Jimmy D'Amico

[ironlips]

The great soloist Jimmy D'Amico has passed. He was idolized by generations of buglers who tried, with varying degrees of success, to emulate his solos "off the records".

There's a sample attached to this brief tribute. Scroll down a bit to hear what happens when genius meets a single-valve G/D bugle:

https://www.buglershof.com/

[trptmagnet]

Thanks for this tribute and the link to recording and bio.

Quick story - I sat in with Sky Alumni a few years ago, maybe 2007-2010 timeframe.  There were many familiar faces in the horn line and instructing, me having been with Sky 1969- 1970, and 2003-2007.

I was reading some charts on lead soprano, using a Skyliners spare 2 valve.  It was probably Elks and I was not hitting the top line parts.  All of sudden another guy sits down next to me and screams the parts with a real soloist sound that was just 10 steps above.

So I introduce myself and he says “I’m Jimmy D’Amico”, all with modesty.  It took me a short while to learn of the history.   To check one part, was he in a famed duet with Don Angelica for Cabs?

One does remember times in a brush with greatness.

[ironlips]

"...was he in a famed duet with Don Angelica for Cabs? "

Indeed. Several of them. This video is from a Cabs exhibition at a Washington Redskins game in '61. The film is grainy, but the audio is fairly good, considering.

You can tell the difference between Angelica and D'Amico by their respective approaches to the horn. Donald plays with perfect technique,  like Rafael Mendez, Jimmy more aggressively, like Arturo Sandoval (who was an infant then, so come to think of it, may have been inspired by Jimmy D).

The "dancing timbalero" is none other than Bobby Hoffman. (figures, right?)

 

[trptmagnet]

Wow 1961.  So I had just started to play trumpet in 4^th grade in 1960.    Full disclosure, he was always Mr. Angelica to me, director of Bergenfield NJ HS band, and taught at the summer music workshops where I learned scales (earn that Gold Star), and how to read, learned a great deal every summer until being in that HS Band.   Angelica wrote the drill and gave us the circle burst that I understand he innovated at Casper.   But even though I would not say he was a modest guy, we never heard much of his drum corps fame.  I could go on, more another time.  Drum Corps was outside activity.  (I did join Skylines at age 17)

The Cabs ’61 at a packed football game.  The ferocity of the hornline esp. the baritones, wow.  No contras then.  Sops  had that sharp attack, ala Arban I guess.   With Skyliners in 1969, the same ferocity I’ll call it was the approach.  Shall we say Pepe on French horn.

Was this like a post WWII machismo, power of USA?   Anywhere else on the planet had that sound (revert to Cabs ’61 for the model)?   I lived by it summer of ’69 with Sky.  Balls man, blow out the stands.

I’ll listen more for the solos and duet a bit later.  Hearing “the Rumps” at the open and close, I decided finally to try and educate myself a bit.   Espana Cani – a few links

https://youtu.be/bP67TwGWUh4   - this is hysterical.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0y8_4dQZC0

What references do the Cabs look to besides their own?

<edit:   removed Seymour CT Aug 26 2022 mini review, will post elsewhere>

Edited August 30, 2022 by trptmagnet
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