NY Staff Band

Chris Jaudes Recording

by Derek Lance

The NYSB gathered once again at SUNY Purchase for our latest recording project. This year, trumpet superstar, Chris Jaudes joined the band for two days of recording. Chris joins Philip Smith, Pat Sheridan and our own Aaron VanderWeele as artists that have been featured with the band.

The day started very early for all of us (especially since we have to deal with typical NY traffic) but didn't at all start slowly. We started off with Eric Ball's cornet classic, Clear Skies. It was very nice to hear Chris do a classic from the Salvation Army repertoire. Not long after this we would launch into Chris's specialty..high notes, more high notes and a lot more high notes. It is quite remarkable to watch and listen to Chris. I get tired just listening to him. One of the highlights of the morning was recording Maynard Ferguson's version of "Bridge over Troubled Water". Special thanks should be given to Dorothy Gates for arranging this piece for the recording. On this chart, Chris was joined by Principal trombone of the New York Philharmonic, Joseph Alessi. Chris introduced Mr. Alessi as quite possible the finest brass player in the world. I would tend to agree and feel privileged to be on a recording with such a well known artist. Chris and Joe also played together on Kevin Norbury's arrangement of "Be Strong, and Take Courage". This is probably my favorite item on this recording. The soloists worked well together on this and should come out very well.

Day one of the recording proved to be very tiring for the Chris and the band. We finished somewhere around seven items on day one. Most of these would be considered "lead" trumpet solos and I consider it quite remarkable that anyone could possibly get through all of these. Chris was spectacular through all of the first day. Other items that we recorded included; Gospel John, Green Hornet, Let the Beauty of Jesus and Oration.

Even more impressive than his playing on the first day was the fact he could come back the very next day and do it all over again. He came back in a BIG way on Thursday. We jumped right in to the Carmen Suite. This is incredibly challenging for the soloist, band and bandmaster and all should be applauded for the hard work. Chris was spectacular throughout this entire piece and should prove to be the highlight for most listeners.

Another highlight of day two was when we were joined by composer, Joseph Turrin. Mr. Turrin did a new arrangement of "Colne". This was written for trumpet sextet and low brass and provided some of us with the opportunity to pick up trumpets and try and compete with Chris..I tried my best to keep up, but we stood no chance of matching Chris' power.

This recording was a very different project for the NYSB. At most times we had to take on the role of a big band which is very different from our tradition. Special thanks should be given to Bob Jones who is the drummer for the Jazz Knights in the United States Military Academy band for joining us for our session and helping us transform into a big band for the week.

This was a very fun project to do and I am sure will be enjoyed by many people. For those of you who haven't heard Chris; you will be thoroughly impressed. I consider myself to be a fairly competent trumpet player and still can't comprehend what he can do on the trumpet. Chris is a one of a kind talent and this recording will cement this thought for years to come. Congratulations Chris!!!