Roger Ingram

Roger Ingram
Background information
Birth name Roger O'Neal Ingram
Born (1957-11-13) November 13, 1957
Pasadena, California, United States
Genres Jazz, swing, big band, pop
Occupation(s) Musician, teacher, author, instrument designer
Instruments Trumpet, flugelhorn
Years active 1972–present
Labels Blue Note, Concord, First Avenue, GRP, Jazzed Media, MCA, Milan, Milestone, Origin, Sony, Summit, UTV
Associated acts Maynard Ferguson, Woody Herman, Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Harry Connick, Jr.
Website www.rogeringram.com
Notable instruments
Jupiter XO Series 1600I (I-horn)

Roger O'Neal Ingram (born November 13, 1957) is a jazz trumpeter, educator, author, and instrument designer. He is best known for his work as the touring and recording Lead Trumpet in the orchestras of Maynard Ferguson, Woody Herman, Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and Harry Connick, Jr., and his textbook, Clinical Notes on Trumpet Playing.

Early life

Ingram was born November 13, 1957 in St. Luke's Hospital in Pasadena, California, the youngest of three children born to Hazel Ruth Ingram and Walter Edward (Ed) Ingram. His mother Hazel (December 20, 1923 – August 2, 2013) was born in Lamar, Arkansas and his father Ed (August 28, 1903 – March 8, 1992) was born at Niagara Falls, New York.[1][2]

Ingram's mother ran the household and worked as a tailor and dressmaker from their home in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles; his father was a freelance artist, actor, and musician.[3] His father worked on early Popeye cartoons and several early Disney animations, including the movie Fantasia. He hosted his own radio show in Los Angeles in the 1930s where he sang and played ukulele. During the 1940s and 50's he worked in Hollywood as a singer and actor and was in over thirty movie and TV shows, including The Joker's Wild, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Superman, This Island Earth, and Titanic.[4] He played saxophone and harmonica and brought Ingram to hear Louis Armstrong, Harry James, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Al Hirt, Buddy Rich, Barney Bigard, Jack Teagarden, Kid Ory, Woody Herman, Rafael Méndez, and Teddy Buckner. He gave Ingram his first trumpet and mouthpiece in 1965. The horn is a bare, brass trumpet made in American-occupied post-war Japan. The bell is stamped "Koondr, Kailangan Tokyo."[5][6]

Ingram began playing the trumpet at age eight. Growing up in Los Angeles, he became acquainted with Hollywood session trumpet players. Many of these introductions came through John Rinaldo, his band director at Eagle Rock High School. Rinaldo's jazz program included others who went on to become professionals, including drummers Carlos Vega and Sam Wiley, bassists Scott Colley and David Stone, guitarist Larry Koonse, saxophonists Doug Rinaldo, Brian Mitchell, and Gary Hypes, trombonists Arturo Velasco and Luis Bonilla, pianist Guy Steiner, and trumpeters Bobby Muzingo and Buddy Gordon. Through Rinaldo, Ingram was able to meet and study with Bobby Shew and Laroon Holt. Ingram's teachers included Bud Brisbois, Mannie Klein, Roy Stevens, Don Raffell, Bobby Findley, Carmine Caruso, Reynold Schilke, James Stamp, Uan Rasey, Mel Broiles, and Dan Jacobs.[3][5]

Career

Early performing

At sixteen, Ingram toured with Louie Bellson , sharing section duties with Blue Mitchell, Bobby Shew, Cat Anderson, and Frank Szabo. His first international gigs were with that group during the 1974 Belvedere King Size Jazz Festival Tour at Varsity Stadium in Toronto, the Winnipeg Arena in Winnipeg, and the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, Canada. After his stint with Bellson, he graduated from high school and then joined Quincy Jones or a fall tour. After that tour, he spent a year touring with Connie Stevens, playing lead trumpet for the first time.[5]

At eighteen, Ingram played first trumpet with singer Tom Jones and remained with him for six years.[7] After that, he moved to Las Vegas, where for two years he gained experience playing on the Las Vegas Strip.

With Woody Herman and Maynard Ferguson

In 1985, Ingram joined the Woody Herman Orchestra as lead trumpet.[8] Ingram's friend, Ron Stout, held the jazz trumpet chair at that time, and was instrumental in getting him onto the band. He remained with the band until Herman's death in 1987. He recorded three Grammy-nominated albums with the band leader: The 50th Anniversary Tour, Woody's Gold Star, and The Concord Years.[9] He is the last lead trumpeter to play with the "original" Woody Herman Orchestra.[10]

Ingram returned to Los Angeles after Herman's death, founding and co-leading his own big band with saxophonist Steve Elliott. The Ingram-Elliott big band featured artists such as Bobby Shew, Till Brönner, Bill Watrous, and Gary Foster.[11] In 1988, he worked with the WDR Jazz Orchestra in Cologne, Germany. While in Germany, he recorded works by Bob Brookmeyer and Jim McNeely, featuring Mel Lewis on drums. During this time, he recorded with saxophonist Loren Schoenberg and pianist Django Bates.[3]

Later that year, Ingram joined the orchestra of Maynard Ferguson and recorded three albums with him. In October 2004, he performed as a featured artist at Stratospheric, a four-day festival honoring Ferguson. In September 2006, he performed as a featured soloist at the Maynard Ferguson Tribute Concert in St. Louis, Missouri, with many other trumpeters, including his long-time friend and colleague Wayne Bergeron.[12]

After three years as lead trumpeter for Ferguson, he moved to Florida, where he was a teaching assistant and private instructor at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. While in Miami, he collaborated with his friend and colleague, Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, recording the Grammy Award-winning album, Danzon.[13] He also did commercial recording work, performed and toured with the New Xavier Cugat Orchestra, and worked on a consistent basis with the Peter Graves Orchestra.[5]

With Harry Connick Jr. and Lincoln Center

In 1990, Ingram joined the newly formed big band of pianist Harry Connick Jr. He recorded three albums with Connick,[14] working with him until the orchestra disbanded in 1993. The following year, he toured with singer Frank Sinatra. Later in 1994, he moved to New York City, joining Wynton Marsalis and his Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. He recorded three albums with Marsalis, including the Pulitzer Prize–winning Blood on the Fields.[15]

Ingram left Jazz at Lincoln Center in 1997 to tour and record with Ray Charles for two years. After touring with singer-songwriter Paul Anka, he joined the re-formed Harry Connick Jr. Bg Band in 1998 and recorded the Grammy nominated album Come by Me. In April 2000, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) gave that album a gold record certification. In the summer of 2001, he toured with the Count Basie Orchestra, returning to tour with Connick in November. Ingram has appeared on several of Connick's works, including Blue Light, Red Light, When My Heart Finds Christmas, the Grammy-winning Songs I Heard, Harry for the Holidays, Thou Shalt Not, Chanson du Vieux Carre, Oh My NOLA, and What a Night! A Christmas Album.

Broadway and festivals

While living in New York, Ingram performed in a freelance capacity in more than twenty Broadway productions including Chicago, Grease, Cats, Les Misérables, Play On, and The Producers. In addition, Ingram played trumpet for the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre and was the principal trumpet player in the Broadway shows and cast albums of Thou Shalt Not, The Pajama Game, and Harry on Broadway, Act 1.[16][17][18] He has appeared at jazz festivals around the world, including the Concord Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, Montreal Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Newport Jazz Festival. He was a featured artist at the Glasgow Jazz Festival in 2009.

Other projects

Ingram's textbook, Clinical Notes on Trumpet Playing, was published in 2008. It has been sold in over 70 countries and has been on reading lists at universities and conservatories worldwide.[19]

In 2009, Ingram designed a B♭ trumpet for the Jupiter Band Instrument company. This trumpet is the XO Series 1600I model, known as the I-horn, and is the trumpet he uses exclusively. He also performs with the Jupiter XO Series professional flugelhorn and the Jupiter XO Series professional 4-valve B-flat/A piccolo trumpet (Jupiter 1700RS). For fun, he also plays the Jupiter 528L valve trombone.[3]

In February 2010, after 36 years, he "retired" from the tour bus and being a sideman. Since 2005, he has been an Artist in Residence of the Music Conservatory at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.[5]

From 2011–2014, Ingram's line of six professional mouthpieces for B-flat trumpet (the V-cup, the Lead, the Studio, the Jazz, the Be-Bop, and the Instant Chet) arrived on the market. Two additional models (the Lead-2 and Studio-2) were added in 2016.[20]

Ingram's debut solo album, Roger Ingram Live at the College Hideaway, was released in 2014, and his second album, Skylark, was released in 2015: both on his One Too Tree Records label. [21]

As a contributing author, in December 2015, Ingram wrote his first major article for The Brass Herald - The Magazine for the Brass Musician. His articles have been published in every issue since, and Ingram is now a regular columnist for the magazine. [22]

Personal life

On April 2, 2010, Ingram married Victoria Clarke in Brookfield, Illinois. They have two children, Jacqueline Clarke Such and Byron Russell Clarke Winans, and live in the Chicago suburb of La Grange.[3]

He was previously married to Amie Shimmel in 2000; they divorced in 2002. They had no children together.[23]

Sideman

Ingram has worked as a sideman for Anita O'Day, Ann-Margret, Bernadette Peters, Buddy DeFranco, Cab Calloway, Carmen McRae, Cassandra Wilson, Chuck Mangione, Clark Terry, Conte Candoli, Dizzy Gillespie, Doc Cheatham, Doc Severinsen, Frank Sinatra Jr., Frankie Valli, Gerry Mulligan, Harry Sweets Edison, Henry Mancini, J. J. Johnson, Jack Jones, Jimmy Heath, Joe Henderson, Joe Williams, John Lewis, Johnny Mathis, Jon Faddis, Lena Horne, Les Brown, Marcus Roberts, Milt Jackson, Nancy Wilson, Natalie Cole, Nelson Riddle, Pearl Bailey, Pete Candoli, Phil Woods, Ron Carter, Rosemary Clooney, Sarah Vaughan, Shelly Manne, Stan Getz, The Temptations, Toni Tennille, and Zoot Sims.[3][5][24][25]

Awards and honors

Discography

As leader

As sideman

With Harry Connick, Jr.

With Maynard Ferguson

With Woody Herman

With Wynton Marsalis

With others

Filmography

Harry Connick Jr.

Others

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Birth certificate of Roger O'Neal Ingram
  2. ↑ "Major Events" page at RogerIngram.com, accessed 12/13/13
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Philip Biggs, February–April 2012, "Roger Ingram in conversation with Philip Biggs", The Brass Herald Issue 42, pp 28-32
  4. ↑ Resume of Walter Edward Ingram
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Nick Mondello, Jan 2011, "Roger Ingram, on Swinging, Surviving and Thriving On and Off the Road", ITG Journal, Vol35, No. 2, pp 67-72
  6. ↑ Philip Biggs, Dec 2012/Jan 2013, "Roger Ingram in conversation with Philip Biggs", The Brass Herald Issue 46, pp 42-44
  7. ↑ Walt Boenig photographs from 1976 South Africa tour
  8. ↑ Woody Herman: Chronicles of the Herds By William D Clancy with Audree Coke Kenton, Foreword by Steve Allen, Published by Schirmer Books, Simon & Schuster MacMillan, 1995.
  9. ↑ Cadence, Vol 18, Number 2, page 86 By Bob Rusch. Published by B. Rusch, 1992.
  10. ↑ The Woodchopper's Ball: The Autobiography of Woody Herman by Woody Herman and Stuart Troup, Published by Hal Leonard Corporation, 1994.
  11. ↑ Patricia Backhaus, December 1989, "Steve Elliot, Roger Ingram Big Band", ITG Journal, p 17.
  12. ↑ The Maynard Ferguson Tribute Concert Program, 2006.
  13. ↑ The Authorized Biography of Arturo Sandoval by Cicily Janus, forthcoming publication expected 2010.
  14. ↑ Liner notes
  15. ↑ 1997 Pulitzer Prize plaque on the wall at Ingram's home
  16. ↑ "Theatre World 1990–1991, Vol. 47" By John Willis, Tom Lynch. Published by Hal Leonard Corporation, 1992.
  17. ↑ "The Playbill Broadway Yearbook: June 2005-May 2006" By Robert Viagas, Aubrey Reuben, Ben Strothmann. Published by Hal Leonard Corporation, 2006.
  18. ↑ "The Best Plays Theater Yearbook 2005–2006" By Jeffrey Eric Jenkins. Published by Hal Leonard Corporation, 2006.
  19. ↑ Roger Ingram, 2008 Clinical Notes on Trumpet Playing, forewords by Harry Connick Jr, Bobby Shew, and Greg Gisbert. One Too Tree Publishing, 2008.
  20. ↑ One Too Tree Publishing and Products
  21. ↑ http://rogeringram.com/cds.php
  22. ↑ The Brass Herald - The Magazine for the Brass Musician. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
  23. ↑ Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court, Docket #2002D011019
  24. ↑ http://www.discogs.com/artist/Roger+Ingram
  25. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/artist/roger-ingram-mn0000082530
  26. ↑ Dec 2016 issue DownBeat
  27. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/roger-ingram-live-at-college/id935515725
  28. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/skylark/id1051759677
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