best cornet player EVER!!!!!!!!

B

beard_4b

Member
being a member of the Salvation Army, i tend to be biased, but who can beat David Daws! his sound is incredible, he's got a gorgeous tone, and as for range, stamina and technique, he beats people like roger webster hands down!

Mind you, Carl Saunders doesn't come far behind - gorgeous tone, the most flexible lip your ever likely to hear and he could easily play the top non-army cornet players under the table! :hammer

Th best thing of all about these guys tho... they're modesty, they prove themselves on stage and they're not big headed like the other top guys in the non-army world!

Legends!

Edited: (RT)
 
leisa

leisa

Active Member
i thought david daws was top wen i saw him the other day at the great northern brass festival - he's soo laid back! but i have to say i really like roger webster though david daws was amazing the other day roger webster just stood out more to me i don't know what it is although i heard othr people say they thought the same about david daws - i suppose it's personal opinion like it is with most things really!! :wink:
 
O

onedrummeruk

Member
Unfortunately I haven't heard the players you have mentioned, but for overall ability technique sound etc for me it has to be Alan Morrison. The way he can play those different styles is amazing, especially his big band / jazz stuff.
 
PeterBale

PeterBale

Moderator
Staff member
As onedrummeruk points out, Alan Morrison is excellent in swing-style solos, and I think most players have particular genres that they specialise in. There are so many first-rate players around it is so difficult to choose.

Richard Marshall always impresses me for the effortless way in which he approaches everything, and David Dawes is very good, but I think, for all-round versatility, I would go for Roger Webster.

I also like the way he is willing to tackle contemporary works like the Aagaard-Nilsen cornet concerto. I heard him play following a master class at the Royal Academy of Music a year or so back, and he played a piece to a pre-recorded accompaniment - can't recall its title, but very ethereal, with some superb pianissimo playing way up at the top of the range.
 
johnflugel

johnflugel

Active Member
David Dawes is a cracking player, super consistent, super clean and certainly among the top brass band cornet players around. For me though, as an all round artist and performer Roger Webster cannot be touched. There has been times I have heard him in a concert and one minute he is a pretty traditional cornet sound, then dizzy gillespie bending the next and then whacking out this great fat orchestral trumpet sound.

I rate him!!!

John
 
Mike Saville

Mike Saville

Member
PeterBale said:
As onedrummeruk points out, Alan Morrison is excellent in swing-style solos, and I think most players have particular genres that they specialise in. .
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I'd have to disagree with the consensus here. Whilst I can appreciate that Mr Morrison may have excellent technique I would not say that he is good at Jazz/Swing style. Anyone that has played in Big Band/shows/Jazz will realise that his interpretation is a very much watered down version with swing quavers & articulation that just 'don't sit right'. This is however true of all the brass band mouvement in thier attempts to play swing/jazz music.
 
G

greatcheese

Member
Roger Webster and Ian Porthouse for me, although I also like Richard Marshall's effortlessness (as someone mentioned before.)

Anyone rate Phillip McCann as a matter of interest :shock:
 
Keppler

Keppler

Moderator
Staff member
just interested... all these names are from the here & now..

how do names such as Hary Mortimer and Herbert Clarke fare?
 
A

asteria

Member
For me it has to be Jim Shepherd, technique and sound, everything sounds completely effortless and full of quality (you'd never hear him split a note!), and he's a gent too, he really is a role model to aspire to.

More recent names - Carl Saunders is definitely someone we need to hear more of, Roger Webster for technical clarity and you can't beat Alan Morrison for jazzy swing!

And on trumpet Wynton Marsallis and Maynard Ferguson for sheer jaw-dropping wow!
 
Mike Saville

Mike Saville

Member
Keppler said:
you say that like it's a bad thing, Mike...
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I guess it depends on your background - if you are brass band through and through then this style sounds great to you. If on the other hand (like myself) you have come from orchestral or jazz/big band background then it may not be so much to your liking.

It's definately possible to admire technique and musicianship even if you yourself don't like the style. In my case I admire Christian Lindberg even if I don't like the style he plays in sometimes . ..
 
iggmeister

iggmeister

Member
It's not really fair to compare the likes of Herbert Clarke to the like of David Daws and Roger Webster. Different eras and different equipment. The same arguments come up with respect to e.g. is Tiger Woods better than Jack Nicklaus.

I think it is really difficult to say who is the best because all of the names mentioned are very fine players. I think it is easier to say who are the most underrated players. 2 for certain are Russell Gray and Matt Baker. Russell's playing on Arban's cornet on his new CD is excellent. I never knew why Dyke got rid of Matt Baker but I suppose they did okay with their replacement!

If I had to say who is the best then I would go for Jim Shepherd- my inspiration and (still) idol.

Igg
 
Andy_Euph

Andy_Euph

Active Member
Might sound a bit biased as I'm from the same town... but methinks the God of cornet playing has to be Jimmy Shepherd, absolutely stunning technique and beautiful sound plus the fact that 30 years after playing top man with Dyke he's still as good as anyone else.

However I think Roger Webster is probably the best cornet player around at the moment.
 
PeterBale

PeterBale

Moderator
Staff member
Having bought Wynton Marsalis's "Carnaval" when it was first released on lp, I agree with Cantonian that it is quite stunning, if maybe a bit too flashy in places - it's a pity he's not done more straight cornet stuff so we can judge better.

Regarding players from an earlier age, it is difficult as we have not got much to go on. I've recently reviewed The Cornet King, recordings from the 1920's by Jack Mackintosh, and it was quite enlightening! He was apparently known as one who was ready to take risks, and that edge-of-the-seat feeling is there all the time, added to, no doubt, but the fact that no editing could be done. Yes, there are slips that would certainly have been retaken given today's facilities and recording expertise, but he could certainly play, and that excitement is there constantly.

You also have to bear in mind the sort of repertoire that was expected of them prevously - often drawing room ballads and novelty items rather than the more extended and challenging pieces avalable to today's stars.

Mentioning James Shepherd, I think both he and Philip McCann are at their best where clean, lyrical playing is required, and another with a very pure tone was (and is!) Terry Camsey, now based in the USA.
 
johnflugel

johnflugel

Active Member
Wynton Marsalis does not come into the equation as he is super human!!!! Someone mentioned his 'flashy' playing on the carnival CD - there is some beautiful slow melody playing on there too as well as the purely technical. Even his fast triple tonguing and semi quaver work has a real sense of shape and phrasing rather than just the right notes going down in the right order(!)

Did I miss something?...Christian Lindberg is a trombonist...not a cornetist!

John
 
PeterBale

PeterBale

Moderator
Staff member
johnflugel said:
Did I miss something?...Christian Lindberg is a trombonist...not a cornetist!
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That was just an example chosen to illustrate that you can admire a player without necessarily liking the style of his playing, or vice versa.
 
johnflugel

johnflugel

Active Member
Oh...I see, thanks Peter.

Another player worth mentioning is Stuart Lingard....he is developing into some leader at YBS. Very traditional sound but terrific player.

John
 
markyboy

markyboy

Member
A couple of years ago 4BR did an article called 'Top Ten Cornet players of all time'. Really interesting feature, well worth reading.
Perhaps somebody could create a link to it please?
I wouldn't have a clue how to do that myself!
 
Roger Thorne

Roger Thorne

Active Member
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