The Lost Trumpet of Don Ferrara

Jazz has much in common with a seabed littered with sunken ships that once transported gold. In addition to the musicians who today are household names, there are many other terrific musicians who didn't quite reach that status but were hailed by peers and disappeared early. Some abandoned their instruments for a more steady job. Others moved into teaching. Or they passed away too young. In each case, they became forgotten and their reputations drifted downward until they settled on the jazz ocean's floor, awaiting discovery.

No matter how many times I've put on my research “gear" and plunged down in search of sunken treasure, I invariably have come up with fist-fulls of glittering coins. In this case, however, the “diver" who tipped me off to the treasure was George Coppens from Duiven, the Netherlands. Several weeks back, he wondered whether I was familiar with Don Ferrara. I was, but I admitted that I hadn't done an excavation, since his identifiable output is rather scant.

Ferrara was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and learned to play trumpet by listening to records and the radio, most notably the jazz of trumpeter Roy Eldridge. In 1945 Ferrara played in Jerry Wald's band before joining Georgie Auld’s group. Next came the U.S. Army in mid-1946, where he played in a service band that included bassist Red Mitchell and drummer Howie Mann. He also met tenor saxophonist Warne Marsh, who interested him in the teachings of pianist Lennie Tristano. Upon discharge, Ferrara studied with Tristano into the early 1960s.

Ferrara began recording in 1950 on a band date led by bassist Chubby Jackson. Later that year, he joined Woody Herman's Capitol band and remained until 1951 before gigging and recording in small groups. First came a Lester Young quintet in 1956 followed by the Gerry Mulligan Sextet as well as groups led by Lee Konitz and Peanuts Hucko. Ferrara was back in bands in 1960, most notably a record date led by Urbie Green for Command and then a long stretch with Gerry Mulligan's Concert Band that lasted until 1962.    

Ferrara played a regular engagement in the early 1960s with Tristano (above) at New York’s Half Note and continued teaching students throughout the decade. He relocated to the West Coast in the early 1970s, joining Gary Foster’s teaching studio. He remained in California into the 1990s. For more on Ferrara, read Gordon Jack's 1999 interview at Jazz Profiles here.

Ferrara died on January 18, 2011.

There are only two available small-group studio recordings that feature Ferrara as the sole trumpter:

Here's the Gerry Mulligan Sextet playing La plus que lente...



Here's Igloo...



Here's Lollypop...



And probably the best studio example of Ferrara in a small group is Lee Konitz's Very Cool, recorded on May 12, 1957 for Verve. Here's the full album...