd by the way... He said he'd gotten the charts a couple weeks before and same as you...didn't really know tempos. When he got to the session, he said that everything was waaayyy faster than he'd envisioned it and practiced! hahah.

Anyway...you da man. You've had another one of those great moments. Congrats dude.

Solar Bell

On the other hand.....

Jon Faddis worked with Nick D last night!

-cw-

Tootsall

Trust Chuck!

Great story, Nick. Relating personal experiences so that others can enjoy them and possibly even relate to them is one of the great things about the forums.

tpter1

Yeah Nick! Great story. Thanks for sharing it. You are really an inspiration to me by showing me that us teachers can still do it.

Those who can...TEACH!