Tell us your five favorite trumpet albums of all time – any style!
If you had to pick, and could pull from any style, what are the five records that really do it for you? Virtuosic, captivating playing… gorgeous, memorable compositions… maybe a real hip album cover… Think pop, commercial, jazz, big band, classical, and everything in between. And when did you first hear each one?
29 replies
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I'll start off this week... personally I'm a big fan of the album format, it lets you get really deep into an artists' vision and see their breadth. It's impossible to pick a finite list, but for me all five are going to be jazz. I'll pick albums that influenced me personally and where I most respect the energy and direction that the trumpeter was going.
Undisputed, to my ears, Ambrose Akinmusire is the most artistically developed trumpeter alive. For me, "The Imagined Savior is Far Easier to Paint" is his first mature masterpiece, so this gets the top spot.
Wynton is a huge influence on the scene today with a vast range of releases to his name. While Standard Time was fresh and exciting, I think his live albums have the most powerful energy. "Live at the House of Tribes" gets my number two spot.
Miles Davis could easy cover all five of these spots on some days, but if I had to give him just one – I'd give it to "E.S.P". I could easy give it to Kind of Blue or 'Round About Midnight, but on E.S.P, every track is startlingly modern, and the quintet had developed to such a high degree that nothing else of the time comes close.
Woody Shaw was also an innovator of his time. I love Blackstone Legacy, Rosewood, and Imagination.. but "United" to me is the clearest and sleekest presentation of Woody's concept!
Finally, because it's such an iconic record top to bottom, I have to include "Ready for Freddie" on this list. Freddie Hubbard single-handedly dominates the other players on the record in my opinion, as he was just really far ahead of them with his concept. For his technical innovations alone, this one gets my number 5 vote.
Let me know if you disagree strongly 😆 or if you have others!
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MAurice andre/marie claire alain on MHS-my first album given to me by my church organist around1967 after playing in church my first time.
Al Hirt Horn of plenty with Billy May orchestra also around 1967 first listen. Later got a dixieland band together in high school
Lee Morgan one of a couple choices then-first listen around 1971
Canadian Brass-no specific album -80s or so
Lots of Mahler hits with different folks over the years-you pick
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Tomasz Stanko, Soul of things. Veteran Polish trumpeter with his tight young Polish piano/bass/drum band.
Avishai Cohen, Cross my palm with silver. Soulful tone, heartfelt and always original.
Enrico Rava, Tribe - not only the great Rava on trumpet, but also Gianluca Petrella on trombone.
Nils Petter Molvaer, Khmer - a haunting fusion of trumpet and pulsing ambient dance beats.
Louis Armstrong, the Best of his Hot Five and Hot Seven Recordings - they didn’t make albums in the 20s but they did make great jazz.
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Doc Severinsen - Rhapsody for Now #1, Brass Roots #2 (for me).
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I should also mention that John Raymond, one of my favorites, is joining me on a live stream Thursday at 9 AM! I hope everyone can join! If anyone has questions for him but can't make the live stream, feel free to leave them here.
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Tough call, but I'm going to go with albums I keep coming back to year after year....
Marsalis - Live at the Village Vanguard, though not sure you could count this as a trumpet album. But it's Wynton so I'll count it. It's also 7 disks long, so lots of great material in there with huge energy. I got this from Columbia House back when they were talking all the college kids into giving their parent's money away in exchange for a few "free" discs.
With 7 disks not sure if that eats up my allotment, but here's a few more:
Peyton's Place. Enough said.
Chase Live Forever - this one is impossible to find as it was put out by a small indie company several decades after the plane crash and never made it to streaming, but someone a while back slipped me a bootleg of it. If you could wear out the grooves on a CD I would have. Just looked now and someone posted it on youtube :). If you like screaming trumpets and 70's synth, this is your album. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeIPAX7mGTg
Wynton Marsalis Trumpet Concertos. Folks will probably argue there are better recordings these days, but I learned to play these solos listening to these recordings so it's always going to be my target sound. I think this was my first trumpet CD that I purchased (or was purchased for me - I most likely got my folks to buy it for me) when I was working on either the Hummel or the Hayden in the early 90s.
This might be a little premature, but the Boldon Sountrack is pretty awesome. Wynton channeling early 1900's New Orleans jazz on a cornet? Yes, please.
Bonus: If anyone can find it, Bach put out a demo back in the 90's when they were trying to sell their sterling+ horns called "The Sterling Shuffle" that was a lot of fun. I got it from the Bach booth at the BOA Grand Nationals in maybe '93. IIRC I loaned that disc out a few decades ago and never saw it again. This was just a single (and under 60 seconds), so I'm not counting it towards my 5 ;). Here's a youtuber who must've found a copy of it playing a cover: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QiwpRssEvY. According to this, Charley Davis played the original: https://classite.com/person/Bill-Liston-q321648/profile.
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Hi Ethan. I agree with you, Live at the House of Tribes is one of my favorite albums. If I had to make three others suggestions, it will be
- At the café Bohemia (Kenny Dorham, Hank Mobley with the Jazz Messangers of Art Blakey)
- Oscar Peterson trio + one - Clark Terry
- Marquis Hill - New Gospel Revisited
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Kind Of Blue - Miles Davis
A Tribute To Jack Johnson - Miles Davis
Miles Davis at Montreux - I have all 20 CDs
Swedish Trumpet Concertos - Haken Hardenberger
Mahler Symphony No. 5 with that fantastic solo trumpet opening the work.
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Tower of Power - Back to Oakland
This is my first powerful music memory. When I was less than 4 years old (still in the 1970’s), my dad would let me go into his den and put the headphones on and play this album as long as I wanted. He used to playfully rib me for singing out of tune with the headphones on.
Earth Wind and Fire - In the Stone….and then every album with the Jerry Hey horns thereafter. This is still my “ideal” today.
Relaxin’ With the Miles Davis Quintet
When Jazz was brought into my life, it quickly had a dramatically positive effect on my life. This album was one of the first that I learned to transcribe. Beautiful in every way. Improvising was my “one thing” that I could do. It put me in a “club.” This community embraced me and continues to this very day.
Clifford Brown and Max Roach At Basin Street
In the mid 1990’s, Joe Brotherton and I used to drive into DC many times a week listening to Clifford on our way to jam sessions. It was over an hour each way and his cassette tape player was broken. Thank goodness this was what was stuck in there.
Radio Music Society - Esperanza Spalding
This album is amazing, but seeing the album on tour at the Warner Theater in DC was a turning point in my seriousness to the pursuit of excellence in music. There were a couple live performances before and a couple since, but this one stands out.
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One my my faves has always been Booker Little and Eric Dolphy Live at the 5 Spot. Early Lee Morgan/Wayne Shorter. Bitches Brew.
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This isn't exactly a trumpet album but it's Joe's Cool Blues by Wynton Marsalis, a jazz album. I was introduced to it as a kid and though I didn't understand jazz then, I loved it and listened to it incessantly! I think I was attracted to how free and vibrant it was to my school band ears!