At this time in our history as a country, we have finally come to realize that “the United States is not what it used to be”. I am not saying that it could not, once again, rise to its previous stature in the world, but when one considers our debt, joblessness, loss of homes and businesses, drug problem and lack of respect of our current leaders, one ponders the reasons for this change. A friend of mine sent me this video and I thought it was a very telling example of what is happening in countries outside our boarders. Along…

The year was 1969, in Lewisville, Texas and I was in the middle of a lesson with one of my many brass students. I was notified that I needed to answer a phone call which was very unusual due to the fact that my wife was at work and few knew I was at the high school that day. The voice on the other end of the phone identified himself as Dr. Myron Russell, Department Head of Music at the University of Northern Iowa. Quickly I realized that I was being offered a position as trumpet instructor at his university;…

For those who find my observations to be biased and unfounded, I apologize. To those who agree with me I question your judgement for to generalize on any topic is to accept all criticisms thrust upon you. The following observations stem from many years of experience and in no way represents any scientific or tested study on this subject. Observation #1 Most jazzers don’t read well. Most legit players don’t swing. Observation #2 Most jazzers are more creative. Most legit players can only play what they see on the page. Observation #3 Most jazzers hang out with fellow jazzers.. Most…

Thanks go out to a good friend Mr. Dave Bacon for this interview given by the late great Bud Brisbois “The main two things that I stress and firmly believe in are: 1. Breathing, knowing how to breath and knowing how to set the air and 2. Building the proper muscles here(chops) as opposed to destroying everything here(chops). There are so many fine trumpet players around the country and the world these days, I’ve found by watching them play that there are two things that they all do exactly alike. First of all, they have a strong anchor or corners…

There is justice in the world after all.

There is no accounting for bad taste…. and just how young can we continue to exploit… and then there is hope for those who have better taste….

The Youth Trumpet & Taps Corps is a service organization for high school and college trumpet players to use their musical gifts to serve others. Their main project is volunteering to play Taps at veterans’ funerals to help with the shortage of military buglers. Due to this shortage, most veterans are laid to rest with a tape recording of Taps instead of a live performance. They believe that those who serve our country and fight for our freedom deserve more than just a recording. The Youth Trumpet & Taps Corps was founded by Katie Prior as her Girl Scout Gold…