A PotPourri of Music

This album is a collection of songs that just don't quite fit anywhere else. The arrangement of The Star Spangled Banner is by me. This is first song I recorded, back in 2012. I had performed it live at a banquet and people liked it so much that they wanted a copy of it, so I recorded it, just as it was performed live. This arrangement is unique for three reasons. First, it is in 4/4 time instead of the traditional 3/4 time. And second, it uses several alternate chords rather than the traditional chord progression. Thirdly, rather than a bold and militaristic feel, it is more charming and endearing. possibly at times mysterious. Carry on Wayward Son was to meet a challenge. The idea for this came from a video of trombones playing this song. I told my trumpet friends, “We cannot let this stand. I will show them how trumpets can do it. Inferior instruments are not going to show us up! We don’t need no stinkin’ saxophones, we don’t need no stinkin’ trombones! All we need is God’s instrument, the heavenly instrument! The trumpet!” (If you didn't already know, trumpeters have huge egos. Some would say pompous and smug. LOL) And so this trumpets plus rhythm section version of mine was born. I wanted to do some Chicago tunes so Beginnings is the first of hopefully more to come. Rocky Fanfare and Theme is actually two songs combined. The Fanfare portion is all orchestral. The Theme portion is the familiar pop chart of which everyone is familiar, called Gonna Fly Now, or commonly referred to as the Theme from Rocky. This is one of those songs that gives me goosebumps. This music speaks of challenge, adversity, conquering and victory. It speaks of setting a goal and then working hard to achieve it. The music expresses these ideas as it builds tension all the way to the end. I don't think there could be any more appropriate music than this for that movie. Notice how the percussion throughout sounds like boxing glove punches. We played this in college. Rise was another challenge made to me. Some friends wanted to know if I could play this Herb Alpert song. Really? Are you kidding me? Of course I can! This song is so simple and basic. So I whipped up the arrangement and recorded it in a couple of days and here it is. Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor is among my most favorite Chuck Mangione tunes. He recorded this twice, both on live albums and I believe both albums are fairly rare, only familiar to Mangione fans. The great Jon Faddis – a very young Jon Faddis – played lead trumpet on the first recording and was just ripping out those double-high A's. So I had to record this and rip out those double-high A's myself, in the same style as did Faddis. What do you think? And of course I attempted to play the flugelhorn in Chuck's style. Listen for the ship's foghorn before the flugelhorn ad lib solo part. And again, we played this in college. While the piccolo trumpet is mainly for classical/baroque music, it is quite often utilized in pop music from Barry Manilow to The Beatles. Whenever I speak to people about playing trumpet and particularly the piccolo trumpet, invariably I am asked if I can play Penny Lane, which is widely known for the piccolo trumpet part that is in the song. So here it is! This is a unique arrangement. It was originally arranged as a trumpet quartet by my trumpet friend in Italy, Andrea Bonaldo. I converted it into a trumpet quintet along with a few other minor adjustments. It is kind of a novelty piece. Speaking of novelties, check out Andrea's YouTube channel, BubbaWynton87. He does some interesting things with "trumpet and chair." Make Me Smile – Now More Than Ever is another Chicago tune. I plan to do a few more.