The Chicago in Leon

[_Don Herman]

I've been corresponding with Leon Merian on and off the past few months. He's a fantastic player from the Jazz School of Hard Knocks with a simply incredible list of accomplishments. If you haven't heard of him, for shame! His biography, The Man Behind the Horn, written with Bill Bridges, is an exciting look behind the jazz scene through the years. Leon also has a great CD, and a book called Trumpet Isometrics well worth having.

He posted a really nice note about how we should approach our playing, and kindly gave me permission to reproduce it (slightly edited to remove names other than his). He's discussing a thread on aperture, and addressing the way many of us (I can really relate!) tend to overanalyze sometimes... It's his words, folks, below -- enjoy! I think it helps prove my thought that there's a little Chicago in us all...

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Hello... I said (regarding aperture): "All the variables {physical, mechanical} are SO intimately bound together that compartmentalizing them will lead to a breakdown in the entire process. We must emphasize the musical, not the technical.”

Get involved with the MUSIC rather than with the specifics....

YES, the aperture WILL take care of itself -- it is MOST OBVIOUS that one must keep the chops together BUT let the air do the job, NOT you. It is true that "aperture control is needed to play everything" which Pops did say--and again I will say that aperture control is most definitely needed BUT {and this is a big BUT} the aperture is under control if you refrain from analyzing it when [while] you are playing!! It is WHEN you are playing that Your Mind Be On The Music You Are Playing and NOT on "am I doing this right? am I doing that right?" It is WHEN you are blowing your horn out there for the audience that you throw all of these "variables" to the wind...Simply place your piece properly on YOUR [most comfortable] spot, keep the corners firmed [chin out] air on and release the tongue and SING with your horn like a bird!! -- with feeling/with passion/with fluidity/with love. You will FEEL this FLOW throughout your entire body--regardless of what you are playing… I guarantee that the aperture and everything else that goes along with it will take care of themselves!! Of course there are faults related to the embouchure such as too closed, too open, too wet, too dry, placement smile, pucker, etc… I believe many, many players would benefit considerably if they paid more attention to matters of embouchure AT THE OUTSET of their playing rather than mastering technical skills without the ability to produce a good, open, resonant sound with good intonation...

As a final statement, I again would like to repeat to you that what Pops said, namely "aperture control is needed to play everything" is true... no question – HOWEVER -- listen closely --

THE CAPACITY OF THE PLAYER TO CONSISTENTLY RECREATE A BEAUTIFUL, FLOWING, FLUID SOUND WITH WARMTH AND FEELING IS MORE DEPENDABLE WHEN A MUSIC STIMULUS GUIDES HIS PLAYING, RATHER THAN ATTEMPTING TO EXERCISE CONTROL OVER HIS/HER PLAYING THROUGH RUNNING OVER THIS CHECKLIST OF INSTRUCTIONS WHILE PLAYING... God bless you all..........

L E O N M E R I A N T M B T H

P.S.Check out my cut on "Nature Boy" on Kurt Schulenburg's web site: http://www.screech@flash.net

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Don Herman/Monument, CO
"After silence, that which best expresses the inexpressible, is music." - Aldous Huxley