Cat Anderson...super high note player with Duke

JohnBennett · Last edited by JohnBennett on Wed Dec 08, 2004 9:21 am; edited 1 time in total

If you've heard any of the more famous Duke Ellington records, you've heard "Cat" Anderson... one of the very first trumpet players who made a career out of playing high notes. Among other good bands of the time, he worked with Duke for about 25 years and made some great recordings.

I first saw Duke's band in the Paramount Theatre in LA around 1952. They were doing FIVE 45-minute stage shows a day...sandwiched between movies. I remember the stage lights came on, the moveable orchestra pit came up with Duke's band was playing its butt off...what a treat! Willie Coook was playing lead, Ray Nance was the jazz player, Cat was the high note player and the 4th trumpet was Emmet Berry (I think.) The band was dynamite. Louis Bellson was the drummer and Pearl Bailey was the singer.

Here's a funny story about Cat. I was working with a big band in the Lounge at Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas years later. Cat was also working opposite us in the lounge with Xavier Cugat's band. (Two 15 piece bands in one lounge!...those were the days!)

Anyway, both bands had to share the same dressing room....30 guys in a room trying to get ready for the gig. We had a wanna-be high note trumpet player with us....who would warm up in the corner by trying to play all those high R's and really bugged the crap out of everyone. He could squeek out a fairly decent double C.

Cat came in one night before the gig, looked around, took his horn out of the gigbag, and without warming up ripped from a low C to a loud TRIPLE C!!! He then said: "That'll work!" and went onstage. After the other trumpet player had peeled himself off the walls, he very meekly went about warming up.

Cat lived his later years in LA and worked with Bill Berry's LA Big Band. He also traveled with several acts as their lead player.

John

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JohnBennett · Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2003 11:25 am Post subject:

Not everyone liked the sound that Cat got when playing high, but he had unbelievable chops on the gig. Maynard once said that Cat could play and had recorded higher notes than he had...but of course, no one has ever had a better sound than Maynard in the upper register.

Cat had a strange phobia...he would never let anyone see his mouthpiece. When he wasn't playing he would cover the piece with his handkerchief and between shows he would always take his mouthpiece with him.

John

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joetriscari · Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2003 8:35 pm Post subject:

Hi John....Cat was quite a guy...Ray used to tell me cat would hang his horn from the ceiling, put a hanky between the mouthpiece and his chops...no hands....and hit double high c's....Ray was good buddies with him...Said he was alot of fun...
How have you been??? Bill Berry was a character too...I saw him shortly before he passed away.....
Joe Triscari

JohnBennett · Posted: Fri Oct 03, 2003 9:20 am Post subject:

Hi Joe,
Bill Berry was a super jazz player...not so much under rated by musicians (I think) but more under appreciated by the audiences. He had the warmest sound of anyone that I've ever heard, next to Jack Sheldon. He could play a run from low G to hi G with the same full sound...not pinched at all. He was a very inventive player.

Bill was an old buddy of mine from the Woody Herman band. We kept in pretty frequent contact over the years and he came to Vegas pretty often as a soloist at some of the jazz clubs. He was one of Woody's favorite jazz players.

He went from Woody's band to Duke's band for a while and he told me a funny story. The first night he was on the band, they had a five hour dance gig to play and when he got on the bandstand there was no music...just a few small scraps of manuscript paper with intros and endings to tunes. Bill asked "What about the rest of the book?" Cat answered "Don't worry about it...we'll figure something out." During the gig, after playing the intro to a tune on one of the scraps of paper, Cat would lean over and sing a part or play a riff for Bill and away they went! Bill did have BIG ears...he heard everything.

Joe, I really enjoyed working with your uncle Ray that one time in the Bahamas. I had always admired his playing and he turned out to be such a nice guy too, when I met him. It's nice to meet people like that.

As for me, I'm doing fine...not playing as much as I would like to...but none of us are!

John

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joetriscari · Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2003 5:54 am Post subject:

Hi John...
Bill Berry would come out once a month to Vegas... "Merv GRiffen Show"It was Bill, Ray (Uncle) and Jack Sheldon...
Are you still in vegas???

Emb_Enh · Veteran Member Joined: 29 Oct 2002 Posts: 455

Cats method book online at my website ...

Roddy o-iii<O
_________________
Regards, Roddy o-iii RoddyTpt@aol.com

"E M B O U C H U R E___E N H A N C E M E N T"
BOOK 1 also... BOOK 2 + demo CD

[Self Analysis and Diagnostic Trumpet Method]

groovinhigher · Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2003 8:03 am Post subject:

Cat's chops were insane, LOL... The one thing I thought took a lot of guts, and chops, was anyone who would have to walk into Louie Bellson's or Lionel Hampton's bands and have to play those Cat Anderson solos that we all grew to expect, and one guy did it admirably and without fear, Walt Johnson. I loved that cat, and the sections in the late 70's of those bands often included, Bobby Shew, Walt Johnson, Bill Berry, Ron King, and a whole pleathora of top trumpet players. That was a gas, hearing a section like that. I feel very fortunate that I was about the last generation who got to see all those guys live, Cat Anderson etc, and fortunately many of these guys are still playing and doing very cool things.

I had Bobby Shew up last year for my jazz festival and this year I am going to bring up Walt Johnson, I can hardly wait! Both these guys are supremely gracious and so exciting... I just wish I could still bring Cat up, but alas we all know the score there. Take care guys!

_________________
Rich Wetzel
Trumpet Artist / Band Leader / Holton - Leblanc Clinician
"Rich Wetzel's Groovin Higher Jazz Orchestra"
http://www.richwetzel.com
http://www.groovinhigher.com

[ This Message was edited by: groovinhigher on 2003-10-05 11:03 ]

JohnBennett · Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 11:29 am Post subject:

Hi Joe,

Yep, you're right...Merv Griffin did come to Vegas (usually at the Hilton Hotel) for a week at a time to tape some shows for later broadcasts. With all the stars appearing in shows in Vegas at the time, he had a lot of talent to pick from.

Your Uncle Ray or Pete Candoli were the usual lead players..along with Bill Berry and Jack Sheldon. Occasionally, when Ray or Pete couldn't be there, Bill Hodges would sub for the week. Bill was a super sight reader and he had nerves of steel under the pressure of TV taping. During the actual taping of the live show, it was a disorganized mess...with the panicky switching of music and last minute downbeats. I know that there must have been lots on drinking going on!

Here's a funny story that Bill Hodges told me about the show. One day while they were rehearsing music for a dancer (possibly Chita Rivera)...Jack was playing lead on this wild flamenco-style trumpet part and he was really stepping all over it.

The leader, Mort Lindsay asked: "Jack, is that part going to be okay on the show?"

Jack (one of the absolute funniest men alive) answered: "Are you kidding? If I could play that, would I be in THIS band?"

Funny stuff!

John

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joetriscari · Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 1:21 pm Post subject:

Funny story....I remember it being at ceasers....I think Bill Hodges took over for Ray when he retired...I was a friend of Bills...He did some mouthpiece work for me....Jack is a great jazz player....So sorry Bill H. and Bill B. are gone...
Do you know Tommy Porrello???
Joe Triscari

JohnBennett · Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 1:30 pm Post subject:

Tommy Porrello was one of the fine lead players who passed through that precision band of Harry James. The James band played in the Flamingo Lounge many times over the years and on one of those times, Tommy decided to stay in Vegas.

He's been one of the first call lead players in Vegas since he moved there in the mid-60's or early 70's.

Several of the other fine lead players from that band who later stayed in Vegas are Rob Turk, Hal Espinosa and Tony Scodwell...super players all!

John

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joetriscari · Posted: Mon Oct 06, 2003 8:04 pm Post subject:

Hey John....Tommy is a good friend of mine...He actually was my first trumpet teacher....He's still going strong at 63...I believe...
I hear alot of great things about Scodwell...
Also a real good player in town..Tom Delibro
Joe TriSCARI

AccentOnTrumpet · Heavyweight Member Joined: 03 Nov 2002 Posts: 878

Whoever can't appreciate Cat Anderson as a great player needs to slap themselves and wake up.

Cat not only played great in all registers (from squeaks to growling low notes) but he knew how he did everything he did. That is a unique quality, especially for his time when most people were very oblivious to how they did things on the horn.

Maynard might've played with more melody up there than Cat did, but he came later, and Cat was one of the first great screamers. He took it even farther than his predecessors, like Armstrong, Eldridge, Erskine Hawkins, etc.

JohnBennett · Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2003 9:50 am Post subject:

Joe...you probably know that either Tony Scodwell or Tom DeLibero travel as lead players with Doc Severinsen whenever he makes road trips. Doc comes to Colorado pretty often and one of those two is usually with him.

When I was in Vegas at the Riviera, our band worked Doc's act several times....Doc would play a roaring high A for his first note of the show and end the last tune of the night on a double D! He's my kinda guy! We did two shows a night, six nights a week for a month and on every show he was perfect.

John

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JohnBennett · Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2003 10:07 am Post subject:

Here's another interesting bit about Cat. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this.

Once when I saw Duke's band, the trumpet section was really having a good time and as part of their antics and choreography they did this:

While the band was playing a pretty fast tune, the trumpet section would play a quarter note on the first beat of the bar..."Bap"...and then pass their horns to the guy on their left and play another quarter note in the next measure..."Bap"....the guy on the far left would then TOSS his horn over to the guy on the far right...this juggling of trumpets went on for 8 bars or so until everyone had their own horns back. On each "Bap," Cat would play a high G....on someone else's horn and mouthpiece!

So much for being locked into having to play your own horn and mouthpiece!

John

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AccentOnTrumpet · Heavyweight Member Joined: 03 Nov 2002 Posts: 878

Jesus Christ! ^^^^

the chief · Posted: Tue Oct 21, 2003 12:43 am Post subject:

Cat is one of those players who can make the trumpet into his personal 'instrument', so-to-speak. Lots of players do this, and you know right away who's playing, without ever hearing it before.

I can understand how some people may not be very fond of his tone, but he did what he did better then anybody in the world at his time, just as Maynard also did. Cat was the man of his time and place.

JohnBennett · Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2003 10:16 am Post subject:

Actually Cat and Maynard were fairly close to the same age and could be considered contemporaries. Cat, born in 1916 was with Duke's band from 1944 until 1971 while Maynard, born in 1928 was with Kenton from 1948 through 1951. I don't think anyone has done it any better than these two monster players!

I have a copy of Cat's method book (which I haven't looked at in a long time)....and if I remember right, Cat's approach in the book was "If I can do it, anyone can!" If only that were true!

John

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Trptbenge · Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2003 8:40 am Post subject:

I love Cat's playing. I think he played higher then Maynard - as did Bud Brisbois but Leo Shephard may have played higher then all of them. One night he and Cat had a high note contest and when Cat was asked about the contest he said I don't want to talk about it. Cat had such exciting solos. I think he wanted to be known for more then just playing high notes - for his improvisational skills. As far as sound and Maynard, well, there is still something about Maynard and his sound. When you listen too him come in on a solo (especially in his younger days) you can feel the excitement and power. Both are special players.

Mike

JohnBennett · Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2003 9:15 am Post subject:

Speaking of high note contests....Louis Armstrong was, I think probably the all-time king ...at least he was the FIRST king. Players would come to him onstage and challenge him to a "High C" contest...to see who could play the most high C's in a chorus or two and still make musical sense. Louis, in the 1920's was the first cornet/trumpet player to play much out of the staff in his solos...and high F was one of his "hot" notes. I forget the exact number, but in one challenge he just blew away the other player with an incredible number of high C's. Audiences would pack the houses to see these contests.

If you ever see any old photos of Louis, he would always look UP when he played high notes and looked DOWN when he played low. Old time teachers sometimes used that approach, but it never made much difference in my playing when I did that! I used to strain my eyeballs looking up, but I guess I needed more than just looking up!

John

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JackD · Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2003 9:47 am Post subject:

He wasn't just a high note player - check out his solos on the Ellington at Newport disc - superb!