Re: [Hello! Welcome to TB](who are you?)
Hello I'm just making my introduction here. I hope to become a trusted source for jazz trumpet models. My name is Jamie Gatchell and I own Jamie's Trumpet Gallery, a jazz trumpet pro shop in Melbourne, FL.
Yep, just pro-level trumpets, flugels and trumpet/flugel hybrids for jazz. Because that is what I really love.

Stocking the high-end new horns from around the world is expensive and super risky, but it's what I want to wake up to every morning. No student models here. If I wouldn't play it personally, I certainly don't want to surround myself with it in my gallery. I am hoping to keep this shop afloat and I think I can. Time will tell, of course, but I'm planning to enjoy the journey.

It occurred to me a few weeks ago that I also might be the first woman to open her own jazz trumpet shop...if not, I'm certainly among a pretty small group. It is possible that I interacted with some of you in person at ITG in San Antonio. If so, hello again! I hope you'll take a moment to check out my website and, if you live in Florida or are planning to pass through, please come and visit my trumpet paradise!

www.jamiestrumpetgallery.com

Cheers!
Jamie Gatchell

PS - some new perks on offer are 1) financing--woohoo! and 2) very soon I will launch a Fed-Ex try-before-you buy option

Chet Baker: A most unusual artifact?

I never placed it on my gallery website, but I actually had an old Cuesnon flugelhorn that I bought in a shady exchange in a Florida parking lot. Yuck, I know! But the horn was said to have been in the possession of a Hermosa Beach trumpet-playing doctor by the name of Kempe who had "helped out" Chet Baker back in the day. After the doctor passed away, his son-in-law came into possession of the horns and sold them off one-by-one behind a truck stop in Jacksonville. Like I said--yuck! Still the details of the story, including names and places, seemed to line up. I kept it in my gallery without making any announcements because I knew I could never actually verify the tale.

Normally, nobody gives much thought to trying some of the older and uglier horns in the gallery. They want to get right to the "good stuff", but it happened last Saturday that someone did see the old flugelhorn on the bottom shelf and asked to play it. He fell in love with it and then I told him the story I had heard, clarifying that I could not verify any of it. Still, he loved it so I went to retrieve its case so he could take it home.

When we opened the case, a plastic box reading Dulcolax, Geigy “Predictable Bowel Evacuation” fell out. We all laughed as I took the box back to my office and began the paperwork. Actually, my inner fifth-grader was absolutely rolling on the floor! But as I wrote up the paperwork and looked at the box on my desk, I thought “you know, nobody advertises with language like that anymore.” Today, Dulcolax would soften the language to read something like “Predictable Relief,” not “Bowel Evacuation.” I typed in the name “Geigy.” It turns out that, although Dulcolax is still in pharmacies, Geigy pharmaceuticals only existed from 1959-1969, after which it merged with Ciba to become Ciba-Geigy. This box was a 1960s artifact! I then considered the former contents of the box. Why would anyone carry a whole box of laxatives in his trumpet case? The answer hit me several minutes later; Chet was a notorious addict and his favorite drug was heroine. Although we might not usually think about these things, severe constipation is a common side effect of chronic heroin use. Can this prove that this was once Chet’s flugelhorn in a court of law? No. But I think we may have enough to suggest the possibility and maybe add a little more inspiration to our quest for wonderful instruments. Cheers!

@barliman2001 Wow, that’s pretty awesome! I used to sometimes find it humorous because I suspected that only a small portion of the people who used to say they “knew a guy” actually did. There were many who would boast about it, then refuse to tell me how I could contact him. One day, I just decided enough was enough and that instead of waiting to try all the horns I dreamed about, I would try to become that “guy” myself. Well, sort of, you know….

That began a whole new chapter in my life and I haven’t regretted a moment of the journey. Now I actually get to meet some of those mysterious folks with wonderful horn collections and they usually have loads of great knowledge to share. It really is a joy to be a part of a supportive community like this.

@dr-go I enlarged that avatar to get a good look at it too...super snazzy!

@georgeb Thank you George. Good to meet you.

@administrator Only if you are also suffering the side effects of a low-fiber diet.

@administrator Good question. And it probably has different answers depending on the player. Personally, I don't think it feels like a flugelhorn, especially because I have a Monette flugelhorn in the gallery to try next to it. To me it really is its own sweet cornet world.

There are a number of recordings made on the Monette Cornette by Ron Miles, who recently passed away. At least some of those, if not all, can be found on Spotify. There is an album called "Rainbow Sign" that has tracks to give you an idea.

@barliman2001 I see his store is not operational anymore, but I wonder if he is still living? I guess "Wonderful Woodpecker's" was because he was a woodworker/furniture maker?

@barliman2001 Ireland? What a small world. I fly there to visit family 1-2 times a year.

@barliman2001 Wow, that’s pretty awesome! I used to sometimes find it humorous because I suspected that only a small portion of the people who used to say they “knew a guy” actually did. There were many who would boast about it, then refuse to tell me how I could contact him. One day, I just decided enough was enough and that instead of waiting to try all the horns I dreamed about, I would try to become that “guy” myself. Well, sort of, you know….

That began a whole new chapter in my life and I haven’t regretted a moment of the journey. Now I actually get to meet some of those mysterious folks with wonderful horn collections and they usually have loads of great knowledge to share. It really is a joy to be a part of a supportive community like this.

@administrator yes they are.

@dr-go I enlarged that avatar to get a good look at it too...super snazzy!

@dr-go Lol!

@georgeb Cheers George!

@administrator Indeed.

@newell-post interesting! Thanks.

@administrator Only if you are also suffering the side effects of a low-fiber diet.