WorlBoy heads up to SF

Tomorrow I'm going up to SF to play with a couple of my favorite trumpet players, Mike Olmos and Henry Huang in a band led by 16 yr old Dan Brown. I'm subbing for Dave Scott and he tells me that this kid is a young lion. Can't wait to check it out for myself.
Heard a couple of great concerts in the last two weeks. The first was Jon Faddis with the Stanford Jazz Orchestra led by Fred Berry. Jon sounded as great as ever. Bebop up to G's above double C with a few triple C's nailing all those in the way. How does the man do it? Inquiring trumpet minds want to know. Niel Levonius, a former student and frequently seen in the big band on stage at the Tribute Show at the Marines Memorial theater has been playing lead with the band for a few years now, held the lead book down quite well. Swinging his you know what off. Gillespiana is no easy work to pull off and if it wasn't for Niel (and Jon playing at times two octaves above him) anything could have happened. That piece is tough and the SJO did quite well. Fred kept them in line, on time and sounding fine. Way to go Fred. He's another one of my heroes!
Last week I saw Marvin Stamm and Bill Mays play with the Daddios band from DeAnza college as well as Homestead HS. Marvin and Bill have an uncanny ability to play as if they are twins separated at birth. Marvin is one of my all time favorite players, gliding thru every register with grace and ideas that would have made Clifford proud. Bill is the catalyst and has a way of slipping in something unexpected and turning it into a whole new world. What remarkable men. I'm just blown away at the beauty that flows from them. One fellow of note also is Ed Morrison. He is the lead trumpet player and probably one of the best that ever came out of the San Jose area. He's got the whole package. Total range throughout the horn, beautiful fat sound and makes the hardest lines sail effortlessly from his bell. Plus the guy plays great jazz!!!
This weekend I'll be playing with Niel in Rudy Salvini's big band. Rudy has kept his band together for 50 + years. More to come about Rudy, Allen Smith and my 8 years in the band.
Peace,
John