A day in the life of Bruno Mars’ Trumpeter: James King

farnellnewton

Here is an interview/article I did about a young trumpeter James King who has performed and recorded with jazz, pop and soul greats.

http://www.21stcenturybrass.com/a-day-in-the-life-of-bruno-mars-trumpet-james-king/

Farnell
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Farnell Newton
Professor of Jazz Trumpet
Portland State University

Trumpeter, Composer & Hip Hop Producer
(503) 997-2071
www.farnellnewton.com

MarkZ · Heavyweight Member Joined: 05 Apr 2007 Posts: 615

This is a great lesson in the power of networking and putting in the work so you're ready when you're in the right place at the right time.
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bamajazzlady · Heavyweight Member Joined: 22 May 2011 Posts: 691

Great interview/article Farnell. James is one of my inspirations. I can definitely relate to when he said this is the time to start learning and playing an instrument especially a brass one. As a latecomer I needed to hear that.
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TrentAustin · Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 5:34 am Post subject:

Excellent article!
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crzytptman · Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 8:36 am Post subject:

Hey Farnell, great interview. However, I'm puzzled. I'm only considering the interview and the video below, so I hope my eyes and ears can be opened with some more examples.

What puzzles me is, after talking about the kind of practice he goes through every day, who his influences are, how brass bands are coming back, and how they work out the horn parts after receiving the music - I then watch the video.

Mr. King is apparently a dancer, who holds a trumpet and might be playing, except it sounds like a keyboard whether he has the trumpet to his lips or not.

I notice that the other musicians are playing the whole song, and Mars is singing the whole song, but the horn section is dancing. This looks like the SNL set, which Mr. King considers a highlight of his career. A little puzzling.

Mr. King may be a very good trumpet player. I hope to find that out. But looking at that video and comparing it to his comments, there's quite a contradiction - although jumping up and down while holding a rock steady note is quite a feat. It's a nice tune in a great style, but for horns it's no "To Be Real" or "Dance and Shout" or "Workin Day and Night", or any number of great R&B tunes from the past that used real horn sections playing challenging parts.

Anyway, this was my introduction to Mr. King. I hope someone can pull my coat to some better examples of his playing.

All the best
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TrentAustin · Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 8:52 am Post subject:

Insecurity is a bummer, huh Nate?
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crzytptman · Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 9:16 am Post subject:

Sorry, can't help you there. This is probably the wrong forum for you to ask that question.
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"so full of it I don't know where to start"
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- TH member and advertiser (name withheld)

Fuzzy Dunlop · Heavyweight Member Joined: 25 Jun 2011 Posts: 630

I can't believe I'm saying this but Nate has a point here. I absolutely could not hear any of the horns during that video - whenever they were "playing" it was a synth sound. Total window dressing...at least in that video. Anyone have any other links of him playing?

crzytptman · Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 9:58 am Post subject:

I found this:

http://youtu.be/o95FLUk7o9Q
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Crazy Nate - Fine Yet Mellow Fellow
"so full of it I don't know where to start"
Horn: "just mismatched Kanstul spare parts"
- TH member and advertiser (name withheld)

farnellnewton · Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 11:38 am Post subject:

The video was not there to demonstrate his command of the trumpet or how good he is.....which is obvious from the caliber of musicians he works with. It was there to show him performing with Bruno Mars.

If you want to find out more about James King and his personally playing ability Look Up Jaspects on youtube. "The clips might be a couple of years old". They were a young band that fused Hip Hop/Soul/Jazz and more together.

I've seen James and Bruno Mars before and yes some songs are about visual appeal and yes it is pop music but to blow that gig the whole night is a challenge and the horn section kills it!

Thanks for checking out the article everyone!!!
_________________
B.A.C. Artist Series NY Model Trumpet
Denis Wick Artist 4C & 3E

Farnell Newton
Professor of Jazz Trumpet
Portland State University

Trumpeter, Composer & Hip Hop Producer
(503) 997-2071
www.farnellnewton.com

crzytptman · Posted: Thu May 09, 2013 1:43 pm Post subject:

Thank you, Farnell. Am I looking in all the right places?

http://youtu.be/yum5DbjQ5SQ

http://youtu.be/ecZTSgo-72Y

http://youtu.be/CwWiJFMrWrY

I realize the sound quality is not good in these, so I checked out some studio work:

http://youtu.be/USZfYYOjUKU

Great rhythm section. I really like the piano and drums.

http://youtu.be/6p0aZKp1Gfo

You know, Dizzy always brought a high degree of musical integrity and virtuosity to his music, which was also highly accessible to the average listener. His music never lost that down home funky feel, no matter how much he pushed the envelope.
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Crazy Nate - Fine Yet Mellow Fellow
"so full of it I don't know where to start"
Horn: "just mismatched Kanstul spare parts"
- TH member and advertiser (name withheld)