First off, what are you up to now – still playing?
I grew up in Peters Township – that’s when it was mostly farmland – I graduated with 80-to-90 kids! My uncle and cousins were there to – I grew up with them. My uncle was the president of a life insurance company based in Ligonier. When he passed away years later I took his place as president of the company. It was an 11 million dollar business then. Then another insurance company in Pittsburgh hired me – I drove to Pittsburgh and back from Ligonier every day for 20 years until the company merged with my former company. I ran that and it went from a $300 million company to $3 billion. I retired since then – four years ago. Now I’m the artist formerly known as Atlanta Bliss!
Are you still playing?
I’m not currently playing.
After I did the LoveSexy tour in Japan, Prince asked me and my friend Eric Leeds to stick around – he disbanded the band. He wanted us to record with other artists and we did with Chaka Khan, Miles Davis, Patti LaBelle, George Clinton… When he did the Batman album he worked on his own on that for a while- we didn’t record for a long time. So my family and I moved to Atlanta – we said Minneapolis was nice, but Atlanta was nicer. I commuted for the recordings and Graffiti Bridge. Then he went on to other things and I ended up working for an HVAC company and marketing company in Atlanta until the insurance position opened up and we moved back to Ligonier.
I worked with some Pittsburgh musicians when I moved back – played at the Duquesne Club, Fox Chapel Country Club….and did other jazz gigs. But I worked during the day – I played those gigs at night. But that got to be too much after a while and I stopped.
How did you get started as a musician – and why the trumpet?
When I was in fifth grade in Peters Township the band director had the middle school play a concert for the elementary kids then when it was over he asked for new players. This was in the 60s. I said I wanted to play the trumpet. He looked at my mouth and my teeth – they were in the shape of a V. He said your teeth can’t be flat as a trumpet player – if they are you don’t get the vibrations you need.
I remember being in my living room – it was a specific moment I still remember – asking myself if I really wanted to play the trumpet. I said “Yeah, I do!” It was a life-changing moment.
How did growing up in Pittsburgh influence you as a musician?
My mother influenced me – she was a church singer. My father had a guitar but I never saw him play it – he always said he “Played the radio.”
My band director David Pew was a wonderful trumpet player. He would play in Market Square at the Dixie Land Club above the bar there. He and Nick Nimucklumaker had a music store on Liberty Avenue and all of the musicians would go there and hang out. We’d go to the club to hang out and listen to them play.
We’d also go to the Hill District where Miles Davis and Coltrane would play. The music scene was happening in Pittsburgh then.
Where did you get your start as a professional musician – how/when did that come about?
In Peters Township Rick Moderi put together a Dixie Land band and we played at a political rally in the back of a truck, driving around neighborhoods. We made maybe $5 or $10. I played shortly after that in a bar across from the courthouse in Washington, PA. We were around 16 or 17 at the time. We had a great time – we played on to the sidewalk before to promote it. That was good for some exposure.
That was when the horn bands were becoming big – Kool and the Gang, Chicago…. I ended up going to Duquesne to get my education degree as a backup plan to being a musician – because I knew no one makes a living being a musician!
After I joined On the Corner with Eric Leeds. We played a lot of good music with those guys. We made maybe $125 a week – it was a 10 man band – we had four in the horn section alone!
Then Eric merged bands and formed Taking Names. We played the tri-state area. We wanted to write our own songs – we just never had the time.
How did you land with Prince and the Revolution?
After Taking Names broke up I went to play for Parker Brothers – we were the house band for a club that based itself on Monopoly. Then I went to Atlanta – Eric Leeds followed me there and stayed with my wife and I for a while. He got a call then from his brother who is in the music business – Prince hired him to be in The Revolution. Prince told Eric he needed a trumpet player – Eric called me then and told me I had an audition with Prince. I hadn’t played in six months! I practiced that night – I figured if it was meant to be it would happen. Eric then called me back and told me the audition was off. That it would be a recording session instead!
What did you do then?
I went there and Prince was working out of a warehouse. It was shaped like a long rectangle – the stage was on the far end. We started warming up and Eric introduced me to Prince. It wasn’t a classic recording studio – Susan Rogers was on the other end of the warehouse with the mixer. We started working on Mountains – the last recording on Parade.
Prince started singing our parts to us and I thought “Ok. I can play that.” Then he took a break and asked us to work on a part featuring horns, which was cool. We came up with a nice horn break for Mountains.
What was it like to work with Prince – what was his process like in working with you?
He was challenging to work with. He worked so fast it was hard to keep up with him. He recorded all the instruments by himself – drums, guitar….He in his mind knew what he wanted and it went right through to his instrument. He didn’t practice. As soon as he thought of it he expected you to be able to do it. He would sing your part to you quickly and expect you to remember it. He’d give you a minute to get it together then record it. If you couldn’t keep up you probably wouldn’t stay long.
I had a sulfege class at Duquesne where the instructor would sing or read something to you and ask us to write the rhythm down. That was so helpful for me in working with Prince. That’s what he was doing to.
Any good memories/experiences to share working with Prince, Miles Davis and George Clinton. What were those experiences like – even more surreal than Prince in a way?
I remember in the warehouse Prince told us Miles Davis was coming in to visit with him. I made it a point to be there. I sat down on the stool near the entrance and Prince was recording a drum track when Miles Davis walked in. I grew up with him, musically. He was a jazz hero of mine.
When Prince met him he shook hands with Prince and Prince told him he just needed to finish up his drum track and would be right back. Miles sat down right next to me. This was incredible. He shook my hand in his raspy voice said “My name’s Miles, what’s yours?” I Said “Atlanta Bliss. I’m Prince’s trumpet player.” He said “I like what you’re creating.” He liked it! Miles was famous for not liking anyone! I asked which song he liked and he told me he wasn’t sure what the song was but it was good!
Miles was just getting into the pop side of music then. He wanted to now about Prince’s equipment and the keyboards he had. Prince had two Fairlight keyboards – they were two of the first of their kind and cost $30,000 each. You needed two in case one broke on tour. Miles was impressed.
You later played with Miles as well?
Prince held a concert in Paisley Park on New Years – the money was going to the homeless, I think. We set up on stage and a guy comes up and asked me if I would mind doing Miles a favor. We were some of the first to use wireless microphones for trumpets – you couldn’t be wired to an amp on stage with Prince – you had to be moving around stage! Miles was testing out a wireless system for himself the guy said – he might sit in with us. I said that would be incredible. I tested his rig and told him he needed better gear! He said he’d tell the guy.
Any other experiences you can share playing with those other big names?
I played with Wynton Marsalis. We were flying to Paris during the Sign O the Times tour in a 747 – they had those top areas that sat like 50 people and the band was all up there which was great. I got in my seat – it was all the way in the back. I figured great – I could read, put on my headphones and listen to some music and get some sleep. It’s an eight-hour flight.
Well, I get settled in when I see more people come up- a guy came in with a hard shell for his saxophone that he stored overhead. Then Wynton came in. He was one of those top musicians I knew all about and listened to. He sat down right in front of me and introduced himself. We ended up talking for five or six hours about music, our bands…We all grew up with horn bands like Earth, Wind & Fire and Kool and the Gang.
When we got off the plane he said we should get together and play. He told me what hotel he was at. I called him the next day and took a taxi to the venue he was playing at. I’m not sure how I got past security – I used my Prince card I guess!
He was practicing and told me once they were finished we’d play together. I had my pocket trumpet with me – it’s about half the size of a regular trumpet. The regular one was with the band’s gear. I always carry the pocket trumpet just to have something to practice on. When Wynton saw that he said “No! Use my trumpet!” I just was amazed – I just thought “You have to be kidding me! He wants me to use one of his trumpets!” Well, I started on it but the valves were sticking. I looked at the keys. The way he played, he puts his hand on the trumpet differently – he doesn’t push straight down – he pushes almost sideways. Here I was using one of the greatest trumpet players trumpets, and I had to figure out how to make it work!
I ended up learning more from him in two hours than I did in for years at Duquesne!
Before I let you go – I wanted to ask you about your book?
Yes – I just finished Mind, Body, Trumpet a short while ago. I wanted to help people practice the trumpet even if they didn’t have one. I focus on facial exercises, finger isometrics, breathing techniques…. I decided I could help other trumpet players by putting this book together. I figured I had the credibility to do it! I also added pictures of me and Prince and those Pittsburgh bands I played in and my discography. This way it brings Pittsburgh back into it too!