Stanley Friedman

Trio for Jimmie Stamp

Jimmie Stamp's greatness as a trumpet teacher was only matched by his measureless warmth and humanity. He brought to all his students a deeper understanding not only of the mechanics of brass instruments technique but also of those mysterious qualities of musical accomplishment which so enrich our spirits. Serene and good-humored, Jimmie could fix in minutes playing problems which had bedeviled students for years. Few, if any, teachers ever achieved such spectacular results with so many diverse students, from youthful aspirants to exalted virtuosi. I only came to know Jimmie in his last years, in the early 1980's. He turned my professional life around, as he had with so many others. In addition to teaching me how the trumpet actually works (which he understood intuitively and perhaps better than anyone in the world), he taught me how to enjoy the experience of performing: Always receptive to new concepts, Jimmie's enthusiasm for my 'avant-garde' pieces 'Solus ' and 'Laude', greatly boosted my confidence in these and other compositions. His ingenious and deceptively simple exercises are remarkably applicable to any sort of player at virtually any level of skill. The present 'Trio for Jimmie Stamp' is based on some of his etudes*, which by now are familiar to brass players the world over.