Trumpet Player personality

Eddie Jeffries · Posted: Tue Feb 14, 2017 7:56 pm Post subject: Trumpet Player personality

There is allegedly a stereotypical trumpet player personality.

But I have always been impressed with the variety of personalities who play trumpet.

Maynard Ferguson - extroverted, gregarious, funny

Bill Chase - shy, quiet

Doc Severisen - regular guy next door, surpisingly normal

Lin Biviano - skirt chasing, swagger, let 'er rip enthusiasm

So trumpet players come in all sizes and shapes and personalities.
Perhaps the only thing they have in common is their willingness to work their butts off to excel in their craft.
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deleted_user_02066fd · New Member Joined: 03 Apr 1996 Posts: 0

I've met Maynard, Doc and Biviano. I knew someone that grew up in the same neighborhood as Bill Chase and he said Bill was a good guy.
I would agree with the op on Maynard and Biv. I met Maynard many times and he was always gracious and a bit loopy. I think he might have been a few sheets to the wind many of those times. Regardless, he was always fun to meet and talk with. I met Biv once and he was a riot. A bit cocky but friendly to everyone that was in the group of trumpet geeks I was standing with. Doc was a completely different story. he was signing cd's after 2 shows I had gone to. It was pretty obvious that he didn't want to be there. He barely looked up and if you tried to engage him in any small talk he blew you off. He was very rude to my wife when she tried to speak to him. My wife is a quiet, gentle soul and he was a complete ass.
I met Thad Jones two times and he was a real class act. Clark Terry, a really good,kind man. I met Freddie Hubbard at a club date he was playing and he was also a really great guy. Same with Woody Shaw, Jon Faddis and Chuck Mangione.

JJMDestino · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 9:54 am Post subject:

I had the complete opposite experience with Doc. He was nothing but kind and generous with his time. He spent about half an hour just talking to a few of my friends, my wife, and myself. He was obviously tired from concert, but was very willing to talk to us, answer questions, joke around, and even apologize to us that he didn't play his best.

trumpet.sanity · Heavyweight Member Joined: 24 Oct 2016 Posts: 763

Turkle · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 11:52 am Post subject:

You are darned right there is a proper trumpet player personality.

All trumpet players must be comfortable playing like a gladiator, with bravado, as a leader, setting the pace and musical tone and playing all the most exciting parts in any musical score.

It's not a fanfare without a trumpet, and a trumpet player has to have a fanfare in their soul.

Not everyone can do this!

I used to tell my students: "You'll teach yourself to play the trumpet by playing these exercises and etudes. I'll teach you to be a trumpet player." That means I'd teach them to lead, to play fearlessly, and to be ready to step up to any challenge, no matter how high the note, how soft and exposed the entrance, how tricky the rhythm, how opulent the concert hall, or how dingy the dive bar.

Rising to the occasion requires a certain personality. That person is a trumpet player.
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Grits Burgh · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 12:31 pm Post subject:

Turkle, loved your post!

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John Mohan · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 12:42 pm Post subject:

What does a trumpet player use for birth control?

John Mohan · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 12:42 pm Post subject:

His personality.

dstdenis · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 2:01 pm Post subject: Re: Trumpet Player personality

deleted_user_02066fd · New Member Joined: 03 Apr 1996 Posts: 0

I should mention that Doc absolutely played his ass off in the two shows I mentioned earlier. He was 83 at the first show and 85 when I saw him last. He sounded better at 85 than he did at 83.
I suppose the only thing he owes an audience is a great performance. He did just that!

cheiden · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 2:43 pm Post subject:

A lot of developing musicians play as if they're asking questions. To succeed on trumpet you can't be shy about making statements.
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TrumpetMD · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 2:48 pm Post subject:

I saw Doc a couple years ago, at Chuck Levin's in Maryland. There were six inches of fresh snow on the ground, which for those of us who are familiar with the DC area, is akin to a natural disaster. The room was packed. He played with a quartet, presented a clinic, and took a bunch of questions.

The event went over the scheduled time, and you could tell that the organizers wanted Doc to wind things down. But he kept going, entertaining, taking questions, and talking to the audience.

Once the event was over, Doc offered to sign autographs. I think just everyone there got in line. Doc was there for hours shaking hands, signing autographs, talking, smiling, and laughing.

Mike
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Winghorn · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 4:45 pm Post subject:

peanuts56-

While Doc is my hero as a trumpet player, there is no excuse for being rude.

I feel bad that he was apparently unkind to your wife.

Steve

spitvalve · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 5:30 pm Post subject:

I got to meet Doc about thirty years ago after a concert. I mentioned that when I was fourteen my mom brought one of his albums home and that it motivated me to practice. He said "Well, that makes me feel real good. Practice...yeah, I need to do some more of that."

He was a perfect gentleman and was kind to all of my trumpet students who were lined up behind me (I cut in front of them!).
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markp · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 6:07 pm Post subject:

Trumpetingbynurture · Heavyweight Member Joined: 18 Nov 2015 Posts: 898

Turkle · Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2017 8:33 pm Post subject:

solo soprano · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2017 3:29 am Post subject:

"There are two sides to a trumpeter's personality.
There is the one that lives only to lay waste to woodwinds, strings, french horns, percussionists, and trombones, leaving them lying blue and lifeless alongside the swath of destruction that is the trumpeter's fury. And then.....
there is the dark side."
Michael Stewart DMA
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GeorgeB · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2017 4:19 am Post subject:

I was fortunate enough to meet two trumpet greats:
Louis Armstrong and Al Hirt.
My wife and I met Satchmo after a local concert where he received a long line of fans and signed autographs. He was gracious and down to earth. And even though he must have been tired after a long concert, he didn't rush anyone. The rest of his band was the same, especially Trummy Young who was looking to party on.
While at a newspaper publisher's convention in New Orleans I discovered that Al Hirt and Pete Fountain were playing at a nearby night club ( I believe it was owned by Hirt ). It was crowded but during one of the breaks Al walked around and talked to patrons at various tables. When he stopped at my table I almost fainted. I was a big fan and had all of his albums. He was laid back and funny as hell. I left loving the big guy even more
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Proteus · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2017 4:54 am Post subject:

About four decades ago, while I was studying music at McGill University in Montreal, I recall reading a wonderful book entitled "To Speak For Ourselves". It was all about the musicians in the Boston Symphony, their personalities and the personalities & characteristics of their instruments...and how a person's personality tends to lead them to choose a particular instrument - or how the instrument's character and the demands of playing a particular instrument end up changing their personality.

Violinists were characterized as 'high-strung' (pun intended?) and akin to racehorses; bassoonists were hobbyists, always whittling away on reeds; oboeists were a little neurotic (the backpressure?); trombone & tuba players were the jokers and the life of the party; and trumpeters were the dapper, well-respected gentlemen of the orchestra. Hmmm...

It's no doubt long out of print, but definitely worth looking for in your local (music) library.
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