Home » Jazz Articles » What is Jazz? » The Story of Jazz Trumpet

749

The Story of Jazz Trumpet

By

Sign in to view read count
The trumpet was the lead instrument in early jazz: it is the loudest solo instrument, the natural leader of a group of individuals, if you will. So, early trumpet pioneer Buddy Bolden (there is a photograph of him with a jazz band in 1894!) is most likely the first known jazzman simply because he was a trumpeter.

And the trend continued with Freddie Keppard and one Louis Armstrong. The two most well-known jazzman to the general public, Armstrong and Miles Davis, were perhaps not surprisingly trumpeters. A history of jazz trumpet is thus a major jaunt through jazz history as a whole.

King Oliver/Louis Armstrong

King Oliver had the band that introduced Louis Armstrong. They were a huge hit in Chicago from 1922, and a feature was the break passages where Oliver would play and then be followed by his protege Louis. There are great breaks (the two players in unison) on "Sobbing Blues" from 1923:



Louis Armstrong

Louis Armstrong went to New York in 1924, played with the first big band of jazz (Fletcher Henderson's) then returned to Chicago to form his Hot Five band and then his Hot Seven group. These two bands recorded one of the three top series of recordings in jazz history (that is to say, along with the best of Duke Ellington and, say, Miles Davis). These recordings also constitute the first recordings of modern popular music as we know it: when Louis began to sing (and scat) on "Jeepers Creepers," he created the template for everything from Bing Crosby to U2. The instrumentals include "Potato Head Blues," "Cornet Chop Suey," the famous "West End Blues," and the virtuosic duo "Weatherbird," recorded by Louis with master jazz pianist Earl Hines in 1928. The latter track was re-attempted by Wynton Marsalis and his pianist on his late 1980s television trumpet documentary. Here is the classic, "Potato Head Blues":



Henry "Red" Allen

A trumpet stalwart, Henry "Red" Allen was, like Louis Armstrong, from New Orleans. Allen is a participant in the late 1950s film... (also featuring Billie Holliday and Lester Young), in which he states proudly that his father "had the band" (in the district) when he grew up. He was touring Europe as late as the 1970s. In this clip, from 1946, he is dominating the stage as always—it was no different in the '70s either, according to one of his pianists at the time (English pianist Keith Ingham):



Bix Beiderbecke

Once described as the sound of a girl saying "yes," Bix Beiderbecke was the first white trumpeter to be copied by the original trumpet masters, the Afro-American trumpeters. He had a lyrical sound, well represented on, for example, "Singing The Blues," "I'm Coming Virginia," and "Ostrich Walk."

Red Nicholls

Another pioneer white trumpeter, prominent in the early 1930s, Red Nicholls has die-hard fans around the world to this day, his records glued to their turntables. He is shown here in 1935, opening with a growl:



Swing

Oren "Hot Lips" Page

A main figure in the Kansas City band of Benny Moten in 1932 (their records that year are a must hear, as in addition to Page, Count Basie is on piano), Hot Lips Page was also the king of blues trumpet: at a jam session in the 1940s, someone began to play the blues. Fats Navarro, one of the other trumpeters present, is reported to have groaned and said "Why did you have to go and do that?" (ie: play the blues). Why? Because Hot Lips Page was there, and noone could compete with him on the blues. Page can be heard here on a track from 1944 entitled "Rockin' At Ryans":



Roy Eldridge

Roy Eldridge was the stratospheric link between Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie. He played in the older jazz style, ie: as opposed to "modern jazz," but with astonishing virtuosity. Listen to the amazing "After You've Gone," his calling card. His nick-name was "Little Jazz." You know, of course, that anyone in jazz with a nickname must be at the top, or noone would have bothered to come up with a nickname in the first place. " Here he is with drummer Cozy Cole, in 1958:



Bunny Berigan

Bunny Berigan, an Irish-American, had the biggest hit of 1937 with "I Can't Get Started." He sang it as well as playing a peerless high trumpet. He was Tommy Dorsey's favorite trumpeter, and a great stylist. His breathy singing added a special dimension to his records. Another example was selected by Wynton Marsalis for his documentary on trumpeters from the late 1980s: a show tune called "Until Today." The song was recorded on film for a movie, and I once magically discovered it on an old LP of jazz film recordings in a jazz shop in London. This clip shows Berigan in 1936, performing a light number with a show band:



Harry James

The white star trumpeter of Benny Goodman's 1940s swing orchestra. While ultimately a little "show-bizzy," his big band (formed when he left Goodman) was the first big big band to hire the young Frank Sinatra.

Duke Ellington's Trumpeters

The Duke's band/orchestra was a showcase for a number of famous trumpeters in jazz. "Bubba" Miley was the first star, king of the growl trumpet. He was succeeded as main trumpeter by the virtuosic Cootie Williams, who later left to play in Benny Goodman's sextet in 1940. He returned to Ellington twenty years later. Ellington's trumpet stars of the '40s included Ray Nance [he improvised, in front of the studio microphone, the famous solo on the Ellington theme "Take The A Train" in 1941], cornetist Rex Stewart [a major figure in jazz later also, appearing in jam groups and in a major television jazz documentary film in 1959]. The 1950s saw the arrival of Clark Terry, who has recently played at the Blue Note in New York. He is also famous for flugel horn, and has recently featured in children's programs on TV.

This clip is a "soundie," from 1942, of "C Jam Blues," where the musicians file into the club one by one to play. The cornetist here is the legendary Rex Stewart:



The last virtuosic trumpeter with Ellington was Cat Anderson, whose peculiar talent was very high playing. Ellington wrote a feature for him called "El Gato" (The Cat), prominently featured on the live Duke Ellington 70th Birthday Concert (Blue Note, 1996). Trumpets were a major feature of Duke's sound (one major mid-period Ellington work was "Trumpets No End," another "Tooting Through The Roof"), and the above are just the most well-known members of the orchestra.

Here Ray Nance can be seen reprising his famous solo on "Take The 'A" Train," in a color clip:



Bebop/Modern Jazz

Dizzy Gillespie

Dizzy extended the range of the trumpet, and of course partnered Charlie Parker and others in developing modern jazz. He also made significant contributions to the jazz and popular music "songbook," with tunes such as "A Night In Tunisia":



There is also a rather interesting clip of Gillespie with the classical trumpet virtuoso Maurice Andre, where Dizzy plays the tune of "Groovin' High" and Andre, at the same time, plays the original tune of the harmony, "Whispering":



Miles Davis

Miles, in his own words, changed music "five or six" times. Playing often with a mute (in the 1950s), he took jazz and music to a more relaxed place ("cool" jazz), and then later into electric and rock fusings. The stunning album Something Else (Blue Note, 1959), under Cannonball Adderley's name, is a great example of peak, late '50s Miles. On the Steve Allen Show in 1964, Davis, with his "second great quintet," plays "So What":



Fats Navarro

Fats Navarro had a brief life, but, also like Clifford Brown after him, a significant sound. He occasionally partnered Charlie Parker on the bandstand, as the '40s became the '50s. Navarro appears on this record with Tadd Dameron (the writer of the bop classic "Hot House") and his orchestra:



Chet Baker

Miles Davis called him "a white version of me," implying that Chet Baker was just a pale imitation of Miles' style; but his early '50s recordings with Gerry Mulligan and their piano-less quartet are interesting on several levels.

Clifford Brown

He only lived to 25, but he is one of the trumpet legends of jazz. A great example of his playing is his double live album, on Blue Note, with Art Blakey, Lou Donaldson and Horace Silver at Birdland in 1954. He also recorded an interesting album with strings, Something Else. He is one of the two "recipients" of "'I Remember' Awards" from jazz composers: the tune "I Remember Clifford" is a jazz standard. (The other famous subject of an "I Remember" tune title is guitarist Wes Montgomery: "I Remember Wes"). He can be see here with the Max Roach Quintet in 1955:



Lee Morgan

Another Blakey alumnus, he played classic tunes and a sort of party bop funk, in a very melodic way. Lee Morgan was spotted by Dizzy Gillespie in the late '50s, who told him, in connection with a concert, "you can play my part." His famous track "The Sidewinder" (1962) surely influenced John Lennon in his writing of The Beatles' "Day Tripper." Two of his best albums (Blue Note) are (the album) The Sidewinder (Blue Note, 1962) and The Gigolo (Blue Note, 1966). Morgan is shown here in 1958 playing the above salute to Brown, "I Remember Clifford":



Roy Hargrove

Current day, Roy Hargrove has a strong style that he has blended with, for example, the playing of Herbie Hancock (he toured with Hancock and Michael Brecker to Europe in 2002), and drummer Roy Haynes (with the latter, on an album of Charlie Parker works from 2001). He punches above his era! Here he is with Hancock and Brecker in 2002:

Comments

Tags


For the Love of Jazz
Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who create it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

You Can Help
To expand our coverage even further and develop new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for a modest $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination will vastly improve your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Jazz article: Back In The Groove: Material Matters
Jazz article: 2024 Winter JazzFest Marathons: A Survival Guide
Jazz article: Tokyo Jazz Joints: Capturing An Old Love Story
Jazz article: Why Hard Bop?
What is Jazz?
Why Hard Bop?

Popular

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.