Josh Shpak | Trumpet | Grammy 2011 Audition | A RESOUNDING SUCCESS!

[ehscymbals011]

Is that a carol brass horn? and you sound great!

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@ehscymbals011 Yes, it definitely is (as you know!), and thanks for your kind comments!

[DRUMMERAL100]

WOW A GREAT BAND HERE FOR SURE I LOVE IT ALL

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@DRUMMERAL100 Thanks so much!

[clskmstg]

To see these young men playing such a mature style - it's fantastic. *Very* mature playing - across the entire group. Josh, of course is brilliant - it's like hearing a group of seasoned old jazzers! Great recording. :-)

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@clskmstg Well, thank you! Chase's group is such a pleasure to perform with!!

[avchris]

wow, enjoyed this tremendously!

[GreennGold126]

This is great. I saw you with studio band you have some serious talent. What do you do to improve your range? I'm changing my embochure and have no idea of how to build range on my new embochure.

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@GreennGold126 Thank you for your nice words! There is no one particular answer to your question, but what I can say is that, to build range, I do lots of long tones, going from low to as high as possible, all the while focusing on the embouchure and using my air as efficiently as possible. Also, when playing, instead of thinking of your air going into your mouthpiece, think of it being blown OUT of your bell. Hope that helps!

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@thechenggang The Grammy Jazz Ensemble is now called, "Grammy Camp - Jazz Session". To find it, go to the grammyintheschools website, then click on "Programs", then on "Grammy Camp - Jazz Session". Good luck, it was an amazing experience!!

[shivercanada]

WOW! superb! You guys should stick together, you'll go places!

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@shivercanada Thank you!!!

[bhl123]

Very nice work, Josh! I enjoyed listening to you a lot.

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@bhl123 Wow! Coming from you, Mr. Lynch, that is an incredible compliment. Thank you so much...I'm a BIG fan of yours!

[theizzle320]

hey man, this is sick! Your ideas and especially your phrasing are really really good. I don't really feel too qualified to give you criticism since i haven't been playing all that long, but one thing i would say from listening to this and some of your other videos is that i'd like to hear you play "out" sometimes. I know this is an audition video but a few "out" licks could really make your solos pop. I know you have the confidence and the chops to pull it off!

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@theizzle320 Thanks so much, man, I appreciate your thoughts. And you're right about the "out" thing. I guess I'm first wanting to play "in" as well as I can first.

[JazzNaySean]

very good, but i would say on i remeber clifford i felt you lacked a little soul and a little vibrato i know u have it in you u were probably nerves but outstanding!!

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@JazzNaySean It was good to get your feedback...thanks for writing.

[MrNoobforlife]

Dude you are amazing. Who do you take from?

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@MrNoobforlife Thanks for your very kind message! If you click on "Show More" just under the video, and then scroll down, there's a bio that tells about my teachers, who include Clark Terry, Bobby Shew, Dann Zinn, Mic Gillette and Michael Miller.

[jazzkeys44]

Great video, very solid playing. Congrats on getting into the grammy band this year.

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@jazzkeys44 Thanks so much. The Grammy band was an amazing experience!!

[beChoiii]

hey josh!! it's brandon choi from cbda! just wondering, but what kind of equipment do you play on besides the carol flugel?

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@beChoiii Hey Brandon! The trumpet I used for this video audition is a CarolBrass trumpet, and I also play a Yamaha Shew 8310Z trumpet. They're both excellent horns!

[GLkamina121]

WOW!!!! i would love to play jazz like that! i'm attempting to teach myself, looking up some scales and learning to improvise, do you have any tips about what i should be learning ?

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@GLkamina121 Thanks for writing! Transcribing solos from some of the greats (Clifford, Clark, Dizzy, Miles, Freddie, Wynton) is an excellent way to learn. Be sure to write down the solos and the chord symbols, and then learn to play the solo yourself. That way you train your ear and you also see why they chose the notes they played...and you learn to play in the style they played in.

[CallMeDave2]

Great job last night at the valentine's day late show, standing in for Mic at Tower's show at Yoshi's. A few clams, sure, but your teacher should be very proud! We're the family who said hi behind the club.

You reminded me of the first time I heard Steve Bernstein play when _he_ was a 17 year old student at Berkeley High. Keep up your studies (and practice your scales!).

Best of luck.

[WaltersQuincy]

This is great! And Congratulations! What camera did you use to film this? I have a hard time finding a camera that accuratley captures the trumpet sound... How'd you get the audio so good?!?!?!? Great job again!!!!

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@WaltersQuincy Thanks for your kind words. You're right about video cameras not being very good in the sound department, and my video camera is no exception. Which is why we had Logic Pro recording the sound at the same time the camera was rolling, and then had a great engineer mix and sync the Logic Pro audio with the videotape. The other reason the audio sounded so good is that my mic is a Neumann U67 tube microphone from the 1960's, and it is truly a great piece of equipment!

[rambryj]

Is that your family playing with you? You and the drummer look like you could be related. Sounds good!

[KHurseyJazz]

i hear you...

[Thecooljazzguy]

Wow. Impressive. This might sound weird cause you're only a couple years older than me but you inspire me more than any jazz legend ever could because of how real the possibilities become to me when I watch this video. If I ever grow weary of the shed then I just watch this video and the weariness is replaced by enthusiasm. Thanks for posting!

btw I'm a saxophone player and you inspire me no less than you would any trumpet player. Now that says something about you.

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@Thecooljazzguy Wow, thank you so much. I also draw inspiration from those who are my peers, so I know exactly where you're coming from. Thanks again for taking the time to write...your message sends me to the shed too!

[OlesonMD]

Hey Josh,

Have you considered attending college at the UNT School of Music? It's the home of the world famous (Grammy nominated) 1O'Clock Lab Band. Many fine trumpet players/teachers here, including Jay Saunders who was the lead trumpet with the Stan Kenton Orchestra. UNT is the largest, and IMO, the best music school anywhere.

Check them out on YouTube!

Cheers,

Myron

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@OlesonMD I met Steve Wiest at last year's Grammys and we communicated quite a bit of the possibility of me going to UNT. However, after being in the Berklee Summer Jazz Workshop last summer and then receiving a four-year/full-tuition scholarship from Berklee to start this coming Fall, I decided the east coast was really where I wanted to be. Thanks again for your kind words....

[OlesonMD]

Having grown up listening to Clark, the influence of his style is definitely there!

Great musicianship...a good role model for many young (and old) players!!!

What mouthpiece do you use?

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@OlesonMD Thanks very much for your kind comments. The trumpet mouthpiece I'm using is a Yamaha Miyashiro 1, and the flugel mouthpiece is a Jet Tone gold-plated magnesium "B" model, which was hand-made by Bill Reichenbach. Thanks again for your feedback!!

[erockinthereal]

What kind of horn are you playing on?

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@erockinthereal The trumpet and the flugelhorn are both made by CarolBrass. You can read all the details if you click on the downward arrow right under the video's view count above.

[andrewoc15]

This is great, I must have watched it 100 times. What microphone are you using for trumpet?

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@andrewoc15 Wow, that's a lot of viewing! Thanks for your kind words. The microphone is a very rare, very old, very special tube mic from the 60's...it belongs to a recording engineer friend of mine...it's a 1966 Neumann U67 condenser mic, and it is an incredible mic to use for recording trumpet and flugelhorn. I try to use it for anything important that I ever have to record!! Thanks again for writing....all the best to you...

[LionEagle58]

You are truly an amazing artist! I look forward to watching (and listening) to you advance in your music career. You make the East Bay proud! Doug

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@LionEagle58 Thank you very much!!!

[tumbleweed94]

Man, you sound great! Especially on Clifford. Your rhythm section is killin too.

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@tumbleweed94 Thanks so much!!!

[brassperfectionist]

New Horn? What kind?

[bigeyezzzzzzz]

@brassperfectionist Thanks for writing. The horns are relatively new to me, and I absolutely love them! They're made by CarolBrass, and the USA distributor is Doug Teeter - dteeter5491@att.net or 1-559-436-5247.

To see more details about this video, just click on the words right below the video, where it says, "This is Josh Shpak's 2011 Grammy Jazz Ensemble Audition..."