Trumpeter Jeanne Gabriel Pocius is a freelance musician who lives, teaches and performs in the greater Boston, Massachusetts (USA) area.  Trained by the some of the finest (and biggest) names in the United States trumpet world, including William Vacchiano (New York Philharmonic Principal Trumpet for 38 years), Melvyn Broiles (Principal Trumpet in Metropolitan Opera Orchestra), and Daniel Patrylak (Founder of Eastman Brass Quintet, Solo Cornetist with The President's Own Marine Corps Band), as well as trumpet- maker / high note specialist Jerome Callet, Jeanne maintains a busy schedule of teaching, performing and cyber- consulting with trumpeters from all over the world, mostly through the Trumpet Players International Network (TPIN)

As a freelancer, Jeanne has played Lead trumpet for many name acts, including Bob Hope, the Temptations, Aretha Franklin, Sergio Franchi, Joan Rivers, the Beatty-Cole Circus, etc; as well as performing as guest soloist with a variety of symphonic orchestras and bands and  jazz ensembles.  Her repertoire as a soloist ranges from the styles of  Harry James to the classical concertos, including the Hummel, Haydn, Arutunian and Telemann Concertos.  She is also comfortable playing early style swing and dixieland styles, and is known for being a strong lead trumpeter on big band and swing repertoire.

Background

Born in Manchester, Connecticut (USA) as the fourth of five children to a mother who had been a singer and a father who had been a bugler in the Marines during World War II.  (Maternal grandmother was also a performing singer, in early days of radio)

At age of three, after having an infected finger lanced by the doctor without crying, my father rewarded me with the choice of any toy at the 5 & 10  store that I wanted.  I chose a melodica, a reed-generated instrument with a piano-style keyboard (the first of the 50-odd instruments I eventually learned to play).  The following summer, my father returned from summer military camp with a Marine Band harmonica, then, at Christmas I received a zither, the following year a ukelele...and thus the process was begun.

Both of my older brothers had played around with the trumpet, but neither was very serious (the eldest went so far as to get his bugling badge through Boy Scouts, then quit).  Before the second brother quit, when I was just turning seven (7), he showed me how to finger the trumpet.  It was love at first sound for me.

Of course, I had listened to recordings of Louis Armstrong, Harry James, and Bobby Hackett, as well as the big bands and some symphony orchestras, for all of my early life, but to actually make a sound on this instrument myself was a huge thrill for me.

Strangely enough, there were, perhaps, two occasions in early years when I considered giving up the trumpet, but each time I renewed my determination to be better than my brothers, so I guess I had a competitive spirit (so common to trumpeters) even then.

In my home town there were summer music groups for children: a chorus, a band, and an orchestra, all directed by local music teachers who had a great love for young musicians.  At seven, I sang in the chorus.  By the next summer I was playing in the band, and, soon after, in both the band and the orchestra (the orchestra rehearsal ran later, so more advanced wind players from the band could join with the strings in the second half of the rehearsal).

The orchestra director was Edward Gerry, one of the finest people it has ever been my honor to know.  The first time I went to orchestra rehearsal I told (not asked) him that he needed a trumpet player.  He was amused and said that a previous trumpeter had played with the group.  I knew the other trumpet player (who was several years my senior) was not returning that year to the group and told him so.  He was very gracious and accepted my offer to play in the group (perhaps sensing that I would not take no for an answer!). Remember, I was all of nine years old at that time!

From that summer through the next 12 years I played in the orchestra for Ed Gerry, eventually assisting him with conducting and coaching the younger players, and playing in a general business combo doing dance work with him (he played tenor sax as well as cornet and violin).
The amusing thing about that combo was that I was the only member under the age of 70 (and I was 14 when I first played with them--had to get special permission from the union to join!)

That summer was the turning point for me, I think, in deciding that music would become my life's calling.  In the fall, the school system established a community band program, and I was invited to play in the advanced band (5th and 6th graders, though I was only a fourth grader). I wound up being very nervous on the long bus ride to the school where the rehearsals would occur, but soon relaxed into playing the pieces assigned.

I remember that one of the pieces was an arrangement with the old sea chantey of What Shall We Do With A Drunken Sailor, which had sixteenth notes, rather fast, in the first trumpet part.  The logical thing would have been to double tongue the notes, but I didn't know how to double tongue--so I flutter-tongued the notes (and the band director, who was a sax player pretended to not know the difference.)  As I've said before: I've been blessed with very kind teachers and conductors throughout my life.

When did you decide to become a musician and teacher?

It was really through working with Ed Gerry (the aforementioned summer orchestra director) and Catherine Wade (the school orchestra director).

Such lessons as were available in school I was able to take(these were usually 10 minutes, usually every other week, and usually in the school's office, with lots of distractions).  My family was large(5 kids) and not wealthy, so my trumpet was an old one which my father's brother-in-law had played in the circus in the earlier part of the century. There was no money for lessons, or a new trumpet, which brings me to a pivotal point in my young musical life.

Because the trumpet was the older style(narrow-wound tubing), it had an old-fashioned case(form-fitting), which was missing one of the latches. Thus, I'd have to keep a finger on the lid, or tie a string around it to keep it from falling part-way open.

In our house at the time, there was a very steep, narrow staircase, with a top stair that was half-again as high as the other stairs.  I was little, with short legs, and would frequently fall, both up and down, those stairs.  One day the unthinkable happened.

I was walking down the stairs with my trumpet, excited at going to grandma's house and playing for all the relatives.  Who knows?  Perhaps it was the excitement that caused me to mis-gauge the distance from the top step to the next...I fell, and the trumpet case went flying off, broke open and my beautiful, blessed trumpet clattered against the walls as it danced down the dreaded staircase.

It didn't matter that there was a bump on my head, or a cut on my knee: all I cared about was the trumpet!  Horror of all horrors!
The second valve slide had smashed deeply into the second valve casing, which, in those days, was a death sentence for the trumpet.

I was inconsolable(I was about eight years old at the time).  I wept for days, wouldn't eat, woke up during the night.  My parents were amazed at the depth of love I had had for an old, scratched and tarnished trumpet. But, you see, I think that the trumpet had awakened something deep within me, that would not rest without its voice(heard through the trumpet).

Within a week, my parents had located a Reynolds trumpet (used) in a local pawn shop, and arranged to pay 50 cents a week until it was paid off.  Well!  You never saw a happier child!  I sang, I danced, I played that trumpet like it was the most important thing to ever be invented(it was, to me).  I insisted on falling asleep with that trumpet cradled in my arms, and if it was not placed safely in the case when I awoke in the morning, I would panic until I saw it on the desk or the dresser.

I think it is that experience that made me realize the joy that we find with our music, and led me eventually to become a trumpet teacher and professional musician.

When I turned 10, we had a new priest come to our church.  His name was Father Joseph John David Kugler, and he was to change my life drastically over the next several years.  It was Father Joe who gave me my first recording of the great Maurice Andre, perhaps the greatest musician on the trumpet of all time.  It was also Father Joe who visited New York's Metropolitan Opera once a month, and each time brought me back published arrangements of music as played by Maurice Andre.

Because I did not know about piccolo trumpets, and of course did not have one, I learned to play those pieces in the original octaves and keys on the regular Bb trumpet.  There was never a question of complaining about the keys, or transposing them down--one simply did the job one was required to do.  Now, of course, those pieces, including the Telemann Heroique Musique, are part of my working repertoire, and were put to use recently in playing for the funeral service of my beloved friend and mentor, Joseph John David Kugler.  The first movement of the Telemann Concerto in D (which soars to the high d concert repeatedly),and the La Grace movement of the Heroique Musique were special favorites of Joe's: one brought him into the church, the other out again.  And at his graveside I performed Amazing Grace and Alleluia, Sing to Jesus* (Hyfrdol), his favorite hymns with the archbishop standing next to me.

For many years prior to his death, in fact, from the very first time his eyes lit up at the sight of a trumpeter playing with the church choir, Joe had plans for me.  As I mentioned, we would play the Andre/Thilde arrangements together (Joe played the organ rather well, as well as the cello--for which I, in later years, accompanied him on the organ) every Saturday (and then, when vigil Masses began to be the norm, for the 7 pm Mass each Saturday, after which we would practice new material for the next day's Masses). Of course, by Sunday morning, when the regular organist would have to play(because Joe was saying the Mass), he would change the entire program, so that I had to be sight-reading constantly. I credit him with my sightreading acumin to this day.

When I was 12, two separate people approached me about taking trumpet lessons from me.  One was a nun from the local convent, who had been a catechism teacher of mine, Sister Eucharista.  The other was my school orchestra director, Catherine Wade, who told me about a little boy who had severe asthma(ironic, considering my current health situation) and whose doctor had recommended the playing of trumpet as a way to strengthen the lungs. Thus Allan Riquier became my second pupil.

Allen was so little that we had to have his father create a music stand modification to help hold up the trumpet (This was long before I discovered the use of cornets for small hands).  He continued to study with me for many years (into high school), until I moved away from the area.  Though he is now a professional chef, I understand that he is still playing casually on a regular basis.

Teachers, education

Who were your teachers?
My very first teachers were family members.... My eldest brother had played the trumpet briefly, as had my next older brother, who showed me how to get a sound out the instrument before he quit it himself.....

Thereafter, on those few occasions when someone would ask me why I didn't quit the trumpet, I'd say it was because I was determined to be better at it than my brothers had been<!>...

I played for about a year at home, sans lessons (with my mother writing out some music for me), then took lessons in the public school program, with an itinerant teacher....These lessons were about 10 minutes long, and usually every other week (the teacher would spend one day -- sometimes not even a full day -- teaching every music student in the school, and lessons were short and intense)....

During that year I had my first experience with playing in an All-City Band (and LOVED it!), and then, in the following summer, joined the Summer Junior Band run by the local Parents for Music committee...

At the first few rehearsals I sat dutifully in the third trumpet section (which was where all first year players were seated)... However, soon thereafter I was moved up to first trumpet at the first concert, when the regular first trumpeters failed to show up! (A bit scary, but OH! the exhilaration -- I've seldom played anything but first ever since<G>)....

In junior high school, I began to branch out and learn other instruments as well as trumpet since I was planning to become a conductor and believed that conductors should be able to play every instrument in their ensembles at the level of their ensembles (youthful xuberance -- I've since learned that understanding is more important than actually playing every instrument)....

I also began to perform regularly as a soloist at our church, where a new young priest, Father Joseph Kugler, was to become one of the most important people in my musical life....Father Joe, or Pepe, as I soon called him, would frequently travel to New York City to the Metropolitan Opera.... On those trips he'd purchase music for trumpet and organ (many early Andre editions), and bring them home to play with me (He was an accomplished organist and cellist, and in later years we would often accompany each other on the organ -- I played organ while he played cello, and he'd play organ while I played trumpet)....

The best part of this is that I was playing these pieces on a simple Bb mezzo soprano trumpet --- I didn't even know what a piccolo trumpet was!
I credit my embouchure development, at least in part, to the demands placed upon my chops at this tender age by my demanding friend and mentor, Joe Kugler....

I continued to take lessons in school from school band or orchestra directors(none of which were trumpeters, btw) until my senior year of high school... I had won scholarships to study with the principal trumpeter of the Hartford Symphony (in Hartford, Connecticut), but the lessons were scheduled at a time which was the same as his rehearsals and so never happened....

My senior year of high school, I studied with Robert Lemons, who introduced me to Clarke Technicals, Claude Gordon's and Harold Pappy Mitchell's books, and the beloved Aroutounian Concerto for Trumpet (with which I won a performance competition with a symphony orchestra, and which I performed as soloist with that orchestra in the Spring of that year)....

Bob was quite conservative in his approach, and told me I should wait to ask Vacchiano (for whom I'd auditioned and by whom I'd been accepted as a student the following year) any questions about orchestral literature...

I received my Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Connecticut, Storrs campus, after having studied 2.5 years with William Vacchiano, and 1.5 years with Melvyn Broiles.... I haven't taken the time to pursue any higher education, other than having begun work on a Master's degree, due to being so actively involved in actually playing and teaching.... (l'ecole de la realite)....

But it was working with Dan Patrylak that made a huge difference in my playing ... Dan was determined to fill-in the gaps in my background (which were substantial, due to having been largely self-taught for so many years: for example, I had taught myself to double tongue from a Jimmy Dorsey Sax Method book, but never learned to triple tongue...)

I credit Dan with the consistency in my trumpet playing to this day (and he remains a dear and close friend)....

For one year I also worked with Jeff Holmes (now at UMASS, Amherst, MA), and his input was invaluable in terms of interior phrasing, jazz stylings, and attention to detail....

I also spent a couple of years working with Jerry Callet on his Superchops approach... But the biggest difference Jerry made in my playing was his help in relearning to breathe properly after my lungs were severely burned by chemicals when I was moonlighting as a security officer in a chemical factory....

In fact, Jerry designed his original Solo mouthpiece especially for me, because I needed to play on a smaller rim, but with a deeper cup, in order to be more gentle on my lungs....

.. important things from their teaching?
Bob Lemons (a student of Roger Voisin) was a great door-opener who taught me to explore available options ... And to approach new ideas cautiously, but with interest....

Perhaps the greatest thing I learned from Vacchiano was his approach to playing the piccolo trumpet, which involves long airstream, legato attacks, tapered releases, and a general delicacy of style (Stephen Burns, another Vacchiano pupil, is a perfect example of this style of piccolo playing)....

Melvyn Broiles, besides having the tone quality of an angel, was a real taskmaster about  sightreading .... You had to play sightreading passages correctly -- the very FIRST time -- no chance to go back and correct mistakes .... This meant marking the music (even fingering difficult passages)

Broiles would tell an anecdote about walking into a studio gig early, with his pencil, and beginning to mark his music, all the while listening to ridicule from others who called him a baby for having to mark his music...But, Mel would say When it came time to play, the mistakes that were made didn't come from the horn of Mel Broiles!<and he'd grin hugely>

Dan Patrylak was very much into firming up your basic technique, as well as linear phrasing (an Eastman School of Music approach, where Dan had studied with Sidney Mear) ... He was also extremely conscious of consistency of attack, and a real expert on the cornet solo literature (having been the Solo Cornetist with the United States Marine Corps President's Own Band)....

Jeff Holmes, one of the finest all-round musicians it has been my honor to know (he's as accomplished at piano as he is at the trumpet, and is an outstanding composer and orchestrator, as well as a jazz-pedagogist), had studied at Eastman (along with Jeff Tyzik and Allan Vizzutti) .... His approach to jazz lead playing and sight-reading is the same one I use with my own students now ... He would demonstrate, as well as playing along, and paid great attention to details of release as well as attack ... and would become irate if the student didn't address the inner phrase of a line of music....

Jerry Callet, of course, is one of the unsung heroes of trumpet playing .... He's an extremely modest man, who has dedicated his entire life to improving knowledge about playing the trumpet better, including optimal embouchures, breathing, equipment, and posture ... It is from Jerry that I learned about conservation of airflow, and use of the aperture to control range....

The Music

let's talk about Music - what role does it play in your life?

It probably sounds hokey to say so, but music is such an integral part of my life .... I have a real passion for it ... And I hear it everywhere...not just in organized sounds, but in the sounds of wind, rain, even the quiet peacefulness of snow has its own music....

Do you know that even those who are severely hearing-impaired (we used to say deaf) are capable of participating in music (I recall a particular bass player, whose name I sadly can't remember, who is deaf and learned to play by feeling the vibrations of the bass through the instrument....)  Of course, with the advent of electronic tuners this becomes even more plausible....

Very few people are truly tone-deaf... Many who thought they were merely haven't had a teacher take the time to teach them how to regard music....

I have an excellent student on the trumpet who is a professional ski instructor .... He'll often translate my analogies in skiing analogies to help himself better understand .... Well, I am probably the most ski-deaf or ski-blind person you could imagine....I've only just begun to learn to roller-blade (a dangerous task at my age!), and the concept of speeding down a snowy incline with only a couple of twigs in your hands, and a couple of thin slabs of wood on your feet is VERY frightening to me....

And yet (Elie Wiesel uses that expression a great deal in his autobiography), I believe that my student has helped me to better understand skiing with his analogies, and that, perhaps, some day I may even attempt to ski (cross-country, though, I think, I'm not brave enough to try downhill<!>)....

So, if we look and listen for music in all that we do, it only enhances our musical performances .... The greatest artists are those who approach the Renaissance man ideal of studying and understanding all of the arts and sciences (in which I include mathematics, which so many musicians tend to have a natural ability for studying)....

The more diverse your background, the more interesting your musical interpretations will be....
 
Bach's "SDG" - can you relate to that?

Soli Deo Gloria  All give glory to God or To God be all glory....
Each of my performances, every composition, lyric, orchestration, in fact, each day of my life is offered in praise and thanksgiving to the great God who has given us the magnificent gifts of life and music....

My own expression is: To Thee, o Lord, with gladness, to the glory of God!, but it's the same sentiment: that of giving back the gift by developing and sharing it....

Talents are wasted when not used, and are best used by sharing ... You may be the greatest trumpeter in the world in the practice room .... Able to single tongue at quarternote=400, or the like, but if you're not sharing your abilities with others, then you're not expressing gratitude to the Lord for the gifts given you....

I don't care if all you can play is a few simple songs...Go out and play  for someone else!  There are senior citizens, veterans in hospitals,  invalids, shut-ins, homeless folks .... Go out and play for them....

Play for your church, temple, or fellowship group .... Play for children, play for family, for neighbors, for friends....

It doesn't matter for whom you play as long as you are playing, and to the very best of your ability each time you do so....

A sidestream benefit of this is that, with so much performing under your belt, you'll seldom, if ever, suffer from stage fright--performing becomes second nature to you....

Remember that music is a social art...and a gracious gift from God .... Return that gift every chance you get, and it will grow (and exponentially so!)....

To THEE, o Lord, with gladness .... To the Glory of GOD!

non-trumpet musical experiences

Oh, boy, there are so many: poetry/lyric writing, computer games (especially backgammon and tangleword which is like boggle) ... I especially enjoy relaxing occasionally at the Playsite website...

Also, gardening, collecting seashells, puppetry, carving (of wood and of shells, though I'm VERY inept at it!), reading extensively (fiction, science fiction, historical fiction, philosophy, biographies, prose, history, alternative history, which is a branch of science fiction that says what if history had turned out differently?, cience / medicine / nutrition)...

Also: speech-writing and editing, antiquing, my dog (a wonderful little beagle) and cat (a Russian blue), surfing the net<G>...

Then there's some interest in geneology, languages (I speak Spanish and some Hungarian as well as English and a smattering of French, German, Italian, and am starting to learn a bit of Japanese<!>), comparative  theology/religion, whew!  Is that enough or do you want to hear more?!

styles of music you play?

A little bit of everything...I play lead trumpet in several big bands, play dixieland style with several combos (though I don't do club dates anymore because of the cigarette smoke and its effect on my asthma), principal trumpet in a couple of symphonies, brass quintet, theater pit orchestras, I've even done Mo-town and reggae as well as rock and blues....

 who have you played with?

Name Acts?  Bob Hope, Joan Rivers, George Shearing, Roberta Peters,  the Temptations, Aretha Franklin....

The American Musical Theater, various regional, local, touring, college/school and community theater groups, numerous symphonies, including Cape Ann Symphony, Symphony-by-the-Sea, the National
Senior Symphony, etc, various concert and show bands....

I currently play lead trumpet for the Swing-Out Big Band, Gary Wofsey's Boston band, and the Winiker Swing Orchestra, have previously played in several ghost bands, and spent some time playing on the road with the Beatty-Cole Circus....

I've even played trees with a couple of friends:
It's really rather simple:

        Look at a tree--start either from the trunk, or from the top, and use the shapes and lengths of the branches to suggest pitches and durations to you, then play as you are inspired....

        It takes a little bit of letting yourself go to accomplish, but the rewards are lovely, and change with the seasons, the wind, etc...

        It can also be done as a duet with another, similarly minded person....

I also have a brass quintet, *The North Shore Brass* and several brass choirs which I direct and solo with....

in U.S. you often use the trumpet (bugle) in a funeral 
(Jeannie, I'm thinking of you beautiful post about that)

Yes, TAPS is the final tribute to veterans in our country....The piece was written on the battlefield (or in camp after a battle) during our country's civil war in the latter part of the 19th century....

Let me share a post I sent to TPIN about TAPS with you:

Dear Jim:

        I'm sure we've all had experiences like yours with playing Taps for the funerals of friends and family members....

        Remember that it's a service to the mourners for them to release their tears....Unspent grief is acid to the soul, and manifests itself in strange ways....

        I've often been told by funeral directors that family members had remained absolutely stoic during visiting hours, religious services, and even graveside services, but finally let go when the trumpeter sounded Taps(sometimes it doesn't happen 'til the echo, which I usually play facing the opposite direction, and usually try for an actual acoustic echo as well....)

        I've been blessed with four fathers in my life: my biological Dad, a dear friend who was a priest, my college director of bands, and a beloved colleague/band leader with whom I performed for many years....

        The reason I share this with you is that, over the last three years, I have lost all of them....and performed at each funeral, and I can tell you that, while it never gets any easier to play for someone that you loved, the discipline of practice and performance can carry you through when your heart fails you....

        For the first, my beloved friend and mentor, Fr. Joseph Kugler, I played *La Grace* and the *Concerto in D*(yes, the one that soars on the first movement) by Telemann, then played *Hyfrydol*
and *Amazing Grace* at the graveside....

        For my own father, Felix Peter Pocius, who had been a Marine Corps bugler in WWII, I played the entire Mass, including an original arrangement of the largo movement from the *New World Symphony* in a duet with my better half(who is a basso vocalist), Taps, and *A Trumpeter's Lullaby* for the exit music....

        For Edward Winiker(the longterm bandleader, and founder of the Winiker Orchestras of Boston/Washington DC/and Florida), I played *Trumpeter's Lullaby* a capella at the very foot of his grave, with the family standing nearby, and dozens of musical colleagues surrounding us...

        And finally, most recently, I played for Allan Gillespie, the Director of Bands Emeritus of the University of Connecticut, for whom I played, at the widow's request, *Prayer of St. Gregory*,
standing alone at the front of the church, facing the family, with the organ/accompanist in the back of the church, in the choir loft....which made the organ interlude, between the second and final trumpet entrances seem absolutely eternal(I was nearly sobbing after making the mistake of looking directly at the family members....)

        But, thankfully, once the mouthpiece touched my lips, something else took over(an auto-pilot, as it were) and I was able to complete the task, faithful to the memory of a fine conductor and trumpet player in his own right....

        The point of this is to encourage all of you to have the strength to share your gift with others--It can be very healing, for them as well as for you yourself, to share that which is inexpressible in any other way through the beautiful sound of the trumpet....

        I thank God for the gifts of music....

 What type of playing do you mostly do these days?

Much of my playing these days is in a duo with my domestic partner, John Archer, who is a bass-baritone singer and pianist .... we do a sort of cabaret act, and also a great deal of sacred music, as well as being guest soloists with bands, orchestras, jazz ensembles and choirs/choruses... (John is comfortable with musical theater and operatic literature as well)....

We perform often, frequently 4 or 5 times per week with the duo, and then I have the quintet, the big bands, orchestras, and of course, my beloved students (both in person and via TPIN, the Trumpet Players' International Network, where I've made many dear friends, including my good friend Ole!)...

 Women and trumpet

as a woman trumpet player have you met any prejudices

Yes, quite frankly there are those who cannot believe their ears, and will not hire me, or will hire me only as a second or third trumpet player (particularly in commercial gigs) because of my gender....

On the other hand, there are also those who make snide remarks about my sexual preferences and insinuate that I must be a lesbian because she plays the trumpet, which everyone knows is a masculine instrument

For the record: my sexuality has NOTHING to do with my trumpet playing... In fact, some of my colleagues joke about my having more testosterone than they do because of the power and high range which I can produce....

I do not believe that gender, sexual preference, nationality or any other difference has anything concrete to do with artistic effort, unless it affects one's attitude adversely(by which I mean that if YOU _believe_ that you are limited by any factor, then you will be limited....Otoh, I also believe that, if you fail to acknowledge any limitations, you will exceed any expectations you, or others for that matter, might have had).

 have things changed in recent years

If anything, things may have gotten a bit worse, because before people used to be more open about their reasons for not hiring you or not giving you your due, and now they tend to make up all sorts of other reasons(like, for example, Oh, no, I like his style of lead-playing better than yours or He studied with different teachers than yours or something similarly inane)...

are girls more after the "money notes" than boys

I think any female trumpet player has to recognize that she has to be able to play 50% better than a male trumpet(at least) if she is going to  get the job....

This applies whether she is playing in a school group, a community group, or professionally....

If she is on an even keel with a male trumpeter, he will most likely get the call, like it or not....

The key is to be the finest player you can be, then the jobs will come (it is a source of great delight for me to turn down jobs from contractors who wouldn't hire me in the past but want to now because they've heard from others how well I play.... and mostly I turn them down because of working for the contractors who've hired me right along <G>)

Equipment

a lot of trumpet players are obsessed with equipment

One of the best analogies I can give you to illustrate this principle is a piece of advice given me by my former teacher, Mel Broiles (Principal Trumpet in the New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra).

Mel used to say you should place all of your trumpets and all of your mouthpieces on a table.  Pick one mouthpiece and one trumpet and play an excerpt/etude/solo, etc.... then pick up the next combination, and continue so until you've played the same excerpt on every combination of horn and mouthpiece, AND MADE IT SOUND THE SAME!!!! (this last is MOST important)....

His theory is that this way you'll be prepared to play on anything in case your instruments and/or mouthpieces should become lost or stolen....

I really think, though, of course, you'll always have your favorite pieces of equipment (isn't that human nature, really?), that you need to be flexible enough to play on anything that you can find, should the need arise....

What type of equipment do you use (jazz - classical - other)?

My personal Bb trumpet is a *MAX* trumpet, manufactured by Zig Kanstul to Allan Colin's (son of Dr. Charles Colin) specifications....This instrument is a medium large bore, with a slightly larger bell.  It has two slides(a regular, bowed one, which I use for commercial/bright playing; and an elliptical, weighted one, which I use for classical dark playing), weighted bottom valve caps, an adjustable gap receiver for the mouthpiece(which I gap all the way out for lead playing, all the way in for classical playing, and adjust in between the two for other types of playing as needed), and an adjustable tuning slide brace, which I move back toward the mouthpiece for commercial playing, and toward the water key for classical playing. I recently had the valves aligned by Wayne Tanabe of the Brass Bow(and the springs replaced with light-weight, fast-action springs) and the horn is AMAZING!

My C trumpet is a Benge Model 90L(this is the UMI early nod toward Bachs, it's a heavier weight Benge, with a nice, rich tone, and bit darker than most C's, but with those great Benge valves).

My piccolo is a Benge 4P(A/Bb four valved).  It  resembles the old Selmer short model.

My fluegelhorn is an antique, somewhere over 100 years old, made in Germany by Wolf.  It has three linkaged rotary valves, and was a Christmas gift from a student of mine who is in his 90's. The  sound is very dark, but can get an edge if you really blow it hard.

I don't currently use any other keyed instruments, though I have, in the past used Eb/D, C piccolo, F/G piccolo, and antique cornets, none of them are currently in my possession.

I also own a natural trumpet (nameless, but old) in F/G, an A wooden cornetto(made by Jane Sheldon), several different keyed bugles, and (yes, I'll admit it) a HOSAPHONE!

My standard mouthpiece is a Bach 1B, with a 22 throat and an Osmun-Brass modified backbore (thank-you Jimmy Becker, and Bob Osmun--excellent  workmen and a fine brass *pro-shop*).  I use a Denis Wick 4FL mouthpiece on the fluegelhorn (thanks to Donovan Bankhead, of Tulsa Band Instruments), a Callet custom *Classic 650* mouthpiece with the piccolo and for commercial work, and a Callet *Magnum 600* mouthpiece for screech lead work.

Some advice to young students

Listen, listen, LISTEN!  Listen to great musicians of EVERY ilk -- NOT just trumpet players, but great singers, great pianists, whatever.... You'll be amazed at what you'll learn: how you'll learn to phrase and ornament more creatively because you've developed a greater aural pallette.

Practice constantly, even away from the horn (This means *isometric* exercises and horseflaps).... Whistle, too, it helps to develop your orbicularis oris muscles... Think in solfege syllables(it will help your soloing, improvising and sight-reading)...

Find a great teacher, and learn all you can from them, then find another, and another .... They don't always have to be teachers for you to learn from them, either -- I learn something from every trumpeter I meet, no matter how young or inexperienced they might be -- They still have unique insights that might at some point become beneficial to me or another student....

Stay fit and healthy... Eat and drink well, but wisely.... Noone deserves to develop nutritionally related illnesses, and in the long run, I think, perhaps, all illnesses have their roots in poor nutrition...

Exercise your body and your mind and your spirit.... Stasis is the worst habit you can develop, whether it is physical, intellectual, or spiritual.

Cultivate a spiritual awareness: acknowledge that your talent is a gift from God, and do your best to develop it and share it, since that is always the best way to give thanks for the gift of talent.

Play every chance you get, regardless of the circumstances, and (at least in the earlier stages of life) whether or not you get compensated for your efforts.  Try to gain experience in many different styles, it will help you to be a more-rounded player in whatever style you eventually choose to call home (or even freelancing, which is what I truly enjoy the most).

Study and cultivate beauty wherever it exists...remembering that every drop of beauty you help to create or preserve enables future generations to build upon a foundation of goodness and accomplishment, rather than evil and destructiveness.

Seek to always expand the palattes of your life, be they musical, technique, knowledge, history, or  whatever .... The more interesting you are as a person, the more mature you will be as an artist.

Finally, don't forget why you started to play in the first place (because you LOVED the sound of the trumpet).... Even when you are angry with yourself or your instrument(and it happens to all of us sooner or later in the practice/performance game), never put it down....

The great Daniel Patrylak (founder of the Eastman Brass Quintet, Solo Cornetist with the USMC's President's Own Marine Corps Band, and one of the finest musician-teachers it has been my honor to know) once told me in a particularly frustrating (for me) lesson (when I had put the trumpet down on the table and said *That's it!  I just CAN't play it!*): (said in a very firm, but EXTREMELY quiet voice) *Pick that trumpet up!  Don't you ever put it down again!  That's not the way I want you to behave and that's not the way you're GOING to behave!*

Needless to say, the horn hasn't ever been put back down since!<lol>

One final thought I would wish you to carry with you:

There is always music, my friends, even when there is no light, no warmth, no food....There is always music....

In the words of Star Trek, the Next Generation's Captain Jean-Luc Picard:

Make it so!