Johnny Trudell (May 11, 1939 – May 29, 2021) was an American jazz and studio musician and composer whose instruments included

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...

valve trombone A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fittings ...

, and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

. Trudell was active in the Detroit music scene and participated in numerous Motown recordings.

Life and work

Trudell graduated from Cass Tech High School and began working professionally as a musician. He played on many classic

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

albums from the 1960s and early 1970s, working with artists and groups including

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

Martha Reeves Martha Rose Reeves (born July 18, 1941) is an American R&B and pop singer. She is the lead singer of the Motown girl group Martha and the Vandellas which scored over a dozen hit singles, including "Come and Get These Memories", " Nowhere to R ...

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

The Four Tops ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, and many others. Trudell developed and directed the Motown brass section and coordinated the arrangers for the label. In 1979 Trudell released his first album, ''Dream Dance'', an attempt at a disco-Jazz crossover. By the time the album released, the disco wave was over and the album was not a success. He released another album in 1993, ''But Beautiful''. Trudell also played with the

Tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English language, English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in p ...

and was involved in a big band album by

Wendell Harrison Wendell Harrison (born October 1, 1942) is an American jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist. Early life and career Wendell Harrison was born in Detroit, Michigan. In Detroit, Harrison began formal jazz studies with pianist Barry Harris. H ...

, ''Live In Concert'', 1992. He worked as a trumpeter in the local jazz scene and played at many functions with Marcus Belgrave. Trudell was one of six musicians who played at his Belgrave's funeral. He also worked from the early 1970s with The New McKinney's Cotton Pickers, Olive Brown & Her Blues Chasers, Barbara Ware, and Ron Kischuk. Between 1970 and 2013 he was involved in twelve recording sessions in the field of jazz.Tom Lord, ''The Jazz Discography Online'', Lord Music, accessed May 31, 2021; (subscription required; accessible at many libraries);

Discography

* Olive Brown & Her Blues Chasers: ''The New Empress of the Blues'' (Jazz Odyssee, 1973), with

Ted Buckner Theodore Guy Buckner (December 14, 1913, St. Louis, Missouri - April 12, 1976, Detroit, Michigan) was an American jazz saxophonist. He was the brother of Milt Buckner. Buckner was raised in Detroit, where he played very early in his career befo ...

, Mike Montgomery, Bill Bolle,

J. C. Heard James Charles Heard (August 10, 1917 – September 27, 1988) was an American swing, bop, and blues drummer. Biography Heard was born in Dayton, Ohio and was raised in Detroit, Michigan. As a young child, he performed as a tap dancer in a ...

* Masters Of Music: ''The Masters of Music Presents Detroit Jam'' (Brassors, 2011), with Johnny Trudell, Ron Kischuk, Gary Schunk, Marion Hayfen, Gayelynn McKinney, Judie Cochill

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Trudell, Johnny 1939 births 2021 deaths American composers American jazz musicians Musicians from Detroit