OK, so I’m going to date myself a little bit here but as a Brass Player I feel so lucky to have grown up listening to the POWER horn sections of groups like:
Blood, Sweat, and Tears
Tower of Power
Earth, Wind, and Fire
and of course ——– Chicago
As a young trombone player I dreamed of someday being able to play like the Brass players from all of these groups.
David Bargeron of Blood, Sweat, and Tears was certainly one of the historic power trombone players of these heavyweight horn sections.
However, my favorite of all time has always been James Pankow of Chicago.
Here are just a few of the reasons I idolized this Brass legend:
1) He has UNBELIEVABLE chops – his upper register was machine like – he could play for hours at a decibel level and range that was unattainable for even most professional trombone players.
2) He is an ultra talented arranger (he arranged all of the horn parts for Chicago) and composer (he also fully composed some of their songs).
3) His stage presence and performance style was high energy and in your face. I LOVE how he performs! In your face and full volume – that’s what attracted me to the Concord Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps back in the 1980’s. I joined them because I loved how they played. James Pankow certainly has the same philosophy of Brass Playing.
