Chet's horns

Like many jazz trumpeters of the 'fifties, Chet played a Martin Committee. Distinctive and beautiful with no fripperies, triggers, struts or bars, the Committee was a masterpiece of minimalist design. It was also notable for a 'smokey' sound which was ideal for hard bop and West Coast stylists alike. The way Chet played it was the ultimate 'cool' sound: who needs a flugel when you have a Committee? I think at that time he was using a fairly deep Bach 6B mouthpiece. Chet's classic recordings, including those with Gerry Mulligan, Art Pepper, and his own quartet featuring Russ Freeman on piano, were all played on the Martin. He later switched briefly to flugelhorn (a French Selmer), but as he once said on a radio interview, he preferred to get a flugel-like sound on the trumpet, which also gave the option of a little more power when needed. On his big 'comeback' in the 'eighties', Chet played a Conn Connstellation (with a 6C), which gave him the sound he was looking for. Apparently he really liked that horn, but like many others, it was 'stolen': code for his having sold it for drug money. He next appeared with a fairly unimpressive Beuscher, which featured in the films 'Let's Get Lost' and 'Live at Ronnie Scott's'. Finally he was given, or loaned, a Vincent Bach Stradivarius that can be seen in the stunning footage of the Japanese concert in 1987, which illustrates what I've been saying about the sound. Great stuff! You have to wait for the trumpet solo, but what the hell, its a good rhythm section. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-C_hSbJ_IO4&feature=related