Frank London of GRAMMY-winning klezmer group The Klezmatics told us about his love for his Bach Stradivarius...
Frank London: A trumpet is very personal, it is the one piece of equipment I cannot do without, literally and figuratively. My breath, my spirit, goes into the mouthpiece and music comes out the bell.
The great trumpet teacher, Prof. William Fielder said, “the trumpet is the mirror of the mind.” My trumpet has been with me for a long time, and is a ‘Franken-horn’ hybrid.
I first bought this Bach Stradivarius 42 medium-large bore silver trumpet in a pawn shop in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1977; it was made in the 1950’s. I then attached a lead pipe made by master craftsman, Dick Akright. (“Whether it was for Miles Davis, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie or local schoolchildren, Dick created, provided & repaired every instrument with the same care, often asking nothing in return.”).
The valves were aligned by the legendary Bob Reeves in LA. Recently, it was overhauled by NYC’s master trumpet repairman, Josh Landress. It takes a village.
The Klezmatics' new album We Were Made for These Times is out now.
Photo by Tomasz Lebedz
