Search - Rafael Mendez :: Trumpet Magic

Magic, indeed!

davebear | Watertown, MA United States | 09/15/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This disc lost a star for two reasons. First, it's short; a little over 30 minutes. LP technology being what it was at the time, this is understandable, but not desirable. They could have doubled up, and put two short albums on one disc. Second, the songs and arrangements are somewhat dated (They are old, after all. Probably from the fifties or early sixties. There are no liner notes to tell us. Darn it!), and not really my taste. However, aside from those points, this is an excellent recording of a true master at work. Mendez's mastery of the trumpet is simply amazing. His tone is always big, pure, and clean, even when he's ripping off cadenzas or triple tonguing. As a trumpet/flugel player, myself, I find this much more impressive than the players who made their reputations by being able to make their horns screech out double-high C's for an hour. Most of those players couldn't produce a tone like this if their lives depended on it. Mendez could hit the high notes, but the attraction of this album, for me, is the magnificent beauty of his tone. THIS is what a trumpet should sound like!"