Trumpet players that rock

I learned how to play the trumpet in my teenage years. I believe it leads to my appreciation of all music and its many different genres and styles. Whether it was playing music, listening to it being performed, or even writing about various artists or bands. Music has always had a special place in my heart and could feed into whatever emotion, mood, or experience. The trumpet is the most passionate, spirited, and driven of all the instruments, with an excellent range for reaching out and connecting with all of life's highs and lows. It takes a unique performer to tap into those aspects, and I would even say a great artist at that. We have lived in special and blessed times to have three such trumpet players with such qualities. I have seen all of them in concert and have met one of them after a superior performance. These three artists are Doc Severinsen, Wynton Marsalis, and Chris Botti.

Doc Severinsen began touring with notable big band jazz and swing performers such as Charlie Barnet, Tommy Dorsey, and Benny Goodman. However, he became a beloved American performer of national prominence with his appearance on The Tonight Show with Steve Allen, and later as the lead trumpet and bandleader on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. There was a segment called "stump the band" where the audience would randomly name songs and see if they knew the tune and could perform it. He would often joke with John Carson, the host, and fill in as his co-host when Ed Mahon was out. In 1986 The Tonight Show band under Doc Severinsen received A Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Performance. He has, over the years, also led several large symphonies, including Phoenix Symphony, Buffalo Philharmonic, Milwaukee, and Minnesota.

Wynton Marsalis grew up in a musical family with brothers Branford, Jason, and Delfcayo. His dad Ellis Marsalis Jr. was a pianist and was a music teacher. He knew legendary trumpet players of Al Hirt, Miles Davis, and Clark Terry they would come over and visit with Ellis. They had a profound influence in the direction of Wynton's career path in such that he had his first trumpet at age six was provided by Al Hirt. Wynton studied classical music in school and jazz at home with his dad. Wynton went on to pursue his talents by going to Julliard to learn Classical music. However, after touring Art Blakely and the Jazz Messengers, then later Herbie Hancock, and forming several bands on his own, he decided that jazz music was his real passion. He connected with the Jazz greats such as Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Harry Sweet Edison, Dizzy Gilespie, Clark Terry, Jelly Roll Morton, Charlie Parker, and Thelonious Monk.

He has performed at the Lincoln Center and New York Philharmonic. He has numerous awards, including Grammy Awards in Classical and Jazz, Pulitzer for Music, and his work on Blood in the Field. He also received a National Medal of the Arts, National Humanities Medal, and a well-becoming Jazz Master with NEA. In 2011 he released an album with Eric Clapton called Playing the Blues Live at the Lincoln Center. Patrons of live arts will quickly learn why he received media attention.

Chris Botti's musical life has been about honing his musical talents and collaborating with the premier artists in the industry. It seems that all the artists that he worked with provided insight that enabled him to grow into a more talented performer. Chris Botti was attending Indiana University when in his Botti's senior year, he was able to do some touring with Frank Sinatra and Buddy Rich. In 1990 he toured with Paul Simon for about a decade and learned from artists such as Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, Bette Midler, Joni Mitchel, and Natalie Merchant. During this time, he met Saxophonist Michael Brecker. They collaborated on Brecker's Out of the Loop album with Evocations, which received a Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Performance for 1995. Chris Botti's continued to get nominations for Best Jazz and Pop album in 2001 for Night Sessions, Italia in 2008 was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Album, and in 2013 Impressions received a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album. Chris, in 2009 collaborated with a variety of notable artists for a PBS production called Live in Boston. There was DVD/CD release in which Chris performed with Yo-Yo Ma, Steven Tyler, Josh Groban, John Mayer, Sting, and Kathrine Mcphee. This album has been one of his greatest successes so far album went Platinum.