Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2025 6:56 pm Post subject: Wow - Arturo on flugel, I was surprised how nice he sounds
I was listening to a jazz station and heard some really nice flugel playing and was surprised to learn it was Arturo. I've never really been a big fan - he seems to usually be all about tasteless high-noting but I have to give him credit - he gets a really nice dark, dusky, fluffy sound. Beautiful. Wow. And I love lush piano & strings arrangements like that
Arturo is one of the all time living greats. I could write so much more about the subject!
Glad that you had a change or heart.
PS:
I suspect he would tell you the gear isn't important (outside of having an instrument and mouthpiece that were working well for the player)---- but also I love gear so I also would love to know the answer.
Last edited by herpderp on Thu Jul 03, 2025 8:58 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back when I was I youngster in the late 1980s, early 1990s I saw him a few times with Dizzys UNO. While I did prefer Claudio Roditis elegant trumpet style it was quite evident that Arturo is not only about high notes. He is a very rhythmic person and also plays timbales (?) and much of his rhythmic concepts can also be heard in his trumpet playing.
During one of those 1980s/1990s concerts (intermission, everybody was getting snacks and drinks) I suddenly heard someone play the piano just by himself, a mixture of jazz and some classical stuff. Went around the corner to check it out and sure enough it was Arturo having some fun during the break. Hidden from the audience and very quiet music.
I think I was the only one who noticed — at least I was the only one standing by and listening. Being a teen or in my early twenties at the time I didn’t approach him. Maybe I should’ve chatted him up but he’s was so engulfed in his playing I didn’t feel like disturbing him.
Edit — on gear and the like, check this out: https://youtu.be/u1SYvXWeoFc?si=6pSKujhWt41OX-05 _________________ 2019 Martin Schmidt eXcellence
1997 Blessing XL cornet
1992 Bach 43GH/43
1989 K&H Model 15 flugel
1980/2023 Custom Blessing Scholastic C 😎
1978 King Silver Flair
1977 Conn 6B
1961 Olds Special
*****
AR/ACB/Klier/Yamaha
Last edited by Brassnose on Thu Jul 03, 2025 7:49 pm; edited 1 time in total
And here is a track from his album "Trumpet Evolution" on which he plays signature pieces from the history of 20th century trumpet performance in the styles of the players who made them famous (here he is playing "Up Jumped Spring" on flugelhorn, inspired by Freddie Hubbard's rendition):
Incidentally, I believe he is playing a Kanstul 1525 flugelhorn on this track. Hub van Laar now makes a Sandoval version of the Oiram flugelhorn; that is probably what he is playing on the recording you posted.
Finally, just to show his playful side, listen to a particular segment of his contribution to this 4-way "duel" with other trumpet luminaries (jump to 13:53):
(Mouthpieces? We don't need no stinking mouthpieces!) _________________ "He that plays the King shall be welcome . . . " (Hamlet Act II, Scene 2, Line 1416)
"He had no concept of the instrument. He was blowing into it." -- Virgil Starkwell's cello teacher in "Take the Money and Run"
Last edited by Halflip on Fri Jul 04, 2025 1:28 am; edited 2 times in total
Samba De Amore - album: Flight to Freedom - 91
To Diz With Love - album: Dreams Come True - 93
Mack The Knife w/Clark Terry - album: Swingin' - 96
Rythm of Our World - album: Hot House - 98
Killing me Softly - album: Americana - 99
Some taste in there.
Also recommend the album with Dizzy - To a Finland Station. Recorded during the night after they met at a Jazz Festival in Helsinki, and AFTER they had played concerts. Chops? YES!! _________________ Van Laar OIRAM light I
Antoine Courtoise TOMA quartertone
Bájoc & Breslmair mouthpieces
For a guy who is 75 (!), that's not too shabby _________________ 32 King Silvertone cornet
36 King Liberty No. 2 trumpet
58 Reynolds Contempora "Renascence" C
58 Olds AmBessador
62 Reynolds Argenta trumpet
65 Conn 38A
95 Bach LR18072
03 Kanstul 991
11 Schilke P5-4 B/G
21 Manchester Brass flugel
Joined: 22 May 2020 Posts: 803 Location: Here and there
Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2025 8:45 am Post subject:
Gonzalez wrote:
Arturo on flugel, a list:
Samba De Amore - album: Flight to Freedom - 91
To Diz With Love - album: Dreams Come True - 93
Mack The Knife w/Clark Terry - album: Swingin' - 96
Rythm of Our World - album: Hot House - 98
Killing me Softly - album: Americana - 99
Some taste in there.
Also recommend the album with Dizzy - To a Finland Station. Recorded during the night after they met at a Jazz Festival in Helsinki, and AFTER they had played concerts. Chops? YES!!
Also at the beginning of A Mis Abuelos on his 1994 Danzon album. _________________ 32 King Silvertone cornet
36 King Liberty No. 2 trumpet
58 Reynolds Contempora "Renascence" C
58 Olds AmBessador
62 Reynolds Argenta trumpet
65 Conn 38A
95 Bach LR18072
03 Kanstul 991
11 Schilke P5-4 B/G
21 Manchester Brass flugel
Joined: 11 Mar 2002 Posts: 2357 Location: Little Elm, TX
Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2025 12:13 pm Post subject:
Yeah, his high notes are cool, but he is so much more than that. Music just flows out of this guy. _________________ Bryan Fields
----------------
More horns than my wife knows I have...
Joined: 22 May 2020 Posts: 803 Location: Here and there
Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2025 12:50 pm Post subject:
spitvalve wrote:
Yeah, his high notes are cool, but he is so much more than that. Music just flows out of this guy.
As a hackish jazz pianist, it has to be noted that Arturo is an excellent jazz pianist. Probably didn't hurt that his first famous band, Irakere, had Chucho Valdes, who is god-tier (and has his own channel on the Sirius XM app). One second Chucho can be playing a ridiculously complex montuno, the next he's throwing in a lick that is straight out of Tchaikovsky. Stunning stuff.
I saw an interview Arturo gave at his house years ago; I want to say it was with Sarah Willis, the principal horn player in Berlin. In it he mentioned that his grand piano belonged to either Art Tatum or Oscar Peterson. That's also pretty wonderful. _________________ 32 King Silvertone cornet
36 King Liberty No. 2 trumpet
58 Reynolds Contempora "Renascence" C
58 Olds AmBessador
62 Reynolds Argenta trumpet
65 Conn 38A
95 Bach LR18072
03 Kanstul 991
11 Schilke P5-4 B/G
21 Manchester Brass flugel
This is one of my favorite Arturo videos. What makes this one so much fun is you can see the mutual respect among the guys in the band and how much Arturo digs their playing. Just proves he's all about music, and if the tune doesn't call for screaming, he doesn't do it. _________________ Bryan Fields
----------------
More horns than my wife knows I have...
I saw an interview Arturo gave at his house years ago; I want to say it was with Sarah Willis, the principal horn player in Berlin. In it he mentioned that his grand piano belonged to either Art Tatum or Oscar Peterson. That's also pretty wonderful.
Y‘all thinking it was Oscar Petersons or Art Tatums piano and a Sarah Willis interview: might wanna check out the link I posted upstream in this very thread
I’ve never heard him rap. Nice.
Finally, just to brag a bit: guess who was live at that Faddis/Morrison/Marsalis/Sandoval gig The most impressive incident that night was Marsalis suddenly sounding like Clifford Brown. I was there with a buddy and our trumpet teacher (who took us, we couldn’t even drive at the time) and I remember saying to the two „darn, this guy sounds like Clifford“ — and then the next tune he did something completely different. Crazy. _________________ 2019 Martin Schmidt eXcellence
1997 Blessing XL cornet
1992 Bach 43GH/43
1989 K&H Model 15 flugel
1980/2023 Custom Blessing Scholastic C 😎
1978 King Silver Flair
1977 Conn 6B
1961 Olds Special
*****
AR/ACB/Klier/Yamaha
Y‘all thinking it was Oscar Petersons or Art Tatums piano and a Sarah Willis interview: might wanna check out the link I posted upstream in this very thread
He's a fantastic piano player. He could just play piano and still have a career in music.
Yeah, I have seen him play the piano. The reason I made the comment was because there was some guessing going on even though the interview where he mentions his ex-Peterson piano was just linked a few posts up. The whole interview with SW is actually really nice and worth watching. _________________ 2019 Martin Schmidt eXcellence
1997 Blessing XL cornet
1992 Bach 43GH/43
1989 K&H Model 15 flugel
1980/2023 Custom Blessing Scholastic C 😎
1978 King Silver Flair
1977 Conn 6B
1961 Olds Special
*****
AR/ACB/Klier/Yamaha
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