Back in 2018, I published my trumpet transcription of LaGaylia Frazier’s funky vocal arrangement of Dizzy Gillespie’s bebop pièce de résistance. In the process of recording this song for a 2020 collaboration, I found the opportunity to tweak and build on my earlier work.
Here is my revised trumpet chart with a brand new video to accompany it.
Transcribing the trumpet lines from the source recording was challenging. As is often the case with a big Hollywood soundtrack, the horns were tightly interwoven with the strings and maybe some keyboards, making the trumpet parts sometimes difficult to hear and isolate. Fortunately, I stumbled on the fine work of brilliant young trumpeter Nate Chester, whose YouTube video of his own performance made my job of transcribing the trumpet parts much easier. Thank you, Nate. You totally nailed this piece!
This is a demanding trumpet part, with quite a few lines in the upper register. I revised some of the articulations, with less use of marcato than the original and instead favoring fatter accents and tenuto to make the big notes even bigger. After all, when we’re belting it out on trumpet and supporting a singer through a vocal climax, we want you to know about it! 😁
I’m honored to have been able to record this beautiful song with such a truly talented vocalist and great musicians from around the planet. I think we’ve produced a pretty fine recording, and it’s one that I’m proud to have been a part of.
Before being asked to record this piece I could probably have only named two songs by The Mamas & The Papas, though this one wasn’t amongst them. And judging by how deeply this song was buried in the band’s catalog, there are probably many other people who had also never heard of Dancing Bear.
The original recording doesn’t feature any brass instruments, making the song even more obscure for a trumpet transcription site. I did my best to transcribe oboe and bassoon lines, then I adapted them for my instrumentation to accompany my friend Janet on flute. With this adaptation, I’d like to think that we’ve subtly reinterpreted and freshened-up the instrumental intro and outro.
Kudos to Shawn Hare for his great work mixing the audio, producing the video, and singing lead vocals.
Guitarist Bob Sneider reharmonized this beautiful song, then Chris Van Hof arranged it exquisitely for trombone quintet. My work here was simply to transpose it to the point that I could reach the lowest notes on bass trumpet.
Both Bob and Chris have made the trombone arrangement freely available on Facebook and encouraged others to perform it. So I’m publishing my transposed version here for trumpet players.
This is my transcription of Chuck Findley’s beautiful trumpet solo from Robert Palmer’s hit “She Makes My Day”. Freely-flowing rhythms made this challenging to transcribe, though I’m stoked to be able to offer something to you that is very, very close to what Chuck played on Robert Palmer’s Heavy Nova album. I’ve loved listening to this solo since it first surprised me on my car radio in the late 1980s.
The only element missing from my transcription is Chuck Findley’s emotional styling, which is something I simply can’t translate onto paper. His playing on the original recording sounds so heartfelt and also so effortless for him to communicate. In just 8 bars (plus the obligatory lead-in) he really does convince you that “She Makes My Day“.
What an honor it was to have the opportunity to play and record this! Even if it did take me a dozen or more takes to get a good one…
A very simple piece that I was requested to record. I wasn’t going to transcribe this to paper, but I couldn’t remember where to come in so I had to write it out and count rests. By the time I did that I figured I’d done most of it, so I kept going…
Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler), as recorded by Gil Scott Heron on his 1981 album “Reflections”.
This is his cover of Marvin Gaye’s 1971 protest anthem, wherein he described the widening gulf of inequality, racial instability, and social hardship endured throughout America’s urban spaces.
That was nearly 50 years ago. Time to belt it out again.
Faith No More covered this Lionel Richie / Commodores song in the 90s and did a very respectable job of it. “Less is more” rings true here, with the arrangement very close to the original. I recall it received lots of radio airplay, back in the day.
The single was released in Europe as I’m Easy and everywhere else simply as Easy. Though it’s also commonly referred by the chorus line Easy Like Sunday Morning.
Barry White recorded the track It’s Only Love Doing Its Thing in 1978. A revamped arrangement was released by Simply Red in the late 1980s, which I recall received a heck of a lot of airplay on commercial radio at the time.
Here’s the recurring trumpet line from the Simply Red arrangement, which I was recently asked to record.
