Originally from Venezuela, Kissis Muñoz is now based in Miami and building a reputation for herself as a top trumpet player... What first attracted you to the trumpet? What made me fall in love with the trumpet was its sweet sound and also its strength. Any early musical influences? Yes, my dad runs a band … Continue reading Trumpet Artist Profile : Kissis Muñoz
Lasse Lindgren is a multi-faceted musician, with a reputation as a great 'lead' trumpet player as well as a great 'jazz' player. In recent times, he is also responsible for the resurrection of the great Ullvén Mute brand, made famous by players such as Dizzy Gillespie and Maynard Ferguson. Lasse kindly talks to me here … Continue reading Trumpet Artist Profile : Lasse Lindgren
Latvian trumpet player Jānis Porietis writes below about his new recording with Ilze Reine on organ, Distant Light featuring music exclusively by Latvian composers: " I am incredibly pleased to finally have a CD with Latvian composer music for trumpet and organ. All, but two pieces – Gloria (1989) and Larghetto (1982), have been commissioned in the last six … Continue reading Distant Light – Music for Trumpet and Organ
Established 2013 in Philadelphia by Chinese-born bass trombonist Sun He, Ultimate Brass started as a brass instrument repair studio and later became an innovative company that designs and makes brass instrument mouthpieces, trombones, trumpets, and brass instrument accessories. Ultimate Brass Mouthpieces and accessories are being used daily by members of the Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, New … Continue reading Design Innovations : Ultimate Brass
Principal Trumpet with Sinfonieorchester Basel since 2009 having previously held the same post at La Scala, Immanuel Richter has built a reputation for both versatility and virtuosity. He talks to me here about all things trumpet!... What got you started playing the trumpet? In my little village in the east of Switzerland, there was a … Continue reading Trumpet Artist Profile : Immanuel Richter
Ken Saul is the founder of Ultra-Pure Oils LLC, and talks to us here about getting started with creating his first valve oil product and how that has developed in to the extensive range that we see today. Can you give a little of your background and your relationship with the trumpet. I started the … Continue reading Design Innovations : Ultra Pure Oils
2020 was a tough year across the globe, but despite this, Evan Taylor continued his upward trajectory as a winner of 'Jazz in Europe 2020' and a finalist in the ITG's Jazz Improvisation Competition. So what is next for this talented young man?!
Jason Lewis has been Associate Principal Trumpet with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra since 2019, having previously been principal Trumpet with Scottish Opera. I am grateful for his time to speak to us here, about al things 'trumpet' including his new Adams A2 that he has been playing:
Education is a lifelong journey, and a journey that often starts in schools around the world that suffer from a lack of funding in music. It is more important than ever to find good quality and reliable resources to help children on their musical journey, as well as adults and advanced learners too. Trumpet Headquarters is a wonderful resource set up by Estela Aragon who was kind enough to talk to me here.
One of my favourite lockdown revelations over the past few months has been seeing the instagram posts of beautiful handcrafted leather products from Trumpet Bags. It's creator, Tomasz Dabrowski talks to me here about getting this great new project off the ground.
At the recent 2021 NAMM show I was fortunate to spend some (virtual) time with Melvin Quinones, founder of Victory Music Instruments based in Port Saint Lucie, Florida. He was kind enough to talk me through the Victory trumpet range and has also shared his fascinating story in this article:
Belgian trumpet soloist Jeroen Berwaerts combines immense technical prowess with beautiful sensitivity across a huge range of styles. His CV is extraordinary, boasting solo appearances with orchestras across the globe, teaching commitments in Hannover and London, as well as a really interesting relationship with Yamaha.
Jazz Etudes is a new resource that helps and supports students new to the world of jazz improvisation. The approach is centred around developing your jazz vocabulary and although primarily aimed at intermediate players, is receiving praise and endorsements from musicians at the top of their game. The creator of jazzetudes.net is Darren Lloyd, a professional player … Continue reading Do you want to improve your improvisation?
In May 2018 in San Antonio (TX) I had the great pleasure of meeting Tom Clary at the annual ITG conference. Tom is the founder / designer / master craftsman behind Clary Woodmutes, and was there to display his range of beautifully-crafted wooden trumpet mutes. Two years on, Clary Woodmutes continue to go from strength to strength with a broad range of exquisite looking (and sounding!) mutes - I was delighted to sit down and spend some time with him (socially-distanced over Zoom of course) to chat about this great progress:
Over the past few months, many of the articles that I have worked on and industry pros that I have interviewed, emphasise how working life has changed drastically since the start of 2020 lockdown. With that in mind, it would be great to explore how we can successfully manage our recordings remotely now that we are all having to work with a greater degree of isolation.
"During the lockdown we saw loads of people coming together to create virtual recordings. Videos of this type have invaded the web. I myself have initiated projects and participated in others. We have all done, and even now, lessons by videoconference on Zoom or whatever. Everyone had fun with it! However, is this the future of our profession? I am not sure … "