R I C K   B A P T I S T

My e mail is: nocoda1@aol.com no web site yet.

My family had very little music in its background, my Mom played piano by ear and my Dad could sing, he also played the trumpet for 3 weeks, he lost his mouthpiece twice, so Grandma said no more!

To answer the second question on how I chose trumpet, my Doctor, Dr. Feldman, suggested that I play trumpet because, I was born with Asthma, which I still have.

One day running around track at school, my left lung collasped and they saved about half of it, the doctor suggested I take up a wind instrument to build up my lungs.

On Sundays we would watch Ed Sullivan's TV show and Harry James was on and I said that looks like fun. I was 10 1/2 years old and in school you could pick a band instrument, so I got the trumpet.

Thank God, Mom and Dad got me trumpet lessons from the beginning. It came pretty easily to me.I had great teachers, Juanito Silva, Leo DeMers and Victor Kress (Vic was the guy Purviance named his 4*K4 after) Vic was in the San Francisco symphony for many years.

I have always been a trumpet player, the only job I ever had outside of music was as a dishwasher in my friends restaurant when I was 13.

I did it ONE DAY and made $15, then worked a dance job that night and made $25, so I said to myself, "What do I want to do for the rest of my life?" -- "Easy choice!!!!

My Bio reads like this:

At 12, I was playing with a large latin band called "The Pan Americans", I was subbing in the Oakland as well as the San Francisco Symphonies when I was 15.

My high school got a Dance band in school and that is when I knew what I wanted to do. My symphonic training has truly payed off in the studio work that I do. I was gigging all over San Francisco when in 1968, I was playing at the Club called "Mr. D's" in North Beach with Bobby Darin. His conductor asked me to go to Reno with Bobby to work Harrahs Club for 2 weeks. I accepted and went as his first player, I was 20 years old.

The conductor in Reno, George Hernandez, heard me play and offered me a job. That is when I met George Graham, we worked together for about 10 months and then the band got fired. I stayed on and George went up to Lake Tahoe to work.

I stayed another year and decided to move to Las Vegas. I moved to Vegas in 1971 and stayed there until November of 1979. My 'Vegas days' were fantastic, I was the first trumpet on the relief band in town (each hotel had a house band that would work 6 days and we'd do the seventh day, so we worked 6 different hotels each week).

I think I worked every act that came through Vegas. It afforded me the opportunity to meet great conductors like, Nelson Riddle, Don Costa and Peter Matz to name but a few. When I decided to move to Los Angeles, knowing those conductors help alot.

My career in LA reads like this, I have played on 850 motion pictures, over 1000 cartoon shows, including Tiny Toons, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, and most of the Disney shows like Buzz Lightyear, Timon and Pumba and many more. I have been first trumpet on the Academy Awards for 19 years (not this year, Malcolm McNab did it, and pretty damn good too!!! - as always)

I have played on over 50 Gold or Platinum records, Including: Sinatra's Duet 1 and 2, Linda Ronstadt with Nelson Riddle albums, and Barbara Streisand's Broadway Album to name a few.

For Non musical interests, I am an avid Antique collector and I love to play golf (although not enough, I am a 12 handicap.)

The days I take off playing, are the days I don't get called to work. Luckily it is not to often. If I go more than 2 days without playing, I know I will be in trouble. In this town, you never know what you will have to play, so you better be ready for anything.

The only trumpet tip that I can think of right now is that Concentration is by far the most important thing there is. To prove that, think back, when you read a chart down the first time, you will probably not make a mistake because of your concentration. The second time you play it is when you will CLAM, either notes or time.

Roddy, I am thrilled that you wanted me to be on your site and if there is anyone out there who wants to talk to me, I would be happy to communicate.

Thank you again my friend,

Rick Baptist

http://www.parke.net/personal/baptist.htm