Interview with Wayne Bergeron

Wayne Bergeron is a renowned American trumpet player, one of the most popular, versatile, and in-demand session man around. He has worked on more than 500 soundtracks for celebrated films as Toy Story, Frozen, The Lion King, Superman Returns, South Park, La La land, and recorded with jazz and pop music stars such as Ray Charles, Green Day, Beyoncé, Christina Aguilera, Barbra Streisand, Michael Bublé, Natalie Cole, Celine Dion, Seal, Diana Krall, Dianne Reeves, Quincy Jones and many, many others. In short, a big shot, who at JazzAscona will play Saturday, June 29, as a special guest with the Swiss Army Big Band. When we meet him at Papio College for an interview he is rehearsing a set of arrangements, secluded in a classroom…

©JazzAscona – Photo credit Gioele Pozzi

For Wayne Bergeron, too, exercises are a daily practice…
Every trumpet player has to practice daily, even if it’s just an hour. I know very few people who can do without it. One can take a day or two off, that’s fine, but no more because then it takes me time to recover…

Wayne, how did you get into jazz?
In seventh grade, in the school band, with a teacher who was a very good trumpet and jazz player. He was the one who introduced me to jazz and gave me my first trumpet lessons.  And he made us listen and play a lot of different music, different styles. It was a fantastic practice. Then it continued in high school. I really have to thank those teachers.

Even then you were gifted…
Yes, I was doing well. I had a natural high register. I was able to play the high notes easily. Just what it takes to become a “first trumpet” in an orchestra.

Could we say that the turning point for your career as a musician was when you got to be the first trumpet in Maynard Ferguson’s band?
Yes in a way. It was not that I was working full time for Ferguson, however, it helped me. You know how it goes in those cases: people hear you play, they start to get to know you, the word starts to get around, and suddenly you get called to be in other bands. And so you progress, you get better gigs. If you play well and you are a reliable person you are able to seize opportunities when they arise. The important thing is to be prepared.

You are also a teacher, you like teaching, right?
Yes I like it and I think I’m pretty good at it. I wasn’t, then in recent years I had several problems, first a cancer in my neck, then a problem with my lip caused by a dental procedure, and in both cases I had to stop and start again. Difficulties, when you face them can make you grow and you can come back stronger. Today I feel I am a better teacher than I was 5 years ago.

The amount of pop and jazz stars you have played with in the recording studio is amazing, as well as the list of soundtracks you have recorded. Can we call you primarily a session man?
That’s exactly what I do. I also travel, I do live shows, particularly with big bands, however I mainly work in the recording studio in Los Angeles, where I live. I’ve been recording especially film music for 35 years now. I have recorded more than 500 soundtracks, but some of my colleagues more than triple that. In the past there was more work. When I got into the business the market was already shrinking. Still I am always quite busy.

Of all the stars you met in the recording studio, who impressed you the most?
Perhaps Sammy Nestico, the celebrated Count Basie composer and arranger, an artist I knew from my early studies in high school and who was important to my musical growth. I was hired to do a recording session with Mel Tormé and that’s where we first met, befriended and remained friends until his death. Over the years we did many recordings together. Then he was also writing for pop artists like Christina Aguilera, and that’s how I got into that business as well.

And of all the soundtracks, is there one that you are most fond of?
I am proud to have participated in Spielberg’s new West Side story. It is a project close to my heart for several reasons, starting with the fact that one of my teachers played the first trumpet in the original 1961 film. Bernstein’s music is difficult, and to play it with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, was very satisfying.

What does it take to be a good session man?
The most important thing is to be stylistically versatile, to know the music well. If someone asks you to play in the style of Miles Davis you have to know how to do it, if you have to do 1940s jazz you have to know how to do it. I fortunately had teachers who prepared me well. I’m doing okay in all styles, and my specialty is playing first trumpet.

©JazzAscona – Photo credit Gioele Pozzi

Let’s go back to live music. You said in an interview that your greatest passion is playing first trumpet in a big band….
Yes, it all started from there. From a young age I was doing well in the role of first trumpet. I don’t consider myself a great improviser, a great soloist, but I can play high, I possess a wide range of sounds, I am good at imitating the sound of Louis Armstrong, Chet Baker or other greats. You know, in life everyone can do many different things, but there is always something they can do better. In my case it’s playing commercial music (whether it’s funk, rock, or big band jazz) and being a first trumpet player. Then it’s also a matter of choosing the music you do best. I don’t set out to play pieces with difficult chords like Coltrane’s Giants Steps but rather play a Minor Blues, where I know I can give my best.

Playing in big band means performing live, in front of an audience, it’s a very different thing from a recording studio…
Exactly. I like the contact with the musicians and the audience, the atmosphere of the concerts. I’ve been playing for years in various ensembles like Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band, which is very popular in America, and sometimes with student orchestras, like last year with the Stanford kids here in Ascona. I like to help them, motivate them, drag them along. It’s harder than playing with professionals, but it’s fun.

Who are the trumpet players you love the most?
Very difficult question, there are so many! My earliest influences were Herb Alpert, I used to listen to his music on my parents› CDs, then Al Hirt, a great Dixieland trumpet player from New Orleans, later Maynard Ferguson who also had a great influence on me. I would still mention Clifford Brown and Freddie Hubbard, listening to them pushed me to study improvisation. And as far as contemporaries definitely Till Brönner, who is probably my favorite. Then outside of trumpet players and including the pop sphere I would put Stevie Wonder, the musician I put first overall.

You didn’t mention Miles Davis.
Of course there’s him, too…

Will you play his trumpet displayed here in Ascona?
His trumpet? Here in Ascona? Where?

Yes, the iconic Moon & Stars that was commissioned and then played by Miles in the 1980s. It is on display at the Blue LLama Terrace, in the main tent on the lakefront…
Oh then I will go and see it! Speaking of Miles, I must confess that on first approach I didn’t like him at all. I was in high school and the teacher made us listen to Bitches Brew, an album completely different from anything Miles had done before. I hated it; it sounded like a jumble of noise to me. It’s funny – I listened to it recently, decades later, and I must say I was impressed.

For kids getting into music, what advice would you give?
Sometimes kids ask me: how can I make money? What do I have to do to become famous? I tell them that this is not the right question to ask. First one has to ask oneself: how can I play an instrument well? And consider that first of all music is fun, pleasure. So get busy, practice, and if you want to make a living from music you have to learn to do many things. Do you want to do jazz? Okay do it, you won’t get rich; you want to be a classical musician? Maybe one day you will play in a symphony orchestra, more likely you will play in a local orchestra. If you want to make money you have to be really good and be versatile and be able to do one thing on the fly, without repetition because maybe you get hired at the last minute for an emergency. That’s how you create a reputation. Obviously there’s nothing wrong with wanting to pursue your dreams, to want to become the next Miles Davis and bring music to life that no one has ever heard before. But it’s better to also prepare a plan B and never forget to create a solid foundation, learn a lot of things. And do it because you have the pleasure of doing it and to become a knowledge wise richer person who has something to share with those who listen.

©JazzAscona – Photo credit Gioele Pozzi