kozbob

I am very curious about what mouthpieces the greats such as Louis Armstrong, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Clifford Brown, Maynard, Wynton, and some of the other guys played on. What do you know about it?

~~ZG

blasticore

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Dustin

Why is it important? Play on what works for you. A lot of guys play/played on a plain old 3C or 1 1/2C or their equivalent in another brand. My band director doesn't even know what mouthpiece he plays on. He doesn't pay attention to all the gearhead bullcrap that a bunch of people get into. A mouthpice really won't be as important as time spent in the practice room. I myself went through a lot of mouthpieces, only to end up on what I started out on, a 3C. One of my friends plays lead on a 1 1/4C and he sounds great. So I don't see why there's all this hype over mouthpieces. Okay, I'll stop ranting now.

=]

Cameron

The great trumpeter and teacher Claude Gordon said that "many of the greatest players played on the mouthpiece that came with the horn". He was mainly referring to the great cornetists of the 19th and early 20th century, who really didn't have much options in terms of mpc's or gear. These players managed to develop powerful range and phenomenal technique without even worrying about the mouthpiece. Arturo Sandoval can effectively imitate many of the mentioned great jazz players (Dizzy, Armstrong, Clark Terry, Clifford Brown, Maynard) using his normal mouthpiece and horn.