Trumpet Magic [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Rafael Méndez | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 3, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Mca Special Products
• ASIN: B00000DMJ9
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #425,026 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Magic, indeed!, September 14, 2000

By 

"davebear" (Watertown, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trumpet Magic (Audio CD)

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!

5.0 out of 5 stars Motivation for practice, or to sell your horn., June 28, 2011

By 

Special Agent (Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trumpet Magic (Audio CD)

From his softly played Ava Maria to Gitana, as from a machine gun: All on this recording, establishes again that there's likely no one ever to duplicate his perfect technical skills. No one will ever be better, either, for he reached the peak of a trumpet's ability; that is, play a brass instrument that easily matches Kreisler on the violin.

Raphael Mendez, whom I had the pleasure to meet in 1961, has been a hero ever since. I have a dozen original 33 1/3 rpm vinyl disks of his Decca record contract, plus a few others from elsewhere. I also own two dozen of his wonderful collections in the 12 CDs presented by Summit Records (no longer published). I have some videos, too, of the great master in action. One of the Summit Collections, tight in its original sealed container, will remain in one of my safes until after my death.

WhatI KNOW to be true: Mendez, crippled by emphysema his last years, was the Kreisler of brass; the Patek-Philippe of watches; the Buggati Veyron of cars; the gleam of the Hope Diamond (in the Smithsonian); the Randall of handmade knives; the Nighthawk or Ed Brown of handmade 1911 .45 competition pistols.

Note this: Regardless of where you are on the cornet or trumpet, buy every Mendez recording on any media available. Listen to them over and over, and remember this:

A. He practiced 12 and 14 hour days, continuously, when not on tour;

B. He warns all students to blow through the horn several minutes until a sound begins from your vibrating lips;

C. Learn the low notes first. Tackle high tones only when fully accomplished at playing the lower register.

D. Realize if you put pressure on your lips playing high notes, you will never learn to play long without your lips bailing out. Avoid hard mouthpiece pressure on any note.

E. Learn slow single-tounging perfectly before you ever attemp double- or tripple-tonging. Double tonging is much easier, believe it or not, than perfectly playing fast single notes.

F. Double-tongue practice with your mouth, tongue, throat and voice: Tuk--E---Tah, Tuk---E---Tah over, over, over and over. Mendez said around his hometown in Mexico he was called the "Tuk-E-Tah kid."

G. Build your lip and duration slowly. Nobody starts at the top.

E. Buy an Arban book of practice scales. Get the one with Mendez as co-author, if possible.

F. Buy the Doc Severenson-narrated, "Rafael Mendez-The Legacy". You'll hear what world classs trumpeters say about him, and you will hear Mendez play each of the Arban scales with perfection.

5.0 out of 5 stars Best in the World, February 6, 2011

By 

R. Lloyd - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Trumpet Magic (Audio CD)

I listened to this man when I was a child. He was by far the greatest trumpet virtuoso to have lived. Others who have followed him have been excellent also, but cannot compare with the quality, sharpness, smoothness and speed of his double and triple tongue ability. If you enjoy trumpet and Latin style music, playing any of his records with increased volume will more than likely bring a tear to your eyes. All of his records are absolutely the best.