The Medieval Manuscript the 'Chronicles of Mann and Sudreys' mentions various locations, including the Isle of Man, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and even places as far away as Norway and Brittany.
Russell Gilmour (trumpet) and David Kilgallon (organ) use melodies from these countries and they merge and fuse these ideas together with their own to create unique compositions for trumpet and organ. The idea behind their musical collaboration is to explore traditional music from these countries and to adapt the music, interpret it and explore it. Chronicles' musical format is slightly unusual in that it combines trumpet and organ - not the instruments you may initially associate with folk music - but it is an approach that has sparked a lot of interest.
Their limited edition EP "Prologue" is a sample of things to come, as the production of a full album is underway. The full album will be Chronicles' musical impression of the Isle of Man's influences and rich history - as documented in the Chronicles of Mann.
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writing on music, photography, travel and life as a freelance professional musician.
Uncle Jim's Trumpet - Vintage Selmer Manhattan
%AM, %Europe/London %b %2012, %RThis vintage Selmer "Manhattan" trumpet from the early 1920s has a remarkable history. It belonged to my great-uncle, Jim Vickers. Uncle Jim played this trumpet all over the world and even in a performance for the King of Iraq - with the Royal Signals.
The instrument is what we would now call a 'small bore' trumpet. I used to think that it was the early 1920s recording techniques that were responsible for the trumpet sounding quite 'tinny' on those early recordings from the likes of Louis Armstrong. In fact, these recordings seem to be a quite good representation of the sound of the trumpet of the time - which is really quite flexible and expressive.
Two short examples:
Brass Instrument Making, Instrument, TrumpetThe instrument is what we would now call a 'small bore' trumpet. I used to think that it was the early 1920s recording techniques that were responsible for the trumpet sounding quite 'tinny' on those early recordings from the likes of Louis Armstrong. In fact, these recordings seem to be a quite good representation of the sound of the trumpet of the time - which is really quite flexible and expressive.
Two short examples:
West End Blues - Louis Armstrong
Lil' Darlin' - Neil Hefti (played with the cup mute)
N.B: I don't have a harmon mute for this trumpet, so I used the cup instead for Lil' Darlin'.
Both played 'by ear' - so I'm sorry if they aren't 100% accurate to the originals.