| Roger Ingram | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Roger O'Neal Ingram |
| Born | November 13, 1957 , Pasadena California, United States |
| Genres | Jazz, Swing Music, Big Band, Pop music, Christian Music |
| Years active | 1972-present |
| Labels | Avion, Blue Note Records, Concord Records, First Avenue Records,GRP Records, Jazz Band Records, Jazzed Media, MCA Records, Milan Records, Milestone Records, Origin Records, Panda Digital, Sea Breeze Jazz, Sony Music, Summit, UTV Records, etc. |
| Associated acts | Harry Connick, Jr., Maynard Ferguson, Ray Charles, Woody Herman, Paul Anka, Liza Minnelli |
| Website | RogerIngram.com |
Roger Ingram (born November 13, 1957) is a lead trumpet player, educator, and author. He is best known for being the lead trumpet player on the Harry Connick, Jr., Maynard Ferguson, Ray Charles, and Woody Herman big bands, and his 2008 trumpet textbook, Clinical Notes on Trumpet Playing.
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Roger O'Neal Ingram was born November 13, 1957 in St. Luke's Hospital in Pasadena, California, the youngest of three children born to Hazel Ruth Ingram and Walter Edward (Ed) Ingram. His mother, Hazel, was born in Lamar, Arkansas December 20, 1923 and his father, Ed, (August 28, 1903 - March 8, 1992) was born at Niagara Falls, New York.[1][2]
Ingram's mother ran the household and worked as a tailor and dressmaker from their home; his father was a free-lance artist, actor, and musician. Both were instrumental in his development.[2].
Roger Ingram's father, Ed, was multi-talented; in addition to being an artist (he worked on the early Popeye cartoons, and several early Disney animations, including "Fantasia,") he had his own radio show in Los Angeles in the 1930s where he sang and played ukulele. During the 1940s and 50's he worked in Hollywood as a singer and actor; he was in more than 30 movies, and can be seen in several classics, including The Joker's Wild, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Superman, This Island Earth, and Titanic.[3] During Roger's childhood, Ed supported the family as a commercial artist. He developed the concept and wrote the pilot for "24 On / 24 Off" which became the popular tv show Emergency![4] Edward loved music in general and jazz in particular; he played many instruments including saxophone and harmonica. He encouraged Roger's interest in music by bringing him to hear the jazz greats of the day, including Louis Armstrong, Harry James, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Al Hirt, Buddy Rich, Barney Bigard, Jack Teagarden, Kid Ory, Woody Herman, Rafael Mendez, and Teddy Buckner. His father gave Roger his first trumpet and mouthpiece in 1965; the horn is a bare brass trumpet made in American-occupied post-war Japan, the bell is stamped "Koondr, Kailangan Tokyo."
Ingram began playing the trumpet at eight. Growing up in Los Angeles, he became acquainted with some of the finest Hollywood trumpet players of the time. Many of these introductions came through John Rinaldo, his band director at Eagle Rock High School. Mr. Rinaldo spearheaded a very fertile and successful high school jazz program. Besides Ingram, Mr Rinaldo's jazz program produced such great musicians as drummers Carlos Vega and Sam Wiley, bassists Scott Colley and David Stone, guitarist Larry Koonse, saxophonists Doug Rinaldo, Brian Mitchell, and Gary Hypes, trombonists Arturo Velasco and Luis Bonilla, pianist Guy Steiner, and trumpeters Bobby Muzingo and Buddy Gordon. Through Mr. Rinaldo, Ingram was able to meet and study with Bobby Shew and Laroon Holt. Other teachers Roger studied with include Bud Brisbois, Mannie Klein, Roy Stevens, Bobby Findley, Carmine Caruso, Reynold Schilke, James Stamp, Uan Rasey, Mel Broils, and Dan Jacobs.[2]
At only sixteen, Ingram toured with the great Louie Bellson Big Band, sharing section duties with Blue Mitchell, Bobby Shew, Cat Anderson and Frank Szabo. His first big international gigs were with that esteemed group during the Belvedere King Size Jazz Festival Tour at Varsity Stadium in Toronto, the Winnipeg Arena in Winnipeg, and the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, Canada. After his stint with Bellson, Ingram graduated high school and then joined the Quincy Jones Big Band for a fall tour. Immediately following that tour, at seventeen, he spent a year touring with the Connie Stevens show, playing lead trumpet for the first time with a popular music act.
At eighteen, Ingram played first trumpet with the international pop star Tom Jones, and remained with him for six years.[5] After that, he moved to Las Vegas, where for two years he gained invaluable experience playing production shows and star acts on the world renowned Las Vegas Strip.
In 1985, Ingram joined the famous Woody Herman Orchestra as lead trumpet.[6] Ingram's friend, Ron Stout, held the jazz chair at that time, and was instrumental in getting him onto the band. Ingram remained with "The Herd" until Herman's death in 1987. He recorded three Grammy nominated albums with the legendary band leader: The 50th Anniversary Tour, Woody's Gold Star, and The Concord Years.[7] Ingram's tenure with Herman's Thundering Herd was a vital developmental period, as he matured into one of the world's preeminent lead trumpet players. Roger Ingram is the last lead trumpeter to play with the true Woody Herman Orchestra.[8]
Ingram returned to his hometown of Los Angeles after Woody's death, founding and co-leading his own big band with the late saxophonist Steve Elliott. The Ingram-Elliott big band featured talented artists such as Bobby Shew, Till Brönner, Bill Watrous, and Gary Foster.[9] In 1988, Ingram worked with the famous WDR Jazz Orchestra in Cologne, Germany. While in Germany, he recorded works by Bob Brookmeyer and Jim McNeeley, featuring Mel Lewis on drums. During this time, he recorded with saxophonist Loren Schoenberg and pianist/composer Django Bates.
Later that year, Ingram joined the orchestra of one of his trumpet inspirations, Maynard Ferguson, and recorded three albums with the high note legend. In October 2004, Ingram performed as a featured artist at Stratospheric, a four day festival honoring Maynard. In September 2006, he performed as a featured soloist at The Maynard Ferguson Tribute Concert in St. Louis, Missouri along with many other world class trumpet players, including his long-time friend and colleague Wayne Bergeron.[10] After a total of three years as Maynard's lead trumpeter, Ingram moved to Florida, where he was a teaching assistant and private instructor at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. While in Miami, he collaborated with his friend and colleague, Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, recording the Grammy Award winning album, Danzon.[11] He also did a variety of commercial recording work, performed and toured with the New Xavier Cugat Orchestra, and worked on a consistent basis with the Peter Graves Orchestra.[2]
In 1990, Ingram joined the newly formed big band of singer, pianist, composer, and arranger, Harry Connick, Jr. He recorded three albums with Connick[12], working with him until the orchestra disbanded in 1993. The following year, Ingram toured with vocal legend Frank Sinatra. Later in 1994, he moved to New York City, joining Wynton Marsalis and his Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Ingram recorded three albums with Marsalis, including the Pulitzer-Prize winning, Blood on the Fields[13].
Ingram left Jazz at Lincoln Center in 1997 to tour and record with the legendary Ray Charles for two years. After touring with singer-songwriter Paul Anka, he joined the re-formed Harry Connick, Jr. big band in 1998 and recorded the Grammy nominated album, Come by Me. In April 2000, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) gave that album a Gold Record certification. In the summer of 2001, Ingram did a brief stint touring and playing lead trumpet with the Count Basie Orchestra, returning to tour with Connick in November. Among the 18 albums and DVDs that Roger has recorded with Connick, his most noteworthy performances are on Blue Light, Red Light, When My Heart Finds Christmas, the Grammy-winning Songs I Heard, Harry for the Holidays, Thou Shalt Not, Chanson du Vieux Carre, Oh My NOLA, and What a Night! A Christmas Album. Today, Ingram continues to tour with and work on all of Connick's big band projects.
While living in New York, Ingram performed in a freelance capacity in more than 20 Broadway productions including Chicago, Grease, Cats, Les Misérables, Play On, and The Producers. In addition, Roger played trumpet for the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre and he was the principal trumpet player in the broadway shows and cast albums of Thou Shalt Not, The Pajama Game, and Harry on Broadway, Act 1.[14][15][16]
From the start of Ingram's career, he performed at jazz festivals around the world: the Monterey Jazz Festival, The Concord Jazz Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival, Nice, Newport, The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, The Montreal Jazz Festival, and The Rimpelrock Festival. He has made appearances at multiple LA Jazz Institute festivals, the Midwest Band Clinic, the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE), the Charles Colin Brass Conference, and the International Trumpet Guild Conference.
Since 2005, Ingram has been an Artist in Residence of the Music Conservatory at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. After 4 years of monthly commuting from New York, he moved to La Grange, Illinois in 2008. In addition to teaching, concertizing, and conducting clinics and master classes throughout the world, his busy schedule includes touring and recording with Harry Connick, Jr., Paul Anka, the Woody Herman Alumni Orchestra, and subbing with the Liza Minnelli orchestra.
In August 2008, Roger Ingram's trumpet textbook, "Clinical Notes on Trumpet Playing" was first published. Ingram's description/goal of the book is in his introduction. "The strategies and exercises discussed in this book are my interpretation and the result of information I've absorbed during my life about music and trumpet playing. This book is also an explanation of how I've taken these concepts (and my own discoveries) and made them work for me. It is my hope that through your application of the data contained within this book you can do the same for yourself, as ultimately, you are your best teacher." [17]
The book was immediately embraced by trumpet players and music educators around the world: it has been sold in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, and The Netherlands, and has been included on the recommended or required reading lists for music programs of universities and conservatories worldwide. As of December 2008 it is in the 6th printing.[18]
Ingram is one of the most sought after and prolific lead trumpet players of our time. Well known for his dynamic sound and upper register, and feel for swing, Roger's musical legacy is embodied by his respect and regard for artistic integrity. Ingram is considered by Harry Connick, Jr., as well as many others, to be the finest lead trumpet player in the world. His definitive voice and performance mastery undoubtedly place him among the lineage of great lead trumpeters in the history of jazz music.[19]
In a freelance/sideman or session musician capacity, the many artists Roger has performed with include the following: Pepper Adams, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Jay and the Americans, Frankie Avalon, Pearl Bailey, Tex Beneke, Chuck Berry, Bob Brookmeyer, Les Brown, George Burns, Cab Calloway, Conte Candoli, Pete Candoli, Jack Carter, Ron Carter, Joe Castro, Doc Cheatham, Cher, Rosemary Clooney, Al Cohn, Natalie Cole, Buddy DeFranco, Dom DeLuise, Harry Sweets Edison, Bill Evans, Fabian, Jon Faddis, Joe Farrell, Jose Feliciano, Eddie Fisher, The Four Freshmen, The Four Lads, The Four Tops, Connie Francis, Annette Funicello, Jackie Gayle, Herb Geller, Stan Getz, Terry Gibbs, Dizzy Gillespie, Edie Gorme, Jimmy Heath, Joey Heatherton, The New Horace Heidt Orchestra, Joe Henderson, Bill Holman, Lena Horne, Milt Jackson, JJ Johnson, Jack Jones, Frankie Lane, Steve Lawrence, Jay Leno, John Lewis, Mel Lewis, Rich Little, Gloria Loring, Henry Mancini, Chuck Mangione, Shelly Manne, Ann Margaret, Rose Marie, Johnny Mathis, Jim McNeely, Carmen McRae, The Mills Brothers, The Modernaires, Jack Montrose, The New Jack Morgan Orchestra, Gerry Mulligan, Anne Murray, Wayne Newton, Helen O'Connell, Anita O'Day, Chico O'Farrill, The O'Jays, Bernadette Peters, Bill Porter, Don Rickles, Nelson Riddle Orchestra, Joan Rivers, Marcus Roberts, Kenny Rogers, Shorty Rogers, Carl Saunders, Doc Severinsen, Bud Shank, Avril Shaw, Jack Sheldon, Bobby Shew, The Silvers, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Zoot Sims, Suzanne Sommers, Ira Sullivan, Donna Summer, The Temptations, Toni Tennille, Clark Terry, The Tonight Show Orchestra, Jerry Vale, Frankie Valli, Sarah Vaughn, Slappy White, Margaret Whiting, Joe Williams, John Williams, Al Wilson, Cassandra Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Phil Woods
   | Roger Ingram's official website - RogerIngram.com HOME |
| | Roger Ingram on YouTube - YouTube - Roger Ingram |
| | Roger Ingram on YouTube - YouTube - Roger Ingram |
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