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| Don Rugg [DonaldWRugg] |
| Fontana California United States |
| Classical Solo | Orchestra |
Affiliation:
Relic Rescue | Phone:
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| http://stores.ebay.com/TRUMPETS-PLUS-TRINKETS |
First of all, there aren't enough choices for "Preferred performance idiom". Mine would actually be "Gosple", not necessarily "Contemporary Christian" but just plain Gosple. I go way back in this kind of music, and have written some of my own and arranged a lot for brass. Sure, I won scholorships playing solos by Haydn, Clarke & Mendez and always liked playing & listening to orchestral music, but I also like to fool around with jazz & blues, like to play good 'ol band music, am old enough to have done dixieland at one time, but my real choice is gosple. I'm a "make a jopyful noise" kind of a guy, but really enjoy ALL kinds of real music!
I'm a come-back trumpeter, turned restorer. Strayed from music for way too many years after losing my '57 Benge to a pawn shop in 1976, and started playing trumpet again in 2002. In my quest to find my original Benge with the "Custom built by E. Benge for DON RUGG" engraving, I've looked at a lot of trumpets. With experience in automotive repair and metal work, I soon found I had a talent for straightening out damaged brass instruments. I began buying various trumpets & cornets in an attempt to find a good substitute for my long-lost Benge, and in the process gained a lot of experience and tooling to make my own repairs.
I still haven't found my original Benge but I've aquired a nice 1953 ML and not long ago purchased the last trumpet Elden Benge himself worked on, a silver large bore model previously owned by one of Harry Jame's lead trumpet players and borrowed by Harry himself on occasion. You would think I'd be satisfied now, but still enjoy trying all sorts of horns, as they all have their own unique playing charateristics. Among my collection is a 1947 French Besson Brevete and recently an Olds Mendez. I've also seemed drawn to collecting early Olds trumpets & cornets. I'm fascinated with their playability and build quality. I have "The Olds" trumpet #719, but my favorite Olds player (even over the Mendez) has to be one of my 1942 Super Recording cornets. I'm still trying to decide which cornet plays better, the Super Recording or the 1915 Buescher model 15 TrueTone that I bought for under a hundred bucks!
All of above said, what I'm doing musically now is only sitting in on various church, school & civic group performances.
Had a growth in my throat next to my vocal cords that was acting like a one-way check valve and blocking my air passage whenever I tried to take in a large, quick breath. Imagine playing any brass instument in this condition. I'm now
(6-18-05) just one week into recovery from the successful operation, and already with new-found breathing capacity am finding it easier to play my trumpet than to talk. Having this newfound wind, I can really begin to work on regaining my prior chops & stamina. What I've been doing in earnest lately is getting serious about restoring trumpets.
My part-time (soon to be retirement) business is called Relic Resuce. It's all about rescuing the good old horns from out of closets, attics & basements and fixing them up to sell to players. I hate to see them out there being totally neglected, or just on display as "wall hangers". I don't do repair work for customers at this time because, being a part-time business I can't promise completion times. I still teach an automotive repair class mornings. What I do is restore the horns and, if I don't fall in love with them to keep, I offer them for sale. I do tend to keep too many and need to get more serious about sharing my collection with deserving players. Last count I had over 150 trumpet & cornets and am planning to launch a website to display some of them soon. |
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