You want chops? We got chops!
Vaughan Nark plays trumpet, flugelhorn and valve trombone with bold and brassy confidence as he leads his team of Pete Barenbregge/ts-as-bs-fl, Stef Scaggiari/p, Tom Williams/b, and Dave Palamar/dr on a recording that has been hiding in the bramble bushes for decades, but finally and thankfully makes the light of day.
He does a double time thing on “Cutting Through” that is like the flight of the bumblebee, while he shifts gears to California Cool as he revisits the classic Chet Baker-Gerry Mulligan days on “Line For Lyins.” He can be lyrical and soft as on his own “Alone,” run wild with Palamar on “Caravan” or go triple time during a wonderful bopping “Donna Lee.” Even modal moods crop up during “No Cause For Concern” and some CTI soul takes place on “Runaway” and “Cloudcroft.”
This is the first I’ve ever heard of this cat, and it’s from the Reagan years! How about some newer stuff. Did he go into education? Hit the studios? Turn his horn into a lampshade? What else is out there? My interest is piqued!