Trumpets

Trumpet players come in two different forms (at least). The loudest and most aggressive is the lead trumpet player. I thought a trumpet section was like a sax section: you put the most experienced (or strongest player) on lead. But in the trumpet world, the lead trumpet is a particular sonority. The lead trumpet player has a glorious and loud sound and has the ability to play comfortably around high C and can easily move up a fourth above that into the ledger-line note range. As far as jazz soloing goes, the lead player sound is exemplified by Dizzy Gillespie and Maynard Ferguson. Miles Davis really exemplified the anti-lead sound. When the young Miles Davis announced to Gillespie that he could play anything Dizzy could play, the older musician reportedly replied: "Yeah, but an octave lower!" And there you have it. If you want a loud trumpet sound from a section, you populate the section with several other players who could also play lead. But what works best for me is to get trumpet players with a quieter approach to sit next to the lead player. That way the saxophones can play dynamically instead of shouting to be heard.