question: where do you think James ranks in the top big band trumpet players of his day.....1st, 2nd, 3rd etc. Maybe its just because I have not lisened to enough different palyers....but to me....he is the best horn player I ever heard.
In his time,nobody was better .He inspired more kids to take up trumpet playing than any other trumpet player.He is the most iconic trumpet player of his time.
As a trumpet player myself, I would say Harry had the best tone....angelic. Mendez played like a machine gun, deadly accurate, but without a lot of feeling, IMO. Al Hirt was fabulous. Herseth is terrific, fifty years at the first chair of our Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Jonah Jones tone was a bit thin. Chet Baker played simply, softly, sang like a lonely child. Wynton also can play, but rather soulless. Doc Severinsen could play anything and I never heard him flub a note. Uncanny.
Thanks for visiting my cannel. Please tell your friends and family about my channel. I have been around the best trumpet players all my life. I was at one time Perez Prado’s audio engineer. Yet, beside Maynard Fergusson and Doc Severinsen, my best trumpet player was AL HIRT. The others are also good, but, Al has something that the others are missing.
Sincerely
LATINOSOMOS
