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If you want to get a better idea of how trumpet and trombone articulations work, check out any chart by Sammy Nestico, and then get the audio files of these charts played by any of the great big bands>Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Woody Herman, Stan Kenton, Buddy Rich, Maynard Ferguson, Rob McConnell, etc.



Ditto ... Oh, and don't forget that any one of these will likely have free MP3's and charts to go with 'em on the net. FREE!

From my perspective, your trumpeter won't get the idea of what you're asking him to do because you verbally describe it -- It just won't happen with this guy. But, YOU should be using the tools that are readily available to you to help him understand! He will NEVER get a better idea about what you want from him than for you to simply make him 'listen' to a lick from any one of the guys in this list above. And don't ask him if he's heard this tune or that -- he's not listening!

I say, find what you expect of him by listening for it yourself (find an old tune you've heard this trumpet 'punch' played before). Now record that lick to your tape or MP3 player. Go crank your amplifier up good so everyone in the room can hear what's happening. Now play it! Before him, his peers and God himself, keep playing it ... Good and loud and at least three times over! Now hand him a CD with that lick on it -- There, your trumpeter has no excuse for not learning what you (and his peers) expect from him.

I guarantee you this ... the guy will not misunderstand you any more -- Sometimes his problem might be for lack of understanding, but maybe this guy's been playing second or third part way too long! He's gotten lazy! If for no other reason than for fear of being reminded by his peers, he WILL punch those notes -- IF you show him what you mean in front of the band! Do you remember challenge day in high-school? What did it teach you? Did you play your very best in front of your peers? Did you play your very best when you were nervous? Did it give you confidence? You bet it did! Mr. 'no-punch' will learn what you mean and he'll never play wall-flower trumpet again!

I might be wrong, but somehow it seems that at least a generation of musicians have managed to escape listening to their jazz forefathers ... I was originally taught jazz by my grandfather (a Vaudeville and jazz big-band pianist turned concert pianist). I learned more from Grandpa because of what I 'heard' from him than what he 'spoke' to me. In my day what you're describing here simply wouldn't have been an issue. That 'punch' was built-in. It was a key element of the big-band sound. A trumpeter then would have automatically known how to do this before knowing how to play his first scale -- Because he would have tried to emulate the 'sound' he'd been hearing day in and day out. Did you EVER hear Dizzy or Louis NOT blow the doors off when it was time for it?

My first jazz band director had some ideas about a weak trumpet section -- our 'Beasts of the Back Row' ... He'd say, "When I ask you to 'carry articulation' I am telling you that I expect you to punch the Brill-Cream out of my hair! The next time you play it, I wanna' fall off this podium"

Teach by example my friend, and you'll never go wrong. And if you can't play it yourself, who better to ask him to emulate than the likes of a Miles Davis, Arturo Sandoval, Red Allen, or Maynard Ferguson? Let him pick one if he wants!

Ike