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Vaughn Nark
Vaughn Nark: Panorama
by Jack Bowers
When one is informed that a certain musician’s perspective “defies classification,” that his “orientation is holistic,” and that he advocates “diversity and balance,” producing “a mosaic of textural contrasts” that expresses “a broad overview of human emotion,“ it’s best to hunker down and prepare to withstand an everything-but-the-kitchen sink onslaught. In Vaughn Nark’s case that’s not really a bad idea, as the “v” in Vaughn could as well stand for “versatile.” Nark is rather like an American version of the ...
read moreVaughn Nark with the Airmen of Note: Flying High
by Jack Bowers
For two decades, until his retirement in 1993, trumpeter Vaughn Nark was the mainspring of one of the world’s leading contemporary Jazz ensembles, the U.S. Air Force Airmen of Note. His many contributions as the band’s lead and Jazz trumpeter were so impressive that Nark was presented, by Presidential order, the Meritorious Service Medal in appreciation for his services. To hear why Nark deserved a medal, one has only to listen for a moment or so to Flying High, an ...
read moreVaughn Nark & The Airmen of Note: Flying High
by David Adler
Vaughn Nark is a trumpet showman along the lines of Maynard Ferguson or Jon Faddis. He’s featured here with an Air Force big band called The Airmen of Note. Nark’s penchant for high-note theatrics is immediately apparent on the opener, a fast latin arrangement of Dizzy Gillespie’s Lorraine." His control and accuracy is no less dazzling on fluegelhorn, as is demonstrated on the Freddie Hubbard ballad Brigitte."Nark is flashy alright, but can he swing? On Harold Danko’s Tidal ...
read moreVaughn Nark: Flying High
by Jim Santella
With the Airmen Of Note, trumpeter Vaughn Nark expounds in the Dizzy Gillespie tradition of fronting a big band with blazing trumpet while offering popular music that everyone can appreciate. Although the liner notes do not credit arrangers, most of the selections have that Sammy Nestico sound." Nestico was director of the Airmen Of Note in the 1950s and early ‘60s prior to settling in with the Count Basie Orchestra. Formed on September 28, 1950 to carry on the tradition ...
read moreVaughn Nark: Somethin' Special
by Jack Bowers
It was no less an authority than Dizzy Gillespie who described multi–instrumental virtuoso Vaughn Nark as “somethin’ special.” Is Nark being immodest in using the compliment as the title of his Summit Jazz debut? Well, as the late poet laureate of baseball, Jerome Herman “Dizzy” Dean, once said, ”It ain’t braggin’ if you can back it up!” Vaughn Nark can back it up. Whether playing trumpet, flugelhorn or valve trombone, the former linchpin of the U.S. Air Force’s Airmen of ...
read moreVaughn Nark: Somethin' Special
by Jim Santella
The high-note trumpet specialist can amaze an audience with his awesome physical strength and stamina, but quite often forgoes expressiveness through his concentration on lofty athletic feats. Vaughn Nark has solid support and a controlled manner in the stratospheric" register; he finishes My Funny Valentine" with an A" above double C." But it’s a welcome surprise to learn from this, his first major release, that the well-rounded clinician also includes heartfelt expression, swing, and other fundamental elements in his session. ...
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