Trumpet Player Brian MacDonald of
Washington, D. C.

Trumpet player Brian MacDonald is currently the lead trumpet player for The Airmen of Note - United States Air Force Premier Jazz Orchestra. Brian also played Lead Trumpet with KC & The Sunshine Band and the Maynard Ferguson Big Bop Nouveau Band.

I was fortunate to see Brian perform with Maynard Ferguson here in Ohio. I'll never forget Brian's solo on "Caravan" at Tangiers Night Club in Akron, Ohio. What a joy filled inspirational concert and Brian did a great job of backing "The Boss" on this two set gig that evening. Brian is undoubtedly one of my all time favorite lead trumpet players and vastly under recognized in my opinion. This guy sizzles and hits everything dead on.

Trumpet Player Brian MacDonald was born in Paris, France and began playing the trumpet at the age of twelve. After graduating from Nova High School in 1991, Sergeant MacDonald began his studies at Broward Community College where he was a member of the International Association of Jazz Educators National Community College Jazz Band in 1993 and 1995. At age nineteen, Brian played in a show band in Marcolla, Spain.

Brian states, "I have had the pleasure of playing with The Woody Herman's Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Frank Tiberi a few times next to some great trumpet players like Pete Olstad, Brian O'Flaherty, John Chudoba, and Roger Ingram." In addition to the albums listed below, Brian can also be heard at The Airmen of Note website.

Brian states "When I was with Maynards band ... I played on a Yamaha 6335S. I'm presently playing on a 1960 Conn Connstellation 36B I picked up about eight years ago and am working with Warburton right now on a custom model mouthpiece. It's basically a similar piece to my Marcinkiewicz Shew 1 (#E-14), but with a flattened rim. They've sent me a few tops and backbores, so I'm in the process of seeing what works best. " Brian uses a Yamaha YFH-6310Z flugelhorn.

Relates Brian, "I don't practice range much at home since I'm usually pounding on all my rehearsals with The Note and also civilian gigs that I do on the weekends. Sometimes I'll play my Shew piece (Marcinkiewicz E-14) at home, if I've been taking it easy just to keep my high chops in check. Otherwise, I do use a Bach 10 1/2 C to mainly play low and soft to counter all the high and loud playing I do. I don't ever practice playing high on the Bach though, because I feel that I play differently on the two pieces. I put more top lip in the Bach, and I feel I come out of the Shew piece in order to get a big sound. Roger (Ingram) had me play glissandos starting on middle C going to high C at mf (dynamic level) then to pp then to FF and back to mf on one breath using the wedge. Then I would go up in half steps using the same method for each until I got to high F, take a break then I'd start again on D, go to High D, one breath, all dynamic levels evenly (that part is very important) continuing up in half steps (new full breath for each new note) till I got to high G. After that I would take another break then do A, B flat, B, and double C, but only say one or two glissandos at each dynamic level. Definitely do not do it on a day that you have a gig! Rest as often as you play. Brian uses a relatively small mouthpiece and a large apeture set-up as does Roger Ingram and Bobby Shew.

To contact Brian MacDonald ... you can visit Brian's website at MusicalMacDonalds.com

Brian MacDonald's Discography