A brief bio: The Early Years

June of 1979 marked my first released record album date and it took place at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, California for the famous Fantasy Studios Records label based in Berkeley, CA.  This recording date was a “one and only” live onsite performance and recording which resulted in the Living Proof  album featuring world famous soul singer/artist, Sylvester. Sadly, this was his final album. I was the lead trumpet and quasi-section leader of the five-piece horn section. Two of the regular traveling horn players with the band were Marc Baum (alto sax), and Dan Reagan (trombone). Jay Stolmack (tenor sax) and Ross Wilson (trombone/trumpet) completed the section. The high-energy band was complimented by a string section of San Francisco Symphony musicians along with backup vocalists Martha Wash and Izora Armstead, (Two Tons O’ Fun) plus upcoming vocalist sensation, Jeannie Tracy. The live performance recording portion of this album spans the first three sides of the four for a double album set – a prized collector’s item today.

After that historic recording date my studio career took off. The following four years resulted in more than thirty (30) soul and funk fusion records – including two as a founding member for the band, Collage. That period in time had been important for me as an aspiring young trumpeter, composer and arranger. Most of my horn arrangements then were for three or four horns. I also had the unique opportunity to write and arrange for as many as seven horns for the Top 40 hit tune, “Imagination”-featured title track on The Whispers album. Imagination was written and performed entirely by our group, Arrival, (soon to rebranded as Collage); vocals by The Whispers.

Upon signing on with the SOLAR Records label (to be representative of the label’s EWF-type of band), the Arrival name was changed to Collage (to better showcase the diverse culture makeup of the group, and to avoid confusion with groups of a similar name). Collage carried on to record three albums for the SOLAR Records label. From the first two Collage records: Do You Like Our Music and Get In Touch I contributed song writing and improvised flugelhorn and trumpet solos. It was so electrifying to hear the group on the radio – especially to hear my flugelhorn solo on When You Smile and a year later to hear my song writing contribution and trumpet solo on Love is for Everyone from the Get in Touch album (music by Dean Boysen, and lyrics co-written by Dean Boysen and Larry Batiste). Hearing these tunes played on the smooth jazz stations was just so cool. Those years were quite interesting, exciting and full of personal growth. Collage was a phenomenal ten-piece band, both live and recorded. This band had some downright fantastic talented musicians and writers. By 1983, however, the pop cult music scene had been fully metamorphosed into the synthesizer paradigm, and as such, it was time to move on.

I (literally) walked away from the “funky-soul” nightclub band business in the late summer of 1983. The rhythm section and vocalists desired to go forward with a smaller group which meant ousting the versatile and tight-sounding three-piece horn section of Collage. Without the horn section the band no longer represented the SOLAR Records EWF-type power band. A third record was eventually released, and then… done and done. With these new and established electronic sounds and sonic textures emanating from synthesizers, new paths were being forged. Horns and Pfunk rhythm guitar were seemingly waning towards irrelevancy. I guess Bruno M. didn’t take much heed to that idea.

Looking back at this brief period, I realized there were only a dozen or so of us trumpeters doing a good portion of the recording work for the major record label soul/funk music artists. Most of the bands we recorded for tended to have their own contained horn sections – road tested guys, but in the studio environment they were not so time-efficient. I feel fortunate to have been in the midst of it all. It was a great time (1976-1983) to be immersed in perhaps the last and greatest of music dance nightclub and funk/soul studio scenes. 

If ever in doubt… do respect the current state of the funkadelic groove.   – DB