Your first Mendez record.

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My first Mendez LP was Mendez in Madrid.

[shinytrumpet]

I received tons of LP's from my uncle (which are all at home...I can't name them off the bat). But I just recently got my hands on a CD of Mendez from Summit Records with live clinics, demonstrations, Arban exercises, and solo recordings. Some of those excerpts from "Tico, Tico" and "Mexican Hat Dance" really make me wanna tackle all those Arban tonguing exercises!

Matt
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Hartt School of Music '06
BM OrchestralTrumpet Performance
Drexel University '16
MA Music Therapy & Counseling

[Trumpet Dude]

I do not remeber the cd name (it was burned) but the first song I heard from hime (and the cd) was La Virgen Da La Macarena

There is no music that makes me want to work harder then a good Mendez solo. Tasty stuff for any trumpet player.
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[bbotzong]

Thanks to Ole, I'll have a CD of my favorite Mendez album, Trumpet Extraodinary. This was my first Mendez album and over the years I have collected most of the others. I missed the Summit issue of CDs, and came close to buying Tumpet Extraordinary on eBay but missed it by THIS much!

I studied for three years with a gentleman named Phil Candreva. I found his name on the bulletin board of my band room in high school. It said he was a first call studio musician, played for all the major motion picture studios, tv networks, etc etc etc. He kept talking about his buddy 'Ralph'. Evidently they were very close and were drinking buddies. He told me some GREAT stories. It took me a while to figure out he was speaking about Mendez. Blew me away when it finally connected. I ran across a picture of him, Mendez and Louis Maggio on the web in what appears to be a night-on-the-town... http://www.theinfogroup.net/candreva.gif

Phil was a great teacher. Thanks to one of the guys on TPIN, I was able to contact him about 2 years ago. He has long since retired and said he had quit playing about 10 years ago. He was an absolute wonderful player and musician and I really now appreciate what I learned from him.

As far as Mendez, I wsa lucky enough to meet him three times and even more lucky to watch him play twice. This was probably in the mid-70's and he was semi-retired, but boy could he still play. I remember during rehersal he did a run up to a high F and it didn't come out right. He turned his horn around, held the bell to his ear and shook it, and then made a very funny comment. The other thing I remember is he started the band on an omh-pah-pah riff and did a chorus of Carnival of Venice. Then he pointed at the trumpet section and wiggled his index finger up and down, then proceeded to play the last variation with just one finger. I dont remember him missing a note! Of course, all the turmpets just stopped, jaw to the floor to watch this amazing feat.

So, thanks, Ole for the link. I will have my album in a few days and be able to sing along with some of my most favorite trumpet solos.

Bill

[skootchy]

I'm not sure when I first heard Mendez but it had to be in the very early sixties. It was "The Singing Trumpet".."El Gitano". I have never heard anything like that. I immediately bought everything I could by him. (I did the same with Maynard and Doc) I am glad I did, as you just can't get that stuff anymore and if you weren't around during that era you pretty much missed it. I happened upon an old recording of Rafael a few years ago at a record sale. It is one of those small 33's called "Trumpet Extraordinary", I think I paid five bucks for it. I remember digging through every record that dude had thinking he had to have more but alas it was the only one. What an influence Mendez made on my life as I am sure he did on every young trumpeter that heard him. I believe that Mendez was sent from God to humble the rest of us. God Bless him!

[Hugo]

I'm not so old as you guys, xo I don't own any 78 rpm records, no cd's either! But I guess there are some CD's with Mendez. Which one do you recomment?
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Hugo
http://www.geocities.com/hugovalk (in Dutch)

[Hugo]

So, I have the cd: " The legendary trumpet virtuosity of RM, volume 1"
I enjoy the listening very much and this brings me to my next question: Is tere coming a volume 2? Does someone here know something about that.

(I can buy the cd: " The Legacy" first of course, but I m just curious.)
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Hugo
http://www.geocities.com/hugovalk (in Dutch)

[trpt.hick]

Hugo:

Go to: www.SummitRecords.com

Summit has reissued all of Mendez' recordings that feature him as a prominent soloist. There is also "The Legacy" Cd which has Mendez talking in clinic, a few live radio broadcast clips, a couple of early solos for the 78rpm recordings, plus verbal tributes from a dozen or so biggy trumpet players including Herseth, Voisin, Stevens, Bilger, Sachs, Voisin, Vizzutti, McNab, etc. It is narrated by Doc Severinsen. Pretty cool!

All 12 of Mendez; Decca LPs were reissued on 12 CDs (with same covers as the old LPs). These were available through a limited time license from Decca (owned by MCA), but the sales period has ended. Summit is looking into obtaining a new license to reissue them yet again because 2006 is the 100th birthday year for Mendez. Some really interesting celebration events are being planned in Los Angeles and Phoenix.

DH

[Spit valve]

My first Mendez recording was an extended play 45 rpm, "Trumpet Solos extraordinary" part 1. I had to have my record store order it since it was not a stock item. I was about 13 years old at the time.
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Trumpets: 1952 Conn 22B NYS, 1972 Conn 6B Victor
Cornet: 1918 Conn 81A Victor New Wonder
Flugelhorn: Jean Baptiste

The trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

[bulos]

Sometime around 1957 I am guessing it was I got "Trumpet Extrodinary" where he plays wit his two sons on a few cuts..........frustrated me then frustrates me now. He was to virtuoso soloists what Dizzy, Pops or Roy was to jazz.
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Marquis de Sade: "In art, one has to kill one's father."