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Recordings of Claude



 
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MF Fan
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2002 10:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've been a fan Claude's approach to trumpet for decades now, and happily came across a recording of his on Amazon a while back. It was the "Live at the Palladium" disc. I had never heard him play in a performance setting before, so the CD was a treat. I was somewhat expecting to hear a lot of work above the staff, considering the extremes he addresses in his method books. On this recording however his style struck me as a cross between Harry James and Herbet Clarke! A technical wizard indeed! Is anyone aware of other in-print recordings that feature more of his upper register playing? I doubt he ever recorded anything like Cat Anderson's "El Gato", but have to imagine he liked to "air it out" once in awhile.
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ZeroMan
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2002 12:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:

On 2002-09-12 13:59, MF Fan wrote:
I've been a fan Claude's approach to trumpet for decades now, and happily came across a recording of his on Amazon a while back. It was the "Live at the Palladium" disc. I had never heard him play in a performance setting before, so the CD was a treat. I was somewhat expecting to hear a lot of work above the staff, considering the extremes he addresses in his method books. On this recording however his style struck me as a cross between Harry James and Herbet Clarke! A technical wizard indeed! Is anyone aware of other in-print recordings that feature more of his upper register playing? I doubt he ever recorded anything like Cat Anderson's "El Gato", but have to imagine he liked to "air it out" once in awhile.


You can check out the website his widow runs. They have several of Gordon's recordings available. I'm unsure if they have online clips of the recordings ala Amazon.
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EBjazz
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2002 5:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for letting us know about this. I just ordered the two cds they had.
Claude didn't make that many records and the two I have don't really have many high notes on them.
Just goes to show that Claude wasn't really just about range, but all-around solid trumpet playing.

Eb
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trumpetnerd7
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2002 6:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i have his recording "back to avalon" and it is one of my favorite recordings. i think there are only 2 or 3 CDs by him out there
-scott cook
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John Mohan
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 13, 2002 2:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

To MF Fan (and everybody),

Your description of Claude sounding like a cross between Harry James and Herbert L. Clarke hit the nail right on the head!


Three comments:

First:

You wrote that you were surprised by the lack of extreme range on the recordings, given the extreme range covered by Claude's books. And this is a common observation caused I think by a common misperception. I would suggest that trumpet players in general think about and notice the high notes a little more than all the other stuff involved in playing and developing - and this situation is a good example.

If one looks a little deeper at Claude's books and "method", one sees that his books themselves are not only full of every type of technical exercise, but that the material he assigns from other books (in the “Systematic Approach" book's assigned daily routines) covers all of Clarke "Technical Studies" in many articulation models, Clarke's "Characteristic Studies", the Smith Flexibility book, Colin's Flexibility book, and much material from both the St. Jacome, and the Arban Methods. “High notes” are only one small part of Claude’s teaching and approach to trumpet.

Claude’s “Daily Trumpet Routines” is a book that covers all kinds of Interval and Chord studies with many different articulation models for each type of chord and interval. Why, if one follows the book’s directions and practices all the different models as assigned, it takes 8 YEARS to complete the book! I’m working my way through it for the second time in my life right now, by the way. And again, though there are “high notes” in the book (I think it’s written up to G above High C), there are 8 years worth of chord, interval, and flexibility studies in the book.

But with all that, still, most players open up “Systematic Approach”, see the Double C’s, and think that’s what it’s all about. Here, in three sentences is Claude’s attitude about high notes (I’m quoting him):

“Don’t worry about high notes. High notes are inevitable if you are practicing and developing correctly. They’ll develop along with the rest of the machine.”

Second:

For anyone that wonders about the range Claude had (given that he didn’t show it off on his recordings), here are some quotes from former students:

From an interview given by Paul Cacia to our own member Roddy (the full interview is on Roddy’s website):

"On one specific night Claude was actually trying to find out what some of the current younger players thought of him. This was the mid 1970’s and needless to say high note players were in like Flynn. After relentless persistence I gave in and mentioned that some players said he couldn’t perform some of the routines in his “Systematic Approach”. Bare in mind Claude had retired as a player a decade before this and seldom played his horn (when I first began with Claude he played a great deal in the lessons with me). That night he went over to the case, popped the latches loudly, you could hear them flutter, he grabbed his horn, made a fist and pounded down on the top of all three valves to free them up as they were slightly frozen. He grabbed his mouthpiece and placed it in the horn. (Claude played a lacquer C.G. model with a Bach 1-1/4 C skeletonized mouthpiece with a #19 drill, a Morse taper and a full Schmidt backbore.) Taking a huge breath he played a major triad from tuning C down to pedal C (as big as a house) he started on low C and played a chromatic scale to Double High C then flipping to an E above that, he didn’t miss a note. He removed the mouthpiece returning both it and the horn to the case closing the lid and snapping it shut. He turned to me and said: now you heard it, don’t let anyone try to tell you otherwise, I’ll see you next week, goodnight... now PRACTICE!"



From Anthony “Tony” Horowitz (former 1st trumpet for the Ray Charles Orchestra):

“As a child, studying with Claude Gordon in 1959, I was told by other adult musicians that he, Claude, could play the range of the piano keyboard on a Bb trumpet. Naturally I asked Mr. Gordon if he could in fact do this. When he replied in the affirmative, I unabashedly asked him to do it for me.

He gave me that little smile of his, took out his trumpet and double-tongued his way down to fourth pedal “C” below low “C”, and then in similar fashion up to a triple high “C”. Needless to say, that made a believer out of me in regard to the Claude Gordon method of trumpet playing.”


Note: I believe Tony was actually referring to the third pedal “C” below low “C”, as that is the lowest “C” on a piano keyboard.



From Carl Leach, Jr. (Lead Trumpet with the Flamingo Hotel through the late 1970’s and 1980’s):

“I have taken lessons from Claude Gordon for 12 years. During that time I have heard him play the upper register of the trumpet.

One particular occasion was at the first Claude Gordon Brass Camp. Claude demonstrated a new exercise he had been developing to be added to the end of some flexibility routines. He started on a low F# (F-sharp) and did a glissando to F-sharp (two octaves) on top the staff and back down. As soon as he played the low F-sharp he glissed to A-sharp above the staff and back down, then up to C# and down and then to high F# (three octaves) and down to low F#. This exercise then went through all the other valve combinations on trumpet (1-3, 2-3, 1-2, 1, 2, 0) till the last one (open) which he played to double “C”. This routine he did very easily as was with everything I have heard him play in the time that I’ve known him.”


Third comment (if you’re still with me):

In addition to the CD’s currently available, Claude’s LP records (including “Jazz For Jean-Agers” and “Claude Gordon Wins by a Landslide”) can be found quite often on eBay.

Sincerely,

John Mohan
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MF Fan
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 13, 2002 7:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks John for giving my original question some perspective, it was right-on. I'd also like to add the fact that many of Claude's recordings, as well as his books are readily available @ www. claudegordonmusic.com and would suggest people use this as the source for recordings vs. Amazon. They no more expensive here, and it's nice doing business with "the source."
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