Thanks to all who participated in this thought provoking exercise. At last count, we had approximately fifty entries, and over 2,000 downloads concerning this question. Some of your answers were very close and some were way off. I have listed two who will be receiving “free” arrangements of their choice as well as one contributor who submitted an interesting question which may be addressed at a later date. We had one reader “nail” the correct answer and one who was so far above me, I wasn’t sure if he was correct or not, so we are giving one arrangement of…

Submit the best reason for this to happen and win a Free Trumpet Ensemble Arrangement Of Your Choice! Selection of best reason will be made on June 1, 2014.

These are quotes from students in a college jazz history class. They are extracted from the essay topic, “What I learned over this semester in jazz history.” These are all genuine responses, completely unaltered. They are all 18+ year old students; not high school or middle school age kids. None of them are music students; they all took this class as a gen. ed. credit and a hopeful “easy A”. “Free Jazz is an era that I wished I had never learned about.? “Free Jazz. Wow; what a sound it makes. An awful, horrible sound. I don’t see how that…

The hottest new trend is something from our trumpet past. Rotary valves are making a strong comeback. For that reason I searched for the most interesting description of this option which many trumpet players are switching to- rotary valve trumpets. I found this video very interesting and well done, “so on with the show”! For additional information on rotary trumpets, you may find this post interesting… Rotary Valve Trumpets

Only through a careful look at past history are we able to understand what we do and the reasons we do them. This is especially true when trying to understand mistakes we have made in music education. I will try to explain my thinking as one who was there and watched it happen. During the 1960s the school stage band movement began to blossom. Heavily influenced by professional big bands such as Buddy Rich, Maynard Ferguson, Thad Jones, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Bill Watrous, Don Ellis and others, high school band directors began to collect illegal record copies of these bands and…

Welcome to Part 2 of our interview with Jonathan Saraga. If you missed the first segment, be sure to read it for as the title states, “This is Required Reading. Now we continue with our interview. Do you prefer big band or combo work? “I’ll probably have to go with combo work. I really enjoy both for different reasons. Similar to the topic on preferred forms of improvisation, both of these require me to undertake a different role as a player. I enjoy playing in a trumpet section, and trying to blend in with the sounds and phrasing of 16…

I try to stay up with the current trumpet scene and for that reason I ran across a phenomenal young player by the name of Jonathan Saraga. Most often when cruising the net I will hear a player who has great range and endurance but lacks ideas or technique. On other occasions I’ll run across a great improviser who unfortunately lacks chops or technique. In rare cases I stumble over a player who exhibits all of these abilities and I am in awe of their ability. This was the case when I listed to a young man from Manhattan, New…

To most trumpet players, names such as Maynard Ferguson, Clark Terry, Doc Severinsen, Miles Davis and others are easily recognized through the many records on the market today. Strangely enough, many of these great players would have been overshadowed by the talent of a quiet, soft spoken trumpet player from Fort Worth, Texas. This incredibly talented and not well known to the public trumpet master was Mr. Don Thomas. While attending North Texas State, I had the good fortune to not only have meet Mr. Thomas but also record several jingles with him in the studios in Dallas. Little did…