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Modern Jazz Trumpeters


Tom 1960

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Hi guys. When it comes to jazz musicians, I'm pretty much stuck in the past much preferring the old guard musicians. I do own some modern recordings, but that's a very small part of my jazz collection. So let me ask you felllas, starting with jazz trumpeters. Give me some names besides Roy Hargrove that are worth my attention. Specific recordings would be helpful as well. Thanks.

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There's Philip Harper (Winard's brother) but I don't know what he's been doing lately.

I like Patrick Rickman, Winard's current trumpeter. He's on all Winard's Savant albums.

Hugh Ragin has a very wide variety of music under his belt, from free to Fred (Wesleeeeee). I don't know much about his work away from Frfed (naturally) but he sure plays with Fred.

MG

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There's always Charles Tolliver - currently making a return to active performing and recording after a long quiet period. He's due to have a new album on BN with his big band in the next year. His Mosaic Select set is a "must-have" for trumpet fans, IMHO.

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Of the modern, straight-ahead trumpeters, I think Enrico Rava is difficult to beat. There are a couple of quartet recordings on CamJazz, a title on Venus called "Renaissance", and perhaps my favorite a quartet date called "Quatre" on an Italian label I cannot remember right now -- it has D'Andrea on piano, Vitous on bass, and Humair on drums. Very very nice.

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I think Steven Bernstein is interesting - he's got a couple of recordings under his own name on Tzadik, the Diaspora series, that are excellent. He's also in Sex Mob, which have released a number of very good (and fun) recordings. I need to check out his new Millennial Territory Orchestra thing.

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Here are a quick few that come to mind (they're all so pensive......) :)

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FFA makes some good recommendations, to which I would add Brian Lynch. His records on Sharp Nine are all very fine, and he also did some nice work earlier on Criss Cross. The only Lynch album I've been disappointed in was on Cory Weed's label - that Canadian club I can't recall at the moment. It was with his "electric" group and has a sort of early 70s/fender rhodes/spacy feel to it. I think its what Lee Morgan might have recorded had he lived. :tdown

But the rest of his work is very nice, if you like the modern mainstream/BN sound.

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Organissimo member Phil Grenadier. Of his two Fresh Sound New Talent CDs, I slightly prefer the second "Playful Intentions" (with Kurt Rosenwinkel, Bill Carrothers, brother Larry Grenadier, and Jeff Ballard) to the first, "Sweet Transients" (with Seamus Blake, Ethan Iverson, Larry G. or Doug Weiss, and Bill Stewart), mostly because Phil grew in the two years between albums and also because I can't get enough of Carrothers, but they're both very good.

Someone to keep a watch out for is youngish (age 33) Chicago cornetist Josh Berman. He's in very good form on an IMO excellent forthcoming Delmark album (October release; disclaimer: I'm writing the notes) under the leadership of tenorman Keefe Jackson, "Fast Citizens," with cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, altoist Aram Shelton, bassist Anton Hatwich, and drummer Frank Rosaly. Josh, who is now very much his own man, originally was an unlikely blend of Don Cherry, Tony Fruscella, and Ruby Braff, if you can believe that!

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Lately been enjoying the bits of Ralph Alessi I've heard--don't have any albums of his as a leader but he pops up all over the place as a sideman.

Kris Tiner from the younger crew--I've heard him mostly in a freebop context.

Ron Miles sounds terrific on the new Fred Hess disc How 'Bout Now--took me a little by surprise as I'd not warmed to earlier records of his.

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Wadada Leo Smith.

Late on mentioning his name. My favorite Leo Smith record is Spirit Catcher on Nessa. I believe that Chuck still has LPs available. I'm sure he'll let us know if I'm wrong - wonderful music presented beautifully (pressing, production). Sorry to say that I haven't kept up with his recent recordings. If someone can recommend a few of those, I'd be grateful.

Roy Campbell - I like Communion on the Silkheart label a lot. New Kingdom on Delmark is good too.

Ted Curson - not a new name, but certainly "modern" in his playing. I'm not sure what's available these days, but Tears for Dolphy (Black Lion) and The New Thing and the Blue Thing (Atlantic/Koch) are good ones.

edit - Wrote before I thought. I forgot about Wadada Leo Smith's playing on John Lindberg's A Tree Frog Tonality (between the lines) and The Catbird Sings (Black Saint) - both fairly recent (2000 and 1999 respectively), and both with fine playing by Mr. Smith and all concerned - Lindberg, Larry Ochs, and Andrew Cyrille.

Edited by paul secor
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You said no Roy Hargrove, but just in case you have heard him only on record, not live (a big difference, in my experience), I wanted to point out that his new one, Nothing Serious, is his best recording to date that I've heard.

Terrence Blanchard--I've always really liked him since hearing with Art Blakey 20 years or so ago--I recommend Jazz in Film, Bounce, and Wandering Moon.

Terrell Stafford--I'm mainly only familiar with his recordings with Bobby Watson, and the last one under Watson's name, Horizon Reassembled, is a good one.

Tom Harrell--Sail Away, Live at the Village Vanguard, and The Art of Rhythm.

Roy Campbell--I prefer his Delmark recordings with Zane Massey, La Tierra Del Fuego, and New Kingdom.

Jack Walrath--the ex-Mingus trumpeter has made quite a few fine recordings as leader of the Masters of Suspense--Journey Man, Serious Hang, Out of the Tradition, Masters of Suspense and Neohippus.

Malachi Thompson--unfortunately recently deceased, but he has a number of recordings on Delmark--Blue Jazz is a very good one.

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A couple more:

Erik Truffaz--He's not a great trumpet technician, and is influenced by early electric Miles, but I've sure grown to appreciate a number of his Blue Note recordings--The Walk of the Blue Turtles, the Mask, Saloua and Mantis.

Marcus Belgrave--I don't know if he has any recent recordings, but I saw him with Roy Hargrove last year, and he sounded rather good.

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