Bernie Glow - A Tribute CD Collected Works 1957-1981. This is a studio recording of tribute vocal & instrumental music from various artists honoring the music of Bernie Glow.
FROM THOMAS HERMANN:
Bernie Glow: Arguably the best trumpet player the world has ever known.
Technically, Bernie Glow was the most dependable and most called-upon studio musician of his era, bar none. His pure, resonant sound combined with deep, diaphragm vibrato created a voice that was instantly recognizable, and adaptable to almost every genre. Glow’s peers spoke of him with admiration, deference, and even awe. "Bernie is the Big Daddy of us all," said John Frosk. "He has endurance, taste, accuracy, an incomparable sound - everything." If five first-rate trumpet players, including Glow, were hired for a recording session, the other players, without any instruction from the arranger, would sit behind parts 2 through 5. In Frosk’s words: "When you see the Boss coming, you move over.”
As well-known as Bernie Glow was to other musicians, his name was anything but a household word. He rarely performed solos, preferring to be the lead player of an ensemble. Yet his sound was so distinctive that any trumpet player of the day could recognize it immediately.
The purpose of this video is to both re-acquaint those who lived through the era with Bernie’s playing, and to introduce trumpet players of today to his extraordinary talent. While the collection is generally composed in chronological order, the first four tracks provide the listener with the opportunity to hear Bernie Glow as the featured musician. Tracks five through eight include ensemble work where Glow plays lead as well as some solo parts. Tracks nine through twelve are well-known pop songs of the era, which highlight the popularity and importance of Glow’s incomparable sound. The final track represents one of the last major projects Bernie Glow contributed to – “42nd Street,” which was recorded on June 29, 1981 at the RCA studio two blocks north of the Winter Garden Theatre where the Broadway production of 42nd Street was playing. At this point it should be easy to pick out the dazzling, crystalline notes of Bernie Glow.
Beyond making perfect notes, Bernie Glow made beautiful music. He made the trumpet sing, bringing new life to songs through interpretation and expression. Each note opens like a flower, and gently transitions to the next. In Bernie’s own words “What you have to do is play music. Some people play the trumpet instead of playing music. They play it perfectly, but somehow it just doesn't add up. All those perfect notes don't add up to a song.”
