Claude Gordon

It was my privilege to first meet Claude Gordon as a very young man, and to be among his youngest of pupil’s. First studying at his home in Big Bear Lake, and later at his studio in Woodland Hills. The circumstances of our meeting, and my relationship with him and his family, I hope, will offer some fond memories and insight into the man and perhaps remind so many of his other students of his familiar stories.

Claude Gordon was my friend, my mentor, my role model and my teacher. He played the most significant role in my life and had the greatest influence over me as a young man, teenager and as an adult. Our years together created a special bond that I am only able to speak about now. His loss was a devastating blow to me and I know to countless others. I grew up in and around the Gordon home in Big Bear Lake where I took my first lesson and studied each summer, as my Grandparents also lived in Big Bear Lake and were family friends. I knew Claude’s first wife Jenny as the Safeway checkout lady, as a child my Grandmother took me shopping with her to Safeway. Each season Jenny would say “I see you have your Grandson Paul with you this season”, and the conversation would go on from there. My Grandmother was a retired surgical nurse and during the off-season she was often the only medical help in town during the winter months. My Grandfather was a retired Captain of Detectives and a noteworthy man. He was also the local Deputy Sheriff and owned the only hardware store in town and was the only locksmith so Claude and Grandfather were well acquainted.

It was customary for me to spend the summer months with my Grandparents, practicing my trumpet then attending the University of Redlands Summer Conservatory for Developing Artists. I was 13 years old, my band director Leon Badham had taken me through the Arban’s Book as far as he could and each day after school he would sit down with his bass trumpet and play the exercises with me in what we called or almost cover-to-cover routine. On the back of the cover was a full page ad with a photograph of Claude Gordon advertising the Systematic Approach and it haunted me each day as we closed the book. Finally one day Mr. Badham told me if I wanted to attain my dream of being a professional musician I would need a great teacher like Claude Gordon because he’d taught me all he knew. I was stunned, how was I supposed to find Claude Gordon let alone get accepted or afford the lessons. I had no idea that Claude Gordon was married to Jenny. The summer was coming up and I was feeling pretty low not knowing how to find Claude Gordon.

Off to Big Bear Lake I went and my usual routine began of 3 to 5 hours of practice in the morning and then after lunch I would go back to the hardware store with my Grandfather after lunch, earning my hourly wage.

I knew if anyone could help me it would be my Grandfather. He was a famous detective, the Captain of Detectives; surely he could find Claude Gordon. I was very quiet at lunch one day and he asked me why so I told him the story. I was shocked by his answer; he told me if I really wanted it bad enough I’d have to find him on my own or it wouldn’t have any meaning, I was devastated. About a week later he told me he needed me in the store in the morning for some work. So off I went, he had me cut several lengths of 2-inch chain. A man came in whom I was asked to give the chain to. After my Grandfather rang up the register he called me over. He said, “You wanted to meet Claude Gordon didn’t you”? I said “yes!” He told me that if I hurried I might catch him that was he walking out the front door. I ran out after him but he had disappeared into the street. I came back inside and asked my Grandfather did he know Claude Gordon. He said yes but he couldn’t help me, I was on my own, all he told me was he lived right there in Big Bear Lake.

The next morning I got up to practice and found a note from my Grandfather on it was a map to Claude’s home and he had gotten up very early and repaired the tires on a bicycle and told me it was only a 5 mile round trip to Claude’s house, the rest was up to me. I set off to Claude’s house frightened out of my mind. It took forever to get there once I found the house I rode around for over an hour, I asked the neighbors they confirmed it was Claude Gordon’s house. So I began to pray for strength and I set out up the path. At the moment I got near the front door step the next door neighbor came out and said “son, if I were you I wouldn’t ring that doorbell”. I had to; my whole life depended on it. I was going to be a professional trumpet player and this was the man who could make it happen. I didn’t know what I was going to say, so I rang the doorbell.

The door opened and it was Jenny, the checkout lady from the Safeway supermarket. She took one look at me, turned and yelled to Claude’s upstairs office and said “Claude I think this one is for you”! He came marching down the stairs and said, “we’re not interested” and began to close the door. I don’t know what came over me but I put my foot in the door and said, “I want you to make me a great trumpet player”. He was set back for a moment, he then said he only taught professionals and semi-professionals. I then got more determined and told him who my Grandfather was and he hadn’t heard me play. I told him if I didn’t measure up I’d leave. He just stood there for a moment, and then said well don’t just stand there come in and go upstairs to my office.

Claude gave me a horn and Bach 7C and had me go through the paces, he had me play a pedal C, and I played a high F for him and portions of the Carnival of Venice. The more I played, the more he asked me to play and the more pleased he became. He told me he didn’t accept students as young as me but after hearing my dream and determination. He told me if I got the approval of my parents in New York and my grandparents support he would accept me, three days later I took my first lesson.

This is one of the many stories that Claude told me during my lessons with him.

Claude’s beginnings were with his family as a radio performer as a child, performing on the accordion and playing early cornet solos. His impressions were deeply ingrained in his memory sitting and listening to radio broadcasts of the John Phillip Sousa Band featuring cornet soloist Herbert L. Clarke. You must picture a time when radio was a main event, a telephone was a luxury and in his small town a piano an extravagance, also factor that he came from a strict and disciplined Jehovah’s Witness background. Claude had written Herbert L. Clarke a letter on Sept 25th 1936 concerning some concerns he was having with the mouthpiece slipping down low on his lower lip, and was hoping that Clarke could help with this.

In late 1936 Claude moved to Los Angeles where it was his hope to study cornet with his idol Herbert L. Clarke, who had long since established himself in Long Beach as the Director of the Municipal Band after the death of Sousa, who was very much a hold-over from the last century and carried on the tradition of Sousa. Upon meeting with Clarke and playing for him Claude was dealt a difficult hand. First Clarke told him that he didn’t have an opening in his schedule to teach him and the best he could do, would be to place him on a waiting list and call him sometime in the future, with one condition of stipulation. He was not to touch or play a single note on his cornet, Clarke told him he had learned to play incorrectly and if he was to eventually accept him as a student he would need to start him from scratch, from the beginning. Claude agreed and it would be nearly a year when the call came that Clarke was ready to teach him.

During that time when Claude could not play the cornet he had to support his wife and himself by playing the accordion, and he had to teach himself all of the current popular tunes of the day, which was no small feat. All he had to play on was his childhood accordion, he had to go out and buy a professional accordion, and he had to make payments on it. He played in small restaurants, parties, etc. to make a living. During this time he met and became friends with a very successful accordion player and bandleader named Lawrence Welk, they remained friends for the rest of their lives.

After Claude began taking lessons from Clarke, he got him playing correctly and Claude went on to study with Clarke for 9 years, until Clarke’s death. After Clarke passed Claude studied with Louis Maggio for 4 years. Claude went on to have quite a career as a 1st trumpet player, sometime in the 40’s Claude switched to trumpet and became a studio trumpet player for radio shows, in particular, “The Whistler”, and “The Shadow”, working under conductors Lud Gluskin and Wilber Hatch. Claude can be heard playing 1st trumpet on the “I Love Lucy” theme song.

The first day I met Claude, once I got past the introduction, Claude told me to go up to his office upstairs, after I played for him and he was pleased, he questioned me about who I listened to, and admired, among trumpet players, I told Claude I liked the “Stan Kenton Orchestra”, Al Hirt, and Maynard Ferguson, when I said Maynard Ferguson his eyebrow went up, he got up from his desk, went over to the cabinets and pulled out an old cylinder recording and put it on an original cylinder recorder to play it, he said “ it’s all been done before, now listen to this”, I couldn’t believe my ears, this guy was doing this on a cornet with an oval shaped wooden mouthpiece, before the turn of the century. What Claude played for me was a piece by Bohumir Kryl, needless to say I was very impressed. Even at a very young age I knew that I had to learn everything I could from this man, Claude made a promise, that if I did everything he told me to do, he would make me a great trumpet player. Through my lessons with Claude he made a point to pass on the lineage of the early cornetists, the literature, the form and articulations (lip trills, mordent, a turn, grace notes, phrasing etc.), and how to perform them.

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THE DAZZLING SOLOISTS

Crowds of thousands would mass for concerts by well known bands. Highlighting these concerts were solo performances by famous cornetists, trombonists, and baritone horn players who had become public heros. Some brass soloists would receive fabulous salaries, such as the extreme egoist, Jules Levy, who received a fantastic sum of $10,000 per year.

Each soloist was a self styled performer who specialized in certain acrobatic techniques such as triple tonguing, flying fingers, or incredible intervallic leaps. Each soloist had a title (often self-endowed), such as the "Paganini of the Cornet," the "Cornet King," or the "World's Greatest Cornetist," and donned magnificent uniforms garnished with silver and gold medals.

Some of the greatest cornet soloists included Jean Baptiste Arban, Henry Maury, and Saint Jacome from France, Allesandro Liberati from Italy, Hermann Bellstedt and Theodor Hoch from Germany, John Hartmann, George Swift and Jack Macintosh from England, Bohumir Kryl from Bohemia, and Del Staigers, Herbert L. Clarke, Walter Rogers, Framk Simon, Walter Emerson, Ben Bent, W. Paris Chambers, and Walter M. Smith from America. Other great brass soloists included Arhtur Pryor, Henry Filmore, Somone Mantia, Frank Holton, and Leo Zimmerman on trombone, and Joseph DeLuca and Thomas D. Van Osten on the double-bell euphonium.

The graphic at left, from Scientific American (circa 1888), depicts the "registration of a cornet solo by the phonograph." Among all instruments, the cornet was especially well-suited to the early phonograph, as it reproduced with striking brilliance. Cornet solos were particularly popular on records of the 1890s and 1900s, and the Scientific American feature aptly demonstrates interest in the technique of cornet recordings.

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Lineage

It was my fortune to be a family friend of Claude and his family, he was stoic and stern when he thought he was the master, I the pupil. If by some great fortune you had the opportunity to know Claude Gordon or study with him, not only is his impression vivid, he, Claude gave a small piece of himself to his students, I constantly catch players repeating him or acting like him. Just as, if I influence anyone today each of them get a little piece of Claude. What most people have overlooked is the piece of himself he gave to us was that imprint of Herbert L. Clarke, his mentor, idol and teacher. So you see there is a bloodline or lineage that can be traced. This small gift was a small part of what made Claude a great teacher and master.

The Master Teacher

Claude though immensely successful throughout his life was financially just as disciplined and hard working. Claude taught me that advice not paid for and earned will merely fall by the wayside. Although Claude made it clear to each new student that he would lead you through a maze with minimal problems and when he was finished he would reset the pupil and graduate him. I still find it remarkable that more than half of Claude’s pupils just wanted to learn a couple of tricks to play high notes. Often looking interested they would miss their next lesson, not pay and, of course, never be heard from again. It also wasn’t until then did he explain to the pupil what his diagnosis and prognosis was and how to put all the pieces back together. I am among only a few that toughed out the waiting and practicing, I believe it was four and a half years when he finished and completed my understanding. I’ve never given my playing another thought since, it works perfectly upon demand as a reflex.

The CG Lesson Format

The Claude Gordon lesson format was direct, he stood, or on occasion, sat behind his desk at the Gordon Studio, in Woodland Hills, in his front office. He had a habit of sharpening pencils with his electric pencil sharpener and then lining up 5 or 6 pencils while pensively tapping one during your lesson. You performed each week before him so he could monitor and address your progress. He personally wrote down your next week’s lesson in a staved notebook, in his own handwriting, including musical notation and models with drills for lip and muscle flexibility. He had these rubber stamps made that he used with red ink on each page, which included reminders of your personal bad habits and pointers in your lesson plan. The black electric metronome was a part of every lesson and a point of contention with many a student, because of the difficulty in staying in tempo with it. Each lesson began with the Systematic approach, a Part I, and some variation on a Part II, then an average plan would include the Clarke’s Studies, and then he would vary each lesson plan from there.

The Metronome

If you had the privilege to have studied with Claude Gordon (Prior to the mid 1970’s) this Metronome should stir a memory or two. I used to tease Claude that the metronome, on occasion, used to exhibit a certain eccentric, uneven tic, a floating, or inconsistency. Inevitably I was scolded and stoically reassured that this was not possible because of its electric function. He had switched to this model from the old “A” frame style wooden key wound mechanical metronome, for just that reason. However in fact he had to replace a couple of them because they did wear out.
One day, after a rather triumphant execution of an exercise on my behalf, Claude sternly pulled the plug from the wall socket, wrapped the cord around it, and handed it to me. “Here, it’s yours, you’ve earned it!” He opened the cabinet door, removing a new box with the latest electric model, prompting me to be more than prepared for the next week lessons review. Privately, I still use this old metronome today for memories sake.

The Guinea Pig…

Claude was also one the first health nuts promoting the new trend of nutrition ideas for the time. He supplemented his income as a teacher by selling items supportive of trumpet playing, as a Shaklee distributor this included vitamins, minerals and nutritional supplements. He had me on a regimen of soy lecithin powder, a mega dose multi-vitamin, separate tablets of C and B plus mega daily doses of vitamin E, di-Alpha Tocopheryl wheat germ oil. I so liked the nutty taste of the wheat germ oil, I used to pop them and chew them, and then dispose of the gelatin capsules. My daily intake was around 10,000 international units per day.

Even more than nutrition, I was Claude’s mouthpiece and equipment guinea pig.
As a young student of Claude’s I started on an Olds Ambassador model trumpet and a 7C mouthpiece. Each six months moving me to a larger mouthpiece until eventually arriving at a 1 1/4C skeletonized Bach with a Morse taper, #19 drill and a full Schmidt backbore. His concept was to overdevelop the entire physical structure for my later career. Muscle has memory.

Mouthpieces And Rims Into The River At Cal State Sacramento During A Kenton Clinic?????

Claude was using me as his guinea pig, wanting me to play on larger and larger mouthpieces. Claude’s theory was that the development of your embouchure on large equipment would overdevelop your chops to the extent that when you backed off and went smaller, you would be strong and sound great, if you did this during your developing years. So, I had a large collection of Bob Reeves mouthpieces that I had used.

At the Kenton clinic the year before Mike Vax gave me one of the first of 3 Schilke 13a4a mpc’s made, I tried it at rehearsal.

So, at the Kenton clinic in Sacramento a year later, Stan took me on a walk and told me he could not hire me on the band because I was too young (15).
He told me: “You could start your own band and create work”

After the walk I was going back to the dorm, my goal shattered, carrying this box of mouthpieces around, it was heavy, I concluded:
I only need 1 mpc!
I am done testing mpc’s with Claude!
I have got to focus on 1 mpc now!
I looked at the box and said screw it, and chucked it in the river.
The Kenton Trpt section freaked and tried to go after them.

I made that mpc work for me until now – Now, I have designed my own mouthpiece.

Chop Problems - Trumpet Related Injuries

Over the years there have been a number of myth’s perpetuated subsequent to an operation. I thought it might clarify things to set the record straight. There are no short cuts to playing in the upper register.

On two occasions, while performing on stage, I was struck in the bell.
The first was at “Harrah’s” Casino in Lake Tahoe, in 1974. I was 17 and featured in the middle of the show, upon my introduction I would go out into the audience, lay flat on my back and perform my high note number, 3 shows a night, 6 nights a week. After the first two weeks the crowd’s prevented me from going out into the audience. The shows were all “sold out” so I had to perform my solo from the stage, while standing for lack of room. As I arrived on the final high note the conductor (an over the top show business kind of cat) threw his arms out to cut the band off and hit my bell, bending it and placing two deep gashes in my top lip, with blood everywhere. I will spare you the details. My agent was unable to break my contract, I was working for the stereotypical Italian cat’s who in those days, well let us just say, you didn’t argue with, I had to continue to play and fulfill the engagement another 4 weeks. They were generous giving me a nice bonus at the end. It took me two months off the horn to heal leaving two permanent scar ridges forever. I went directly back to Claude Gordon and after six months I was back working.

Second, I was working a show at the “Roxy” on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood with a well known rock group, circa 1977.The last night of the last show, Saturday night, I finished on a double D. The electric bass player was so taken as he turned he struck my bell with the neck of the bass, placing a nice V shape into it. And as had happened with the previous occasion, my shirt was no longer white. Sunday morning I awoke not only to the terrible pain and swelling but a noticeable structure of torn tissue. I called Claude Gordon at home, he directed me to find a maxillofacial plastic surgeon immediately. Wednesday they removed a cist the size of a pearl, from the resulting trauma of the injury. They closed the incision with 5 stitches exactly where the mouthpiece lay. It took me 6 months of weekly visits to Claude, reduced to a pupil again, to regain my prowess. He started me from square one, the Clarke’s Studies et al.

Claude Gordon Benge Trumpet Ad 1977

Downbeat 1959 - Gordon & Conkling

Jules Levy 1839-1903	" Du Du with variations" (Levy)
	Levy was probably the first cornetist to work for Edison making test recordings as early as 1878, briefly leaving the Gilmore Band to do so. He also made at least fifteen recordings for Columbia , and twenty-three for Victor. Unfortunately, they were made in the 1890’s and did not truly reflect his virtuosic playing that was in his prime. Levy was such an incredible cornetist in his prime that he was given a diamond studded cornet built by the C. G. CONN company in 1883, the same year he began to endorse their instruments. Testimonials of some of his many students attest to his great abilities not only as a cornetist, but also as a teacher. “His aim is for the advancement of his pupils and he spares no pains to accomplish this end.”
John Hazel 1865-1948	"Fantasie Characteristic" (Hazel)
	Hazel was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania in September 28, 1865 and died in Williamsport in January 26, 1948. In 1891, he was a guest soloist with Patrick Gilmore's famed 22nd Regiment Band in New York City. Soon a national music magazine of the time hailed him as "one of the greatest cornetists the world has produced." From 1903 to 1907, Hazel was invited to record several solos and duets for the Edison Phonographic Studios. In addition, he also performed on hundreds of records with the Edison studio band and orchestra.
Herbert L. Clarke 1867-1945	"Showers Of Gold"	Letter from H.L Clarke to Elden Benge
	Herbert Lincoln Clarke was born in Woburn, Massachusetts, Sept.12, 1867. His father was an organ player and his three older brother's were also musicians. He was self taught on his brother Edwin's cornet. He played for the Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra, Queen's Own Rifles Band, Citizens Band of Toronto, and in 1893, joined John Phillip Sousa's band. In 1933 he conducted the Long Beach Municipal Band until 1943. Dr. Clarke was a master cornetist, performed over 6,000 public concerts, toured 14 countries, 473 concerts in one year and published many technical manuals. He died on Jan 30, 1945 in Los Angeles, California, and was interred in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C., near the grave of John Phillip Sousa.
Bohumir Kryl 1875-1961	"King Carnival" (Kryl)
	Mr. Kryl first became prominent as a soloist of Sousa's Band. He later became associated with Mr. Innes and was a soloist and assistant director of this band for several seasons. He then organized his own band and achieved such success that if he were not remarkably well balanced in all respects he would have been justified in losing his mental equilibrium. His playing was compared to Caruso’s incredible voice. Kryl had an exceptional range, a rich clean tone, and an exceptional triple tonguing technique. He may have actually been one of the first cornetists to produce multiphonics on the instrument. He would play a low pitch on the instrument and hum a higher one, thus producing actually a third "difference tone." He was so good at this technique that the difference tone was actually louder than either the note or the hum itself.
Del Staigers 1899-1950	"Carnival Of Venice" (Staigers)
	At age 7 he was dubbed "The Boy Wonder", performing his first solo at Winona Lake (Indiana Chautauqua). In 1912, he played his first professional engagement with the NHDVS Band in Dayton, Ohio. In 1918 he was hired as assistant cornet soloist to the great Frank Simon for the Willow Grove Concerts with Sousa's Band. Del Staigers joined Sousa's band in 1919 as assistant cornet soloist. Then in 1926, Edwin Franko Goldman was searching desperately for someone to replace his current cornet soloist. Del Staigers was highly in demand by this time and therefore difficult to reach, but Goldman persevered and finally got Staigers to join the band. In 1934 Del was let go by Goldman but remained highly in demand as a player and teacher. Staigers spent a few years playing in New York theaters and then with the Victor Salon Orchestra. In the early 1940s he moved to Los Angeles to be a studio musician for radio and movies.
Winfrid Kemp	"Fantasia Capriccioso" (Kemp)
	He was the Principal Cornet Player, United States Marine Band Orchestra. Fantasia Capriccioso was composed and played by Winfrid Kemp. He also endorsed King cornets.
Rafael Mendez 1906-1981	"La Virgen De Macarena"
	In 1916, the Méndez orchestra performed for guerrilla leader Pancho Villa. Méndez was released from the rebel army, and he began to perform in several travelling circus bands, in addition to the family orchestra. He joined the Mexican army in 1921, where he played in the army orchestra. At age 20, Méndez moved to the United States, working in steel mills in Gary, Indiana. In 1932, Méndez suffered the first of two, horrific embouchure accidents. While warming up at the Capitol Theatre, a door was carelessly thrown open, his trumpet crushed against his face. In 1939, Méndez joined the MGM orchestra, where he played on several movie soundtracks and performed regular live concerts. After hearing an MGM concert featuring Méndez, a Decca records representative offered him a twelve record contract. Méndez’s popularity as a trumpet soloist led to conflicts with his MGM schedule, and in 1949, he left the orchestra. It was at this time that Méndez began his full-time career as a trumpet soloist. He appeared with symphony orchestras, college ensembles, concert bands and big bands across the United States and Europe. Soon he was performing more than one hundred concerts per year.
Claude Gordon 1916-1996	"Bavarian Bounce"
	At the age of 8, young Claude Gordon was featured as the cornet soloist with the Helena Montana High School Band, even though he was only in the fifth grade. His advanced study was with the late eminent cornetist Herbert L. Clarke for 9 years , then with Louis Maggio for 4 years. Claude Gordon was first trumpet in the staff orchestra at the Los Angeles studios of CBS. He also worked at the motion picture studios and for NBC radio plus apppearing on TV shows and specials as a trumpeter and conductor. His own orchestra gained prominence when it was named "Best New Band In America" in 1959. He was most widely known for his trumpet teaching and his method books.