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Trumpet Celebrity Interviews

[ a celebration of the artistry of ALL styles of Trumpet ]

Mr.Olcott is a native of Berkeley, California. Prior to going to Miami University in 1978, he taught at the UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-EAUCLAIRE and FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY (Kansas). he is currently principal trumpet of the Cincinnati Ballet Orchestra and the Middletown (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra, and has had previous experience in that role with the Tidewater Music Festival (Maryland), the Peter Britt Music Festival (Oregon), the International Festival at Round-Top, Texas, among others. His orchestral background also includes performances with the San Francisco Opera and Ballet Companies, and the Metropolitan Opera Company (New York). An active free-lancer well-versed in piccolo trumpet, the other small trumpets, and B-flat and flugelhorn concepts and styles, and he performs professionally in those idioms throughout the Cincinnati-Dayton area in large and small group settings. In addition, he is the founder and music director of the Cincinnati Herald Trumpet Ensemble.He has two sons, both of whom are in the music business as leaders of the alternative rock quartet, 12RODS. The group is currently signed with V2 Records, the American subsidiary of Virgin Records.

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t h e   i n t e r v i e w . . .

Would you like to add your web address /email at this point?

email: olcottj@muohio.edu

more J.O. Personal info at Miami Univ. [Ohio]


Was your family background musical?

Grandfather did some hoofing in vaudeville. That's it...


What made you decide to play trumpet?

No other way to say it except that I was just drawn to it at an early age.


At what age did you start?

In the fifth grade (what is that? About age 11?). I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to be in the business. When I graduated from grammar school to junior high, our whole class was asked what we wanted to do when we grew up. My answer, according to several old classmates was, "I want to play trumpet and teach trumpet players how to be trumpet players!"


On leaving your education, have you always been a full time musician?

I have only had one job in my life without the horn in my hands (excluding the paper route I inherited from my older brother as a boy of 13). During the month of June 1964, I delivered menus to restaurants in downtown San Francisco for the Daily Menu Printing Company.


Describe your early experiences of semi / pro work.

Junior High School: first professional band, made up of kids a little older (by a year) and myself, was the Rhythm Rompers, a six-piece dance band that played for grammar school social dance classes taught by Dart Tinkham in Berkeley, California, my home town. We read stocks, stuff out of Combo-Orks, and a few of our own arrangements. Because of the dance format, we had to learn the styles. It was a great experience, and lasted about three years.

Who were your teachers?

Chronological order (early to most recent):
€ Robert Hanson
€ Joseph Alessi, Sr.
€ Donald Reinberg
€ Cecil Collins
€ William Vacchiano
€ Mel Broiles
€ Bill Adam


What Orchestral experience have you had?

For the last 20 years: Principal trumpet in the Cincinnati Ballet Orchestra and the Middletown (Ohio) Symphony Orchestra. Performances with the orchestras of Cincinnati, Dayton, Richmond (IN), and many, many one-shots. Perform on a regular basis on the jazz and commercial sides in large and small groups.


What session (Jingles / TV) experience have you had?

Occasional recording for special projects (religious and theme-park tracks), but, on the whole, not much.


What small group / ensemble experience have you had?

In small group experience, mostly commercial jazz gigs.


Other playing experiences?

In general, I perform on both jazz and classical sides, and have since the Rhythm Romper days. Performances in New York while doing an MM at the Manhattan School of Music. Performances at summer festivals around the country, and work in San Francisco in my undergraduate days.

I have been on the staff of Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp (Twin Lake, Michigan) for 23 years, playing lead in every faculty ensemble at one point or another, and taking the organization's "international jazz band" for 3-week European tours seven eight times since 1982.


have you a solo recording available?

Through Triplo Press, I have recorded a fistfull of trumpet ensemble literature. All of it is available free on the Triplo Press website http://www.triplo.com


Any news on new projects?

Continuing work on Triplo Press projects (publication and recording). The "company' specializes in music for three or more trumpets and has now 66 titles in its catalogue, including the only work for less than three trumpets, the popular Charlier Companion, written by myself two years ago.

I am in the process of recording the publications for publication on the Triplo Press website, so that folks can hear what the publications sound like. As of June 2002, near to 30 of the 66 have been recorded.


Any funny / interesting stories about other famous trumpet players?

Nicholas Eklund, the famous Swedish baroque trumpeter, had just finished a concert at the ITG conference in Göteborg, Sweden in '96 and was hanging out with about six of us. One of the folks at the table, who, like the rest of us had just heard him for the first time, mentioned to him, "Nick, do you realized that you have disturbed a great many trumpet players?" A perplexed Nicholas asked how and why. "Well," said the trumpeter, "we've been playing the tunes you performed today for quite a number of years, and now we know what they're supposed to sound like."


Favourite four albums?

(Any Clifford Brown sides)
Chicago Symphony recordings of Richard Strauss with Fritz Reiner
Early André
Albums of voice and baroque trumpet by Nicholas Eklund


Favourite two movies?

The Life of Brian
Lord of the Rings


Favourite three foods?

Beef tongue
Pasta
French desserts


Non-musical hobbies / points of interest you enjoy?

Website writing and design (the Miami University Music Department website, as well as that for the university's School of Fine Arts site, are of my design and responsibility).


Do you take days off from playing? (How does it affect you?)

Occasionally. However, unless I have had a previous set of really hard-playing days, I lose strength quickly.


Any chop problems / solutions you've personally had you can share?

Major problems with weakness on the right side, begun in 1972 with a chop collapse from ultimately playing too low on the chops. Long, long recovery. In the end, breath was a key issue.


Three Trumpet tips you wish to share with the readers.

Everything in moderation.
Tension is the nemesis of creativity
The body tries to play what it hears, therefore, in reading, insure that you can hear what you see.


End of interview sentiment.

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