Announcement

Welcome to my website. It is still in the early stages of developement. I am coding it myself, so this will be a slow process and it will be a simple website. This will simply be a place where I can share my research on the various topics in which I am interested.

About Me

I am a trumpet player in the Denver and Northern Colorado area. My focus is lead trumpet and classical trumpet performance. In December of 2023, I sustained some sort of playing injury, of which sort, as of yet, is still undertermined. I have been, and am currently, working on coming back to professional performance. I am planning on sharing some of my experiences and research in this area here on this website.

Research

The research posted here will encompass different topics, such as: Lead trumpet, trumpet players, brass playing, physiology of brass playing, jazz history, etc. My primary research topic is the Count Basie Orchestra, primarily the "Old Testament" band. My dissertation (2025) was titled Setting The Style: The Count Basie Orchestra and Its Early Trumpet Players, 1935-1937. As its title implies, it's focused on the formation of the band, as well as two of its trumpeters, who have been all but forgotten: Carl "Tatti" Smith and Joe Keys. Some of the other trumpet players written about were Wilbur "Buck" Clayton, Ed Lewis, Dee Stewart, Bobby Moore, and Oran "Hot Lips" Page. I will be posting some of this research here. In the meantime, if you have any questions about it, please send me an email.