The great Clark Terry used circular breathing routinely. Sometimes just to play long phrases, which wasn’t noticeable unless you are really paying attention; and sometimes in a very obvious way, like playing an entire chorus of 16th notes with no breath. The wonderful Jimmy Owens has also used circular breathing quite a bit, even as a young player in the early 70’s. As a teenager in the 70’s I used to practice circle breathing on a middle G for 30 minutes daily just as part of my warmup - so it’s really not something new to the trumpet….

And Kenny G’s “record” was long ago surpassed by Rahsaan Roland Kirk, who was witnessed playing for 2 hours, 21 minutes in London while circular breathing. And you can bet he was playing music, not just holding one note for an hour like Mr. G.

The great Clark Terry used circular breathing routinely. Sometimes just to play long phrases, which wasn’t noticeable unless you are really paying attention; and sometimes in a very obvious way, like playing an entire chorus of 16th notes with no breath. The wonderful Jimmy Owens has also used circular breathing quite a bit, even as a young player in the early 70’s. As a teenager in the 70’s I used to practice circle breathing on a middle G for 30 minutes daily just as part of my warmup - so it’s really not something new to the trumpet….

And Kenny G’s “record” was long ago surpassed by Rahsaan Roland Kirk, who was witnessed playing for 2 hours, 21 minutes in London while circular breathing. And you can bet he was playing music, not just holding one note for an hour like Mr. G.