Discography

Brief Bio:

June of 1979 marked my first legitimate album recording date and it took place at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, California for the Fantasy Studios Records label.  I had just turned twenty-one years old.  This date was a “one and only live performance and recording” resulting in the Living Proof  album with the world famous soul singer artist, “Sylvester”.  I played lead trumpet and was the quasi-section leader of five horns, two of which were regulars with the band, Marc Baum (alto sax) and Dan Reagan (trombone). The band was complimented by a string section of S.F. Symphony musicians along with backup vocalists, “Two Tons O’ Fun”, Martha Wash and Izora Armstead, and… joined along with upcoming vocalist Jeannie Tracy. The live performance recording portion of this album spanned three sides of the four for the double album set – a prized collector’s item now.

From that point on my studio career took off.  During those following four years I had recorded on more than thirty (30) soul and funk fusion records, including two for the band ‘Collage‘ of which I had been a founding member. This period was important for me as an aspiring young trumpeter, composer and arranger.  Most of my horn arrangements during this period were for three or four horns, and at times as large as seven (as in for the song ‘Imagination‘ from the Whispers album of the same name) for the sound track written and performed entirely by my band Arrival.  The Whispers awarded me the seven-piece horn arrangement which was absolutely exhilarating for me.  The vocals were performed entirely by the Whispers and guest vocalist Grady Wilkins, but the song/music was completely performed by our own Bay Area grown group,  Arrival.  After signing on with the Solar Records label (to be the label’s EWF-type of band), our group’s name changed to Collage.  Collage went on to record three albums for the Solar Records label – the first two records were records that I contributed song writing and improvised trumpet and flugelhorn solos.  It was so electrifying to hear the group on the radio and to especially hear my flugelhorn solo on “When You Smile“, and then later on hear my song contribution and trumpet solo on “Love is for Everyone” from the “Get in Touch” album. (Music and lyrics co-written by me and Larry Baptiste). Hearing these tunes on the smooth jazz stations was just so darned cool.  It was a fun and interesting time for sure, stretching, and exciting. Fantastic musicians and good friends in that band. But the horn band thing had morphed into the synthesizer thing and it was time to move on to another thing…

I walked away (literally) from the ‘funky soul’ nightclub band music business in 1983.  Keyboard synthesizers had become the “new thing, new sound” and thus horns and funk rhythm guitars were considered newly obsolete.  But as a result, an entirely new life-path emerged for me coupled with new and exciting opportunities in music performance and writing. I am grateful for the years performing and recording within that idiom.  It didn’t occur to me at the time, but there were only a handful or more of us trumpeters doing what I was doing in that particular recording industry. This funk/soul recording work certainly has much history to it, and fortunately, the recording techniques and equipment, although then not quite yet digital, were well advanced in tech, capture/recording, and sound reproduction.  Today with Vinyl to CD to cloud, it’s all good. Preserved. Whew!

In late July of 1998 I had the great opportunity to attend a week-long brass chamber workshop hosted at Humboldt State University, California.  That experience strongly redirected my purpose and focus in music. I saw the light!

In all ways, respect the current state of the funkadelic groove.   – DB