One of the common email comments that I get regarding my sound files is the
fact that my playing doesn’t have any expression or swing in it. Believe me when
I say that this is something that I am VERY aware of. I listen to music
CONSTANTLY. I mean REALLY listen. I listen to music more than I do anything else
(sleep included). On the train ride to work, at work, at home, driving in the
car… music is there. That being said – all that listening has yet to help me
improve this one regard of my playing. I’ve gotten tons of tips of folks (which
includes listening more — sorry… not possible) and none of those tips have
sprung forth any significant change.

I believe the reason for this is I am still not comfortable playing the
trumpet yet. I’ve only been on the horn for about 5 years. While this is a good
amount of time – I don’t think it is enough time for the actually task of
playing the trumpet to be natural. When I say natural – I mean natural to the
point that it moves completely out of my mind so I can focus on making music. So
many thoughts swirl through my mind when I play and most of them are technical.
I long for the day when playing trumpet becomes almost second nature and I can
get the sound in my head — out of the horn.  Right now, I’m not even
close.

Take the trumpet out of my hands and ask me to sing or scat on a tune…
totally different story. It is mainly because I’ve been singing since I was 5
years old. It’s natural. I feel as if I can do anything I want with my voice. My
problem is not a lack of internal swing or rhythm.  Put that strange hunk
of metal in my hands and on my lips — I have serious problems.  The music
is in me but the filter (trumpet) won’t let it come out in it’s purest form.

If I sound a bit agitated by this – it’s because I am. Not with people who
make this suggestion but with myself for not improving yet. To be honest, this
is the main reason why you will not hear a lot of new sound files on my site. I
record them constantly but until I hear some significant change… they remain
hidden in the "vault."

I am confident that this aspect of my playing will improve with time. The
most helpful thing for me so far has been playing along with recordings. I take
a 4 bar or even 2 bar phrase from a soloist that I love (Woody Shaw has been a
constant in my ears recently) and try to duplicate it. Not just the notes but
the expression that the player uses when playing them. The problem with this is
getting that expression to come forth when playing my own improvised solos. I
recently made a recording of "Little Red’s Fantasy" and forwarded to a friend
who is very familiar with my playing. He immediately said that he noticed more
expression in it. Not enough… but better. The cool thing is he mentioned this
even though I was not looking for that type of feedback. Hopefully that means I
am on the right track.

Happy Holidays everyone!  I apologize to my regular visitors for remaining silent for so long.  My biggest excuse for not writing anything is I have been ultra busy at work and also shedding harder than ever to improve.  The concert was really a wake up call and inspiration for me to try to kick things into a higher gear.  I have increased my private lessons to twice a month and it has been extremely helpful.  The days of me floundering in the practice room have vanished over the last month as my teacher is providing me with specific exercises to focus on.   They include patterns in all keys, minor II Vs and transposition.  All are extremely challenging but I can see (and hear) myself improving slowly but surely in each.  I am also getting more focused with regards to my trumpet fundamentals.  I am doing mouthpiece buzzing which is something that I haven’t done in the past.  It is a great way to warm up and get my chops focused before I even take my horn out of the case.

I have always felt that my breathing was not complete and that I was making trumpet playing a lot harder than it needed to be.  I also think that my lack of breathing was the biggest cause of my limited endurance during the gig in November.  As a result, I’ve been working with a DVD and book called The Breathing Gym.  On the DVD you are lead by Sam Pilafian and Patrick Sheridan through a series of routines that target different types of breathing and stretching.  The book is helpful in that it tells you what routines to do if you are trying to accomplish a specific thing.  Right now my focus is on projection and a large sound with less effort.  There are 4-5 routines that help me do just that.  I can honestly say that after doing the exercises I pick my horn up and I hear a HUGE difference in my sound and power.  The problem is remembering the sensation that I get from the exercises and repeating it every time I play.  I am notorious for doing it for the first 15 minutes and then resorting to my old method of breathing for the rest of my practice routine.  Hopefully with time it will become automatic.

2004 has been an amazing year from me and I will have to work really hard to top it in 2005.  You can rest assured that I will try.  I will also make an effort to keep my content updated as well.  To everyone who visits and sends me notes of encouragement – I wish you all the best this holiday season and a very prosperous New Year.

I have officially performed in my first small combo jazz gig. On Sunday, November 14th, I played with my Jazz Band Master Class at a place called 49 West Coffee House in Annapolis Maryland. The weeks before the concert I spent a lot of time preparing for the tunes which included: Freddie Freeloader, Summertime, Blue Bossa, Autumn Leaves, Blues in the Closet, Tenor Madness, Take the A Train and Watermelon Man. As a result, I never really got nervous about it until 5 minutes before the start time. Once we dug in and started playing the first tune the nervousness was gone. I was lost in the music. I had a fantastic time and the crowd seemed to enjoy it as well.

Of course there were some things that I did not like. The biggest was endurance. After the 4th tune I was feeling it and had to keep my solos down to a minimum of 2 choruses. During that time, I didn’t stretch out much because I didn’t know if I could pull it off or not. I had a lot of ideas that I did not play because I was tired. Granted, it was a 90 minute gig playing 8 tunes with 2 or 3 minute breaks in between songs, I feel I need to continue to work on things to increase my endurance.

The other complaint was I couldn’t hear myself. I felt like my sound got lost in the room. In an effort to not “blast” everyone in the front rows, I played into my stand a lot. I got some good advice on how to address this for the next time. I checked with a few people after the gig and they said they could hear me just fine.

So complaints aside, it was a good performance. More than anything it affirmed that I love jazz and playing the trumpet. At the same time I feel like there is so much MORE inside that I’m not communicating. I’m tired of using baby talk during improvisation.  I feel like it is time to use full sentences. It really showed me some things that I need to work on – so the mission continues. I start my REGULAR trumpet lessons this week, so I look forward to more focused study.  I am tired of floundering in the practice room.

Special thanks to my wife Kathy, my mom, Gerald, Karen and Mark for coming out to support me. It really meant a lot to look out in the audience and see you there. Next time I will have even more to say “musically.”

To Jeff Antoniuk – thanks for providing a great outlet for aspiring musicians to meet and make music.

Last but not least special props to my band mates – Lorenzo, Mike, Elaine, Jack, Lakin and Eyre. I leave each of you with this quote:

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt (The Man in the Arena)

No matter what each of you think of our collective or your own individual performance – the bottom line is we got out there and presented the music honestly with the tools that we have at our disposal. It takes guts and a love of music to do that. Let’s use the experience to work harder to improve. Onward and upward.

On a side note I hope to create a photos section on this web site so I can share more gig pictures.  Keep your eyes out for that in the near future.

I’ve said before that I get a lot of benefit from having my site up and sharing my thoughts. My Down, Down, Down journal entry was noticed and I received a ton of support from everyone. I have to say — it really helped me turn things around mentally. I want to take a moment to thank everyone for their encouragement. If this site inspires it is only because of the people who inspire me. If you are reading this now and you are a musician (pro or weekend warrior)… count yourself in that number. Again, many thanks to everyone who emailed me and told me to keep going. You know who you are…

As mentioned before I felt as if my practice sessions were too loose and not focused enough. I especially noticed that I wasn’t paying enough attention to my trumpet fundamentals. I revisited a book that I purchased a long time ago by Chase Sanborn called “Brass Tactics.” In it, Chase discusses the different aspects of playing trumpet. More important than that, he gives or describes exercises (in Arbans, Clarke, Schlossberg, etc) that address each aspect individually. Do you want more help? He even helps you devise a practice routine (dividing each area into groups) that hits all of these areas INCLUDING jazz studies. I re-read this book and for the past few days I’ve made a point of hitting each area of he discusses. With his clear outline I always felt as if I accomplished something when I put the horn down.

The funny thing? My teacher already gave me these areas but in my frustration I think I strayed from them. I still feel as if I need to increase my lesson frequency.  I also forget that even if I pick the horn up for 30 minutes spending 15 minutes warming up and 15 minutes FOCUSED on long tones or flow studies or articulation or scales — I’m getting the job done. While my sessions are almost always an hour and a half — if I stay focused on a particular goal during each segment, my time is better spent.

For my jazz practice I got great advice from a trumpet player named Graham Breedlove.  He is an amazing player with a great album out called Coming Home.  I will definitely share my thoughts on that after I do a few more Kenny Dorham albums.  Rather than trying to explain what he told me I just snatched a paragraph from his email.  Hopefully he does not mind me sharing with the rest of the web community…

“It sounds like you’re playing a lot, but not necessarily practicing a lot. If you feel like you’re playing the same phrases over and over, then you’re staying inside your “comfort zone”. The only way to expand your comfort zone is to step outside it regularly!”

This was fantastic advice and it reminds me that all practice (including jazz) is about addressing PROBLEMS. Not playing “Freddie Freeloader” or my C major scale in modes because I have a decent handle on it.

Click here to listen to a short clip of Blue Bossa.  I made a point during this solo to stay close to the melody – something I don’t do often.

Sorry I’ve been off line for so long.

I could write about my endurance loss while using the Monette B2 at a  rehearsal. After playing through a song one time at church, I lost my chops. I  couldn’t even hit a tuning C. Ended up using extra pressure to get through it  and I jacked up my chops. My teeth even hurt the next day. I wasn’t comfortable  with the performance so I bailed out of playing that Sunday.

I could also mention the fact that I sent my Jupiter 846RL back to WWBW in  favor of my teacher’s Yamaha 731. After a side by side test the Yamaha won hands  down. The construction was better, the blow was more consistent, the sound/tone  was better and the price was lower. To me it was a no brainer.

Unfortunately these topics seem pretty low on the radar right now. After  riding a positive high on this journey for so long, things have started slipping  to the other end of spectrum where I am not happy about my progress or what I’m  doing. I could water over it and pretend that everything is wonderful but that  would not be the truth. If nothing else, I want this site and my journals to be  a living reflection of what I’m going through and doing.

I practice at least 1.5 to 2 hours on weekdays and 3 to 4+ on weekends. It  doesn’t seem like enough time to work on everything that I need to address. I  have found my technical skill on the horn really lacking. Playing fast passages,  articulation, etc… In order to improve that, I have to cut into my jazz time  and that is difficult to do with master classes looming every two weeks. I’m  thinking about taking regular lessons again. I currently visit my teacher once  every two months and I have a feeling that is not enough. If his schedule allows  it, I’d like to meet with him at least twice a month in order to maintain focus  and work on the right things. I would probably see him on the weeks that I do  not have master classes.

Speaking of master classes – I was listening to recordings of my playing and  it was embarrassing. My ideas sounded stupid, my tone was bad, and I played all  the heads wrong. It doesn’t make me feel very good about the November 14th  concert. I’ve decided that I’m NOT going to invite a lot of people to check me  out. I know I’m a perfectionist but I truly do not expect folks to drop $6 to  hear me butcher the head to Tenor Madness.

When I hit spots like this – I begin to question whether I’m wasting my time  or not. Why am I doing this? Do I have delusions of becoming a regular player  around town? A pro? Am I doing this because I love music and there is something  within me that must get out? There are a lot of things I could be doing with my  time after work and on weekends. The question is – will I enjoy it as much?  Probably not.

I could go on but you get the point. I’m just at a low point after what  seemed to be a never ending high. I’m going to send my horn off to Roy Lawler  for some minor fixes and adjustments. That will probably be for 3 or 4 days. In  the mean time I will do basic chop stuff on my Yamaha 2335SM and work on some  new breathing exercises.

If nothing else I will probably play the blues better during this period.  Somebody cue up Stormy Monday Blues…

I’ve taken a strong liking to a song written by Mal Waldron called “Left Alone.” It is a beautiful and expressive ballad that I heard for the first time on a DVD called “The Mal Waldron Quintet Live at the Village Vanguard.” I brought the DVD because of Woody Shaw but I most moved by this tune played on solo piano by Mal during the closing credits. It is so beautiful… I later discovered that I had the tune on two CDs – One played by Eric Dolphy (Far Cry with Booker Little) and another by Terence Blanchard (The Billie Holiday Song Book). I would love to be able to play this tune one day… it truly moves me. I’ve been hunting down all the versions of it that I can… this is when owning an iPod can be extremely beneficial (and expensive). I may learn the head and record it for my site one day. This is when I wish I played piano so I could write down the changes.

Had another great week musically… I did a lot of tune practice this week. I found out that my master class will be performing on November 14th at the same cafe that we practice in. We will be doing the following tunes:

Freddie Freeloader Take the A Train Autumn Leaves Summertime

I feel pretty good about all the tunes except for A Train. I’m better with it but I’m not totally comfortable with it yet. I just need to spend time with it and I haven’t. On Freddie Freeloader I let my brain get in the way in the last 4 bars. Most people know that they do not follow the standard 12 bar blues format. The easy way out is to just use the blues scale but I try to get fancy and usually end up fluffing notes. Still, I’m confident I will be ready in time.

I’m having a blast in the master class. The chemistry of the group is good and I think that will come out in the product that we present. The article that ran last week got us a bass player and it really rounded things out. On Autumn Leaves I am faced with the challenge of playing that G on top of the staff with the guitar player… that is probably my top note in my playable range so the concert will be a good indicator of whether it is in “my bag” or not. More than anything else, this class really has me focused on my goal – jazz improvisation. I know that every two weeks I will be playing with a group… communicating…. learning… and preparing for concerts. That is the point of all this hard work… right?

I sold the Couesnon flugelhorn and purchased a Jupiter 846RL. First impressions are very, very good. The Jupiter is carbon copy of the Yamaha 631 and in my opinion it is hard to justify paying the extra money to go with Yamaha. Construction is good, great valve action and it sounds great. It is a keeper. I dare say that if you are in the market for a flugel, you should definitely check this one out before dropping the customary $1000-$1500 for a pro horn. More than anything I’m glad to get equipment out of the way so I can get back on music.

Right now I am using a Curry 1.5F mouthpiece with the flugel but I’m already thinking about getting a matching Monette. After the past few weeks of playing on my B2 I think it is the way to go. If you have followed my journal entries over the past few years you know that I have been around the world on mouthpieces… Only 3 have really floated my boat and two of them were made by Monette (B4S & B2). In terms of sound, intonation and comfort I haven’t found anything as nice. Case closed. Draw your own conclusions.

Against my better judgment here is a really REALLY short sound clip of me playing on the beginning of “Autumn Leaves.” This is an example of the type of playing I am trying to work towards. I’m not there yet — these ideas don’t come out often and a lot of times they are not automatic. I usually lie in wait for a II-V7-I progression to pop up and then I ambush it with these types of licks. Still, it is a start and I think it sounds better than some of my earlier efforts. Recorded on the Lawler with the B2.  I also copied it to my Sound Room page as a reference to previous efforts.

During my last master class Jeff Antoniuk informed us that we were going to be visited by some press folks to do a story on the jazz program.  I didn’t really think anything about it at the time (I was too busy dreading my solo on A Train).  After church my wife and I rode down to a store to pick up a copy to check out.  I did NOT expect to see my big head plastered right on the front page of the Lifestyle section.  I would have much rather seen a picture of the entire group instead.  Not sure how I feel about it but I do feel as if I need to step up my game so I will not only LOOK like a player…  I gotta sound like one too.  Click on the picture to view a larger version….

This was a good week in terms of getting my focus back. For about a month, I felt fairly focused on my trumpet fundamentals but I truly felt that my jazz practice was wandering aimlessly. While I realize that the two are closely related (if not one and the same) it bothered me quite a bit. As usual my return to the correct path was a result of taking a lesson from my teacher. Not only did he get me back on track with what I should be working on in relation to jazz, he gave me some very helpful direction with regards to my fundamentals (timing of the breath!). Simple things that I had forgotten are now firmly back in my mind and I can get back to serious job of improving as a player. I realize now that I stayed away from his instruction way too long.

Before the lesson I watched a DVD featuring Art Farmer at the Smithsonian. It truly amazed me at how relaxed Art was while playing. He moved effortlessly through all registers of his flugelhorn, speaking the language and making music as if it were second nature. It was pretty impressive and reminded me of the relaxed state that I strive for when I play. To reinforce this concept, I noticed that my teacher did the exact same thing. We were working on “Autumn Leaves” and he was playing the head of tune… while playing the melody (beautiful tone, articulation and ornamentation) he adjusted the volume on the CD player, pulled up a chair, moved a music stand… all effortless. He did the same thing while soloing and trading 4s. It was like walking, breathing and chewing gum. It blew me away and reminded me of how tension was not needed in order to make music. I’m going to get a chance to watch him repeat that effortless and creative playing on October 6th at Blues Alley. I’m looking forward to it as I have not had the pleasure of hearing him play anywhere other than our lessons.  I don’t say it a lot here on my site but he is one of the main reasons why I have had any measure of success behind the horn.  Thanks a million Chris.

I also had a chance to try out his Yamaha 731 flugelhorn. I liked it (LOVED IT) so much I am trying to sell my Couesnon so I can purchase it. I never thought I would click with a silver flugel (they tend to be too bright) but this one was really nice. I also have my eye on the Jupiter 846RL.  If anyone out there is looking for a flugelhorn or knows someone looking – tell them to contact me. It is a great horn (with a great price) and Charlie Melk restored it to perfect condition.

After visiting family, the tail end of the month found me on a plane for Phoenix Arizona for a conference. I was pretty bummed that I would once again be forced not to practice for an extended period but I took it in stride. I hung out with my former co-worker Julie (who showed me the ropes at the conference), played golf with my boss (can you get a free drop by the rattlesnake pit?), met some cool people in the IT Legal field (can you say PARTY?) and learned a lot. Of course, I took my mouthpiece and buzzed on it whenever I could.

I got back home late Friday and I had a master class waiting for me the very next day. I was pretty concerned about how I would do on the horn after such a long lay off but found myself playing better than ever. On “Take the A Train” I was able to nail the F# with relative ease and when Jeff broke out “‘Autumn Leaves” I was able to play the head musically – something I could not do before… especially with that G on top of the staff! After the master class I went home and spent two hours on fundamentals. Lots of long tones and lip slurs…

A few equipment changes to announce… I have officially switched to a Monette B2 as my main mouthpiece. I’m going to give it the same fair shake that I gave my Laskey 70C (6-7 months). I tried it a long time ago but didn’t stick with it more than 2 or 3 weeks. I backed off of the Kanstul M-B4S because of the size. It felt a touch small and my teacher encouraged me to play on larger mouthpieces. I trust his judgment in this and all matters trumpet since he knows my playing better than anyone. My teacher before him actually made the same suggestion so 2 out of 2 are probably right. I was also popping out those Gs and F#s with it so that solidified the change.

The other change is in the flugelhorn category. I got my hands on a Couesnon flugelhorn. I had it completely overhauled at Charlie Melk’s Brass Works and it looks like a new horn. Charlie did an amazing job and I recommend him highly. My biggest beef with it is in the valve category. They are a bit sluggish and I’m used to better valve action. I think that is because they are bottom sprung but it could be because I’m used to the Getzen valves on my Lawler.  That aside – the sound is to DIE for. I can definitely see why cats like Ingrid Jensen, Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard and Tom Harrell selected it. I may break out of my silence and record something with it — no promises though.

Since I’m not updating the site weekly I’m taking a poll to see if anyone would be interested in getting an email from me when I post new messages or CD reviews. If there is enough feedback I will do it. You email address would only be used for that purpose and masked when the messages are sent. Just shoot me an email and let me know.

I took a week off to visit my family.  I had planned to bring my trumpet  or mouthpiece with me but did not.  I was concerned what the break might do  to my playing but I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were really no  ill effects.  As a matter a fact — my chops actually felt stronger as a  result of the layoff.  Completely different from my experience of being  sick a few months ago.  Even though I was tempted to go full blast with my  normal routine (time playing before taking a rest) I forced myself to several 15  minute playing sessions followed by a 15 minute rest period.  I also  limited my exercises to E in the staff and below.  Today I am hoping to  increase my playing sessions by about 5 or 10 minutes and prepare myself for  Saturday’s Master Class.  I’m also working on “His Eye Is On the Sparrow”  for Sunday’s service.  Back to work!  I love it.

I haven’t made any comments regarding equipment in a while and that is mainly  because there has been nothing to report.  I’ve been using the Lawler/Laskey  70C combination for nearly 7 or 8 months now.  Particially due to the  problems I was having with second line D I started fooling around with some of  the old mouthpieces that I’ve had sitting in various places around the house.   I hate to admit that I have gone through quite a few… it is ALMOST as bad a  Fred Sanford’s drawer full of glasses.  Fortunately earlier this year/last  last year I realized that the mouthpiece was NOT going to fix all my problems…  shedding is the only way.  That being said I started fooling with a Kanstul  M-B4S and I like it a lot.  I’m not sure why I didn’t click with it  earlier.  It is comfortable and immediately sounded good to my ears.

There has also been a change on the flugelhorn front but I won’t talk about  that until things are finalized over the next few months… stay tuned.

As many of you know – I am a huge Ingrid Jensen fan. She is a player with her  own unique style and voice. There was a great interview with her on NPR.  You should definitely  check it out if you have time.

On a closing note I found out that my niece is taking up jazz guitar and my  nephew is playing the drums. As much joy as I get from playing my trumpet I  can’t describe how happy I was to hear that they were allowing music to enhance  and enrich their lives. If they are reading this message — keep it up and most  importantly… HAVE FUN!!!  Be sure to tell me that when I post something  about how I hate my playing, I stink, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…

My second master class was good.  The group sounded more together this time around than the first.  Not sure if that comes from shedding on tunes or just getting more comfortable playing around each other.  Right now the line up is tenor, alto, trumpet, drums, bass and piano…  just like the Miles Davis sextet from Kind of Blue.  I still need to play out more…  at least I think I do.  It could be that I just can’t hear myself.  I do not want to play over top of everyone but I also want to pull my own weight too.  I may check with the other horns and see if they can hear me ok.

One really cool thing is two of the musicians live in my neighborhood.  We already hooked up this past Thursday to shed on some tunes and it was a lot of fun.  A guitar player (who was really good) joined us and shared some valuable info on approaching different chord changes.  Still, I think right now I get the biggest benefit alone with my horn working on my weaknesses.  There are many but I am not discouraged.  I may try to hook up with the tenor player and do some practice.  From talking to him we are working on similar things.

I haven’t played at church since my last journal entry.  I was supposed to play last Sunday but I missed rehearsal with the organist.  I could have probably tried it cold Sunday morning but I didn’t feel very comfortable doing that.  I’m going to play a song called “He Touched Me” second Sunday this month.  I’ve heard that many people (including our Pastor!) look forward to me playing again and is extremely encouraging.  I also got a surprise CD from my choir director by a trumpet player named Rod McGaha.  It’s called “Trumpet Sounds” and it is really good.  She also included a very encouraging note and eluded to a few opportunities playing with the choir when I sing.  That would be fantastic.

One thing that drives me nuts about my playing is 4th line D.  It is horribly flat.  When I play tunes that require me to sit on that note (Freddie Freeloader is a great example) it is like pouring lemon juice in my eyes…  ok…  maybe not that bad but it is ROUGH.  The strange thing is E, F and G above that come out fine to my ears.  I usually end up lipping it up but the initial attack is almost always wrong.  I have quite a few old mouthpieces laying around and I noticed that it is better (or worse) depending on what I piece I use.  I need to figure something out so I don’t go into convulsions every time I see it coming on a sheet of music notated in a half or whole note.

As to what I am working on — I’ve been spending more time on jazz than anything else.  If I gave a ratio, I’d say 60% jazz, 40% fundamentals.  The jazz studies include scales, playing through changes using chord tones only (great exercise similar to note limiting) and improv on tunes we are doing for the master class.  “A Train” showed up again and as usual it kicked my butt.  After some serious study (chord tone solos) and listening to the greats perform it (I have a great version with Ella scatting with Duke) I think I have a better handle on it.  Listening to the records REALLY helped me hear some things that I had not before.  Never underestimate LISTENING to jazz.  It is very, very important for development.