Expressionism on trumpet
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Can I trouble everyone for recommendations of players / recordings that use the trumpet in a way that might be called expressionistic? Thanks!
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'62 Olds Studio Trumpet
'67 Olds Special Trumpet
2013 Dillon Pocket Trumpet
'83 Yamaha YFH-731 Flugelhorn
1919 York Perfec-Tone Cornet
'50 Olds Studio Trombone
Shofar"If it was just up to me, I'd only have trumpet players on my show." - Jackie Gleason
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Anything Till Bronner is expressionism on trumpet. He has a very airy quality to his sound and does so with light textures yet able to keep ultimate control. Here is an example of a song he wrote, but recorded by the amazing jazz vocalist Mark Murphey. Listen not only to Till's introduction but also how he converses with Mark Murphey oh so subtly. Expressionism at it's finest:
Allora Pocket Trumpet 2014
Harrelson Summit 2017
Kanstul 1526 2012
Getzen Power Bore 1961
Getzen Eterna 4-Valve Fulgelhorn 1974
Martin Committee 1946
Olds Super Recording 1940
Olds Recording (LA) 1953
Olds Recording (Fullerton) 1967
Olds Ambassador 1965 -
@dr-go Thank you!
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@_mark_ said in Expressionism on trumpet:
@dr-go Thank you!
You are welcome. Till Bronner is a hidden gem here in the USA. He is very well known in Germany and is the top rated jazz musician in Germany. He rarely comes to the USA, mostly to record, but I had the chance to hear him in concert when he was giving a clinic at the International Trumpet Guild in Columbus OH (down the road from me). I attended his clinic as well. Just amazing. He invited me on stage and I had the amazing honor of playing several tunes with him, and at one time, trading 8's!. He has just as warm of a personality as his trumpet sound.
Here is a pic from the clinic. Till is the one under the red arrow, I am under the blue:
Allora Pocket Trumpet 2014
Harrelson Summit 2017
Kanstul 1526 2012
Getzen Power Bore 1961
Getzen Eterna 4-Valve Fulgelhorn 1974
Martin Committee 1946
Olds Super Recording 1940
Olds Recording (LA) 1953
Olds Recording (Fullerton) 1967
Olds Ambassador 1965 -
@j-jericho I grew up listening to Miles, like most of us did. Believe it or not, I even listened to Pangea and Agharta time and time again, in the day. I proselytized On The Corner to all my friends. I may be one of the few who actually loves his work on Doo Bop. It's weird that I didn't drop the guitar for trumpet years ago. The guitar still had a hold on my brain, thanks to Robert Johnson, Son House, then Berry, Hendrix, Clapton, Trower, Beatles, even though I was never satisfied with my own sound or results. I was one of those who practically lived in the music stores that used to exist but are gone. I spent thousands while trying every guitar, effect and amplifier looking for that certain sound. It's really too bad I never picked up a trumpet until after retirement. Although I like to listen to the changes being played well, I also like to hear expressionists like Pharoah Sanders. If anyone here has never listened to the great sarangi players in the North Indian Classical traditon, do yourself a favor and search for them. I just don't have the background listening to trumpet players other than the tips of the mountaintops. Now, with the miracle of youtube, I just need some names to search for, and I appreciate it!
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@dr-go Thanks, again! I've always loved to hear, and participate when I was able, in improvisational exchanges like trading 8s. When I was overseas some decades ago, while hanging out in music stores, I was able to join into some impromptu sessions in which no one spoke a word. We just played. A fantastic drummer from Japan; bassist from Taiwan; horn player from Scotland; guitarist from Ireland; vocalist from Germany, anyone who showed up, and me with my telecaster, just jamming. Not only did I get my ass kicked around by superior musicians and thereby learned more than I ever could've otherwise, it was the most fun I ever had. I miss those days!
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@dr-go said in Expressionism on trumpet:
[...] He has a very airy quality to his sound and does so with light textures yet able to keep ultimate control. [...]
As I listen, yes, there's a lot of air coming through. I listened to Chattin With Chet. You Don't Know What Love Is. Wow. How does one get that much air/airiness coming though?
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Expressionism.... Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas.
Steve Smith
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@ssmith1226 Wow! That's truly amazing.
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Thanks for that clip, Steve. Nobody does it better than Clark Terry. We lost him way too soon.
George
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@_mark_ Well Hakan Hardenberger is in my view with a couple others, at the top of the heap.
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@rowuk said in Expressionism on trumpet:
@_mark_ Well Hakan Hardenberger is in my view with a couple others, at the top of the heap.
At first glance I see and hear fantastic technical facility. Thankfully, I've discovered a documentary.
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@dr-go said in Expressionism on trumpet:
You are welcome. Till Bronner is a hidden gem here in the USA. He is very well known in Germany and is the top rated jazz musician in Germany. He rarely comes to the USA, mostly to record, but I had the chance to hear him in concert when he was giving a clinic at the International Trumpet Guild in Columbus OH (down the road from me). I attended his clinic as well. Just amazing. He invited me on stage and I had the amazing honor of playing several tunes with him, and at one time, trading 8's!. He has just as warm of a personality as his trumpet sound.
Here is a pic from the clinic. Till is the one under the red arrow, I am under the blue:And that is Alan Hood on the left side of the photo. DU professor of trumpet. Had a lesson from him several years ago will attending Mendez Institute. Great guy and instructor.
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Expressionism takes many forms.
The form I am exploring is the connection from heart to heart or soul to soul and how we can achieve this directly in music.
The communication of emotions and feelings from player to listener and what might make that communication stronger and more direct and makes music more potent.
In arts the artist looks into themselves and then uses their experience and expertise to represent what they find there, be that sadness happiness satisfaction peace or dynamism.
The listener hears this and their brain then tries to understand what is heard. This is natural and is very much a human reaction to sounds.
The brain however stops the sound dead in its tracks and direct communication soul to soul is easily blocked when the mind gets in the way.
By slowing down the pace and the timing the sounds have a greater chance to filter down past the brain and reach the heart and soul.
This is I think the secret of at least one form of expressionism, giving the listener time to hear the sounds without the brain moving on to soon in its quest for understanding and the heart can then be reached.
This is perhaps why whalesong can captivate and mean so much to listeners it is slow and the listener has time to absorb the sounds to their heart and soul.
It is perhaps of significance that when whalesong is heard, the listener is fidgety and unreceptive for some minutes and then undergoes a transformation and enjoys the experience.
Perhaps the initial few minutes of displeasure is the time it takes for the brain to give up interfering with the listening process, and then the heart can hear the whalesong and enjoy it.
Taking a medium or fast paced melody and slowing it right down can make it very expressionistic and it can in its slow form mean a great deal to the listener.
Think of the slowest melodies you have listened to from funeral march to folk tunes to great works that are full of meaning and expression they are often the most emotionally charged.
I have as an experiment taken a well known nursery rhyme and played it at normal pace then played it very fast paced and then played it very slow paced and asked listeners what they felt.
The fast pace was reported as energetic the medium pace was reported as happy, the slow pace was reported as very emotionally charged and meaningful.
There is a limit however to how slow we can play for it to be meaningful and we can slow a melody down so much that it then becomes meaningless.
Adam Neely has done some work in this area and expressed that slowing music down suggests austerity solemnity and contemplation. The slowest musical notation is Grave, and has a similar meaning perhaps to grave danger and to burial plot.
Adam suggested that anything slower than 33 bpm is difficult for human listeners to comprehend as music.
The common expression "take the time to smell the roses" is perhaps saying all we need to know about pace where it affects emotions.
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Loving both of those thanks for the share
