I met Al in his club in the mid 70's. He let me play his horn and was very friendly and willing to talk. My friend snapped some pictures of me with him and I sent them to Al to get autographed. They all came back with his signature. He truly did care about his fans.
That’s a great story. My Dad has three Al Hirt albums, including The Best of Al Hirt... it’s the first music contact I remember to have so you can imagine my admiration to Hirt... the band teacher put me in to play trumpet in Junior High school so there you go....
We are blessed that this footage was, first, made at all, and, second, that it survived. RUclips is a wonderful thing. I am a trumpet player and a singer, and the part from 5:47 to 6:11, while sounding simple, is incredibly difficult to do. This might start a fight, but this footage proves that Al could have made Doc (or Maynard, or Harry, or Wynton, or Maurice, or...) his b***h. Thank you for posting, and R.I.P., Jumbo. I'll see you again soon.
5:47 reminds me of something my trombone teacher way back in the early 70s had me work on with him--duets from Peterson. All three of these guys in the video are insanely amazing.
Hi Ernest, you are very welcome but this is a repost. I have been an Al Hirt fan ever since I heard him make a ' kissing' sound effect on an old Dixieland cassette my dad had the song was 'oh didn't he ramble' I love the list of well known trumpeters you called but for me Al Hirt was the King! No apologies. However if RUclips had existed back then I don think we would have had the appreciation for Al as we do now. from my little Research Al was the king because of the Era he lived in as Television entertainment was the new craze at the time and Al was a wonderful performer that fit that medium of entertainment perfectly.i found that RUclips didn't have a lot of Al hirt videos So I took the liberty in downloading any al hirt vids I could and reposted them. I even bought a VHS of Al hirt on bourbon street performing in his club digitized it and published it . RUclips made me take down a few though due to copyrights.... Imagine that Al hirt is dead and gone and instead of publishing the work of his genius to this generation or the world some one who is most like not even a musician is trying to still make profits from his work .its ridiculous as very few ppl today even know or cares who was Al hirt .But non the less I'm Glad you were able to appreciate and enjoy the post. always happy to please another Al Hirt Fan!
People don't realize what virtuosos Hirt and his band were! When the horns are tailgating, the way they mesh is all intuitive! Pee Wee Spitalera is my all time favorite clarinet player!
"A little bit of this, a little bit of that. I never had any specific style" Al Hirt In the mid-Fifties the established New Orleans trumpet players were Al Hirt - relatively unknown at the time who was working a "day job" besides playing trumpet, Alvin Alcorn - legendary cornetist at the"'Dream Room" on Bourbon St., Tony Almerico at the "Paddock" above the "Famous Door" where New Orleans jazz in it's purist form was played. There was Sharkey Bonano ("Old Sharkey had a fat sound, man. He could blow like wild fire and when he played, I am telling you, the whole place would stop dead-away and listen" Al Hirt) , and George Girard who was holding court at the "Famous Door" who tragically died at 27 years old who was not only an outstanding jazz player but had exceptional stage presence as a singer and entertainer and had he lived would have achieved the commercial acclaim of performers like Louis Prima and Al Hirt. And Roy Liberto was very active. Starting out was a very young trumpet virtuoso Warren Luening who later became a very successful studio musician in Calif. and Louis Prima at his "500 Club" on Bourbon St. across the street from the "Dream Room", just two blocks south were the famous "Court of Two Sisters and Pat O'Brian's. Joe Mares, the brother of Paul Mares who had played trumpet with the Famous New Orleans Rhythm Kings was very active on the N.O music scene and was in the produce business and had a large warehouse on St. Louis Street, he built a recording studio in the middle of the building where he recorded many of the fine, local jazz players for his "Southland" record label. Joe held "New Orleans Crab Boil" dinners for the musicians. at these dinners Al Hirt proved that he was not only a great player, but a good eater as well. It's wasn't long after this that Al Hirt and Pete Fountain started their stints with the Lawrence Welk Band on TV, and the rest is history.
What a FANTASTIC player - one can only dream of playing like Al. He played everything from memory - everything ad lib. NOTE - how could anyone not LIKE this performance. Absolutely wonderful!
Thank you so much for posting this. This is rare and it really shows off Al at the peak of his playing powers. I played trumpet as a high school student in the 70's and my musical hero was Al. But his time had passed by the late 70's and very few of his records were available and what was available was either corny sounding or easy listening. My teacher was a Maynard fan and a Chuck Mangione fan. So I got bombarded with their music (which I now love) and kind of made fun of for liking Al. I knew that Al was awesome but I didn't have anything to prove it. The flashy Doc Severinson (who I also now love) and flashy Maynard got all the trumpet jock attention. I wish youtube had been around then and I wish Al had been more uninhibited in the recording studio and recorded playing like in this video.
Ernest, yes it was difficult being a Al fan by the late 70's. BUT now it's Doc who is considered a bit "corny". Al had the big hits so that kinda sealed his fate. But hey even Sergio and Herb Albert kinda with through the corny phase. It's the downside of being very popular.
@@jody8526937 thank you for the nice reply. You are right. Especially in the US, the bigger success you are, the more vicious they are when they start to tear you down. And I was also in middle school and its nay impossible to argue with another kid when they can appeal to the bias of the band teacher. All my band teacher had to do was slightly roll his eyes or make just the faintest of dismissive guestures and the question of who was the cool trumpet player and who was not was settled. I just had to endure it. But time has vindicated my wider range in music appreciation and all those players are beloved by me now. Hopefully that is true of some of my young debaters too!
![[#2024MAMA] ROSÉ (로제), Bruno Mars - APT. | Mnet 241122 방송](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dgGqD28J6aQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I met Al in his club in the mid 70's. He let me play his horn and was very friendly and willing to talk. My friend snapped some pictures of me with him and I sent them to Al to get autographed. They all came back with his signature. He truly did care about his fans.
That’s a great story. My Dad has three Al Hirt albums, including The Best of Al Hirt... it’s the first music contact I remember to have so you can imagine my admiration to Hirt... the band teacher put me in to play trumpet in Junior High school so there you go....
I was looking some stuff from the “Les Luthiers” and RUclips gifted me with this absolutely amazing footage…lucky day!!
We are blessed that this footage was, first, made at all, and, second, that it survived. RUclips is a wonderful thing. I am a trumpet player and a singer, and the part from 5:47 to 6:11, while sounding simple, is incredibly difficult to do.
This might start a fight, but this footage proves that Al could have made Doc (or Maynard, or Harry, or Wynton, or Maurice, or...) his b***h.
Thank you for posting, and R.I.P., Jumbo. I'll see you again soon.
EdWatts it’s my understanding that there is a Al and Wynton connection.
5:47 reminds me of something my trombone teacher way back in the early 70s had me work on with him--duets from Peterson. All three of these guys in the video are insanely amazing.
He made it look easy when he was young.
He`s so good, I`m laughing cause it`s so fun to discover his greatness. Best Dixieland player ever.
Hi Ernest, you are very welcome but this is a repost. I have been an Al Hirt fan ever since I heard him make a ' kissing' sound effect on an old Dixieland cassette my dad had the song was 'oh didn't he ramble' I love the list of well known trumpeters you called but for me Al Hirt was the King! No apologies. However if RUclips had existed back then I don think we would have had the appreciation for Al as we do now. from my little Research Al was the king because of the Era he lived in as Television entertainment was the new craze at the time and Al was a wonderful performer that fit that medium of entertainment perfectly.i found that RUclips didn't have a lot of Al hirt videos So I took the liberty in downloading any al hirt vids I could and reposted them. I even bought a VHS of Al hirt on bourbon street performing in his club digitized it and published it . RUclips made me take down a few though due to copyrights.... Imagine that Al hirt is dead and gone and instead of publishing the work of his genius to this generation or the world some one who is most like not even a musician is trying to still make profits from his work .its ridiculous as very few ppl today even know or cares who was Al hirt .But non the less I'm Glad you were able to appreciate and enjoy the post. always happy to please another Al Hirt Fan!
I hold Al Hirt in high esteem also. He is a great ambassador for the instrument. Thanks for the post.
People don't realize what virtuosos Hirt and his band were! When the horns are tailgating, the way they mesh is all intuitive! Pee Wee Spitalera is my all time favorite clarinet player!
"A little bit of this, a little bit of that. I never had any specific style"
Al Hirt
In the mid-Fifties the established New Orleans trumpet players were Al Hirt - relatively unknown at the time who was working a "day job" besides playing trumpet, Alvin Alcorn - legendary cornetist at the"'Dream Room" on Bourbon St., Tony Almerico at the "Paddock" above the "Famous Door" where New Orleans jazz in it's purist form was played. There was Sharkey Bonano ("Old Sharkey had a fat sound, man. He could blow like wild fire and when he played, I am telling you, the whole place would stop dead-away and listen" Al Hirt) , and George Girard who was holding court at the "Famous Door" who tragically died at 27 years old who was not only an outstanding jazz player but had exceptional stage presence as a singer and entertainer and had he lived would have achieved the commercial acclaim of performers like Louis Prima and Al Hirt. And Roy Liberto was very active. Starting out was a very young trumpet virtuoso Warren Luening who later became a very successful studio musician in Calif. and Louis Prima at his "500 Club" on Bourbon St. across the street from the "Dream Room", just two blocks south were the famous "Court of Two Sisters and Pat O'Brian's.
Joe Mares, the brother of Paul Mares who had played trumpet with the Famous New Orleans Rhythm Kings was very active on the N.O music scene and was in the produce business and had a large warehouse on St. Louis Street, he built a recording studio in the middle of the building where he recorded many of the fine, local jazz players for his "Southland" record label. Joe held "New Orleans Crab Boil" dinners for the musicians. at these dinners Al Hirt proved that he was not only a great player, but a good eater as well. It's wasn't long after this that Al Hirt and Pete Fountain started their stints with the Lawrence Welk Band on TV, and the rest is history.
What a FANTASTIC player - one can only dream of playing like Al. He played everything from memory - everything ad lib.
NOTE - how could anyone not LIKE this performance. Absolutely wonderful!
Incredible command of the trumpet! Technique, endurance, sound, effects on the horn! What an entertainer! Phenomenal!!!
and they did this 5 nights a week on Bourbon St!
Wahnsinn, wie dieser Mann Trompete spielen konnte! He´s really the king!!
Thank you so much for posting this. This is rare and it really shows off Al at the peak of his playing powers. I played trumpet as a high school student in the 70's and my musical hero was Al. But his time had passed by the late 70's and very few of his records were available and what was available was either corny sounding or easy listening. My teacher was a Maynard fan and a Chuck Mangione fan. So I got bombarded with their music (which I now love) and kind of made fun of for liking Al. I knew that Al was awesome but I didn't have anything to prove it. The flashy Doc Severinson (who I also now love) and flashy Maynard got all the trumpet jock attention. I wish youtube had been around then and I wish Al had been more uninhibited in the recording studio and recorded playing like in this video.
Ernest, yes it was difficult being a Al fan by the late 70's. BUT now it's Doc who is considered a bit "corny". Al had the big hits so that kinda sealed his fate. But hey even Sergio and Herb Albert kinda with through the corny phase. It's the downside of being very popular.
@@jody8526937 thank you for the nice reply. You are right. Especially in the US, the bigger success you are, the more vicious they are when they start to tear you down. And I was also in middle school and its nay impossible to argue with another kid when they can appeal to the bias of the band teacher. All my band teacher had to do was slightly roll his eyes or make just the faintest of dismissive guestures and the question of who was the cool trumpet player and who was not was settled. I just had to endure it. But time has vindicated my wider range in music appreciation and all those players are beloved by me now. Hopefully that is true of some of my young debaters too!
This is incredible, there is nobody who can play like this today.
you are correct!
Just Awesome!
AL is great. He played my grandfather hit I can't get started. I thought it was great too.
RARE ! & Al Hirt awesome !
Absolutley phenominal!
Yesss...
sound like a angel technical brilliance of the devil the boss imho
Java by Al Hirt
Any ideas who the other members of the band were?
I can tell you......on Trumpet is the Boss Al Hirt .....on clarinet is his right hand man pee wee Spitelera and on trombone is AL's Brother Jerry Hirt
It looks like Gerry Hirt on trombone and Pee Wee Spitelera on clarinet.
Is that Pete Fountain?
No not Pete fountain that’s Peewee Spitelera old band mate of Al Hirt on clarinet and Gerald Hirt on trombone Al’s Brother
@@Dorodigital Tks. Man they're good.
Who is the bone player?
Al Hirt's Brother Gerald Hirt