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Mark "Doc" Shellhammer
I'm located in the Orlando area which is rich in entertainment opportunities. I'm the inventor of the RingMute dampening ring for Bb trumpet and the author of the S.P.I.T. Book (scales, patterns, inversions, triads) which is a new methodology for learning musical improvisation. I've been blessed to have played with many of the greats and still perform. I also teach trumpet and one of the hardest things is to get a student to understand that the trumpet does not have to be an instrument of acoustic destruction and there's more to trumpet than double high C. Learning to be lyrical, sensitive, and how to make the audience cry. That's when you get to the big stuff. That's not to say that intensity and range are not important, you need it in your tool box too. But the trumpet is a "singing" instrument (notice I put vocal in the genre) and my tidbit of advice: never blow air into a trumpet. Breathe life into the trumpet. A good question to ask is "How is this done"? A little rethinking is involved. How many times have you read or heard about trumpet players doing sit-ups to strengthen their abdominal muscles in order to play in the upper register? Let's first look at what make the tone or pitch when we play. It's the size of the aperture, period. The smaller the aperture, the higher the pitch, the bigger the aperture, the lower the pitch. Here's where the thinking changes. Let the aperture determine how tense the abdomen needs to be. Not "I'm going to tighten my abdomen to play in the upper register". Most trumpet player blow way too hard for the work that's needed. Here's a little experiment to show you what I mean; Blow into an empty paper towel roll with a steady unforced stream of air. While doing this, pay particular attention to what your abdomen is doing. It might be only a little tight. Next Blow the same steady unforced stream of air through a small straw or coffee stir. What happened!? The abdomen tighten on it's own! You did not have to do anything. So, the secret is to teach the abdomen to respond to what the aperture tells it to do. It's all about "YOU" not purposely crunching your abdominals to play in the upper register. I've seen people pass out using this method. Allow your aperture will tell the abdominals what to do.
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Mark Kostabi To Host Exclusive Salon Concert At His Rome Villa On Friday, July 18, 2025
Source:
Robert C. Ford
On Friday, July 18, 2025, internationally renowned artist and musician Mark Kostabi, famed for painting the iconic Guns N’ Roses Use Your Illusion album cover, will open the doors of his luxury villa in Rome, Italy, for an intimate salon concert. In addition to his celebrated visual art, Kostabi is an accomplished composer and pianist whose collaborations include jazz legend Ornette Coleman. For this special evening, he will be joined by a lineup of acclaimed performers, including: Tony Esposito: legendary ...
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Doc: The Jazz Loft According to W. Eugene Smith
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
From 1957 to 1965, photographer W Eugene Smith lived in loft space at 821 Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. Smith had already established himself as a pioneer of the journalistic photo essay—a collection of images that told a story in magazines, most notably Life. Before the rise of the documentary in the early 1960s with the advent of the portable shoulder camera, Smith's photo montages served the same purpose in still images. In 1957, Smith left his wife and four children ...
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Mark Watkins Enhances His Celebrated Saxophone Quartet With 'Four + Six,' To Be Released March 29 On Jazz Hang Records
Source:
Terri Hinte Publicity
Mark Watkins envelops his long-running saxophone quartet in lush, billowing textures on FOUR + Six, the band’s deliriously tuneful sixth album, set for a March 29 release on Jazz Hang Records. Watkins augments the core quartet of himself (soprano and tenor saxophones), Sandon Mayhew (tenor sax), Ray Smith (alto sax), and Jon Gudmundson (baritone sax) with Corey Christiansen (guitar); a three-piece rhythm section of Justin Nielsen (piano), Braun Khan (bass), and Kobie Watkins (no relation, drums); and the esteemed Gardner ...
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Takeru Saito: The Japanese Pianist Making His Mark On The Music Industry
Source:
All About Jazz
Japanese pianist Takeru Saito has signed deals to perform with his band, The Takeru Saito Trio, in high-profile events in the United States during the next three years. Takeru Saito, a pianist, recording artist, and household name in Japan has formed partnerships with some of the most important jazz venues in the United States to perform in ongoing concert series for the next three years. These venues include Boston’s legendary Wally’s Cafe Jazz Club, which is one of the country’s ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Doc Cheatham
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Doc Cheatham's birthday today!
One of the very last survivors of the early days of jazz, trumpeter Adolphus “Doc" Cheatham attracted attention from the historically- inclined right up to his death in 1997 at the age of 91. His career recapitulated much of the history of jazz as a whole: he came of age hearing and playing with the New Orleans masters of the music's classic period; he participated in the big band movement that ...
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MVI (Mark Vickness Interconnected) To Release 'In The Rain Shadow'
Source:
Keith James
Following the release of Places in 2017 and Interconnected in 2020, composer/guitarist Mark Vickness announces the release of In The Rain Shadow with a newly expanded group, MVI (Mark Vickness Interconnected) comprising two time Grammy winning violinist, Mads Tolling, Matt Renzi on oboe/English horn and saxophone, cellist Joseph Hebert, Dan Feiszli on upright and electric bass and a percussion section featuring tabla virtuoso, Ty Burhoe and Grammy winning percussionist, MB Gordy in addition to Mark’s acoustic and electric guitars. Says ...
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Mark Murphy, 1972-1991 (Pt. 2)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Yesterday, on what would have been vocalist Mark Murphy's 91st birthday (he died in 2015), I posted 10 favorite clips in the early part of his career, between 1956 and 1962. Murphy then left for the U.K.,where he remained until his return in 1972. When he arrived back in the U.S., there was a new artistic maturity about Murphy. In Europe, free from the commercial clutches in America, Murphy grew comfortable in his own skin. His first album recorded in ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: Mark Murphy
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating Mark Murphy's birthday today!
The following is based on the book This is Hip: the Life of Mark Murphy by Peter Jones (Equinox Publishing, 2018). All rights reserved. In the opinion of many, Mark Murphy was the greatest jazz singer who ever lived. Quite a statement, but one that can be made to stand up pretty well in court. There have, of course, been more successful jazz singers; certainly more popular jazz singers. But not ...
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Mark Murphy, 1956-1962 (Pt. 1)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Jackie Paris and Mark Murphy had a lot in common. Both were hip club singers with bop flexibility and a natural sense of swing. But where Paris took Charlie Parker as his inspiration, Murphy was more enamored of Miles Davis. Murphy, of course, began his recording career nearly 10 years after Paris, and while Paris had his best years at the start of his career, Murphy didn't become a household name in jazz circles until 16 years after his his ...
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Mark "Doc" Shellhammer
Instrument: Trumpet
