Bernie Glow
Encyclopedia
Bernie Glow was a trumpet
player who specialized in jazz and commercial lead trumpet from the 1940s to 1970s.
His early career was on the road with Artie Shaw
, Woody Herman
and others during the last years of the big-band
era. The majority of his years were spent as a first-rate NYC studio musician, where he worked with Miles Davis
and Frank Sinatra
, and did thousands of radio and television recording sessions.
, the most sought after teacher at the time. This training was at the command of Glow's Russian maternal grandfather, Sam Finkel, who knew Schlossberg from Russia, and who told the family that young Bernie was going to become a first trumpet player in an orchestra. After Schlossberg died, Glow studied with orchestral players Harry Glantz and Nat Prager, both students of Schlossberg.
In high school, during the second world war, Bernie played in bands with future notables Stan Getz
, Tiny Khan, Shorty Rogers
and George Wallington
.
Other than the influence of symphonic trumpet masters and his peers, Glow was influenced early on by performances of Snooky Young
with the Jimmie Lunceford
band, and Billy Butterfield
with Benny Goodman
.
Orchestra. Two years later he was with Xavier Cugat
and then Raymond Scott
on CBS radio. In 1945 he was playing lead trumpet with the Artie Shaw band. Following that stint, he was with Boyd Raeburn
.
In 1949, at 23, he retired from the road after more than a year with Woody Herman
and his famous "Second Herd".
in theaters, dance halls, night clubs and on the radio. This was the final preparation that launched him into the burgeoning commercial and studio scene.
or Ella Fitzgerald
. Many of these studio big-band sessions were led by leading composer/arrangers Nelson Riddle
, Quincy Jones
and Oliver Nelson
. He played on the seminal Miles Davis
and Gil Evans
collaborations that produced masterpieces albums Miles Ahead
(1957), Porgy and Bess
(1958), Sketches of Spain
(1959), and Quiet Nights
(1962). Glow also spent time as a member of the NBC and CBS staff orchestras.
He played a Bach Stradivarius Bb 72* trumpet.
With Tony Bennett
With George Benson
With Candido Camero
With Betty Carter
With Miles Davis
and Gil Evans
With Bill Evans
With Gil Evans
With Aretha Franklin
With Curtis Fuller
With Freddie Hubbard
With Al Kooper
With Gary McFarland
With Blue Mitchell
With Wes Montgomery
With Mark Murphy
With Laura Nyro
With Chico O'Farrill
With Jimmy Smith
With Sarah Vaughan
With Dinah Washington
Trumpet
The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
player who specialized in jazz and commercial lead trumpet from the 1940s to 1970s.
His early career was on the road with Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw
Arthur Jacob Arshawsky , better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings....
, Woody Herman
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...
and others during the last years of the big-band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
era. The majority of his years were spent as a first-rate NYC studio musician, where he worked with Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
and Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, and did thousands of radio and television recording sessions.
Training
Glow began on the trumpet at age 9, studying with Max Schlossberg of the New York PhilharmonicNew York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
, the most sought after teacher at the time. This training was at the command of Glow's Russian maternal grandfather, Sam Finkel, who knew Schlossberg from Russia, and who told the family that young Bernie was going to become a first trumpet player in an orchestra. After Schlossberg died, Glow studied with orchestral players Harry Glantz and Nat Prager, both students of Schlossberg.
In high school, during the second world war, Bernie played in bands with future notables Stan Getz
Stan Getz
Stanley Getz was an American jazz saxophone player. Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre of his idol, Lester Young. Coming to prominence in the late 1940s with Woody Herman's big band, Getz is described by critic Scott...
, Tiny Khan, Shorty Rogers
Shorty Rogers
Milton “Shorty” Rogers , born Milton Rajonsky in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, was one of the principal creators of West Coast jazz. He played both the trumpet and flugelhorn, and was in demand for his skills as an arranger. Rogers worked first as a professional musician with Will Bradley and...
and George Wallington
George Wallington
George Wallington was a highly regarded American bop pianist and composer....
.
Other than the influence of symphonic trumpet masters and his peers, Glow was influenced early on by performances of Snooky Young
Snooky Young
Eugene Edward "Snooky" Young was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known for his mastery of the plunger mute, with which he was able to create a wide range of sounds.-Biography:...
with the Jimmie Lunceford
Jimmie Lunceford
James Melvin "Jimmie" Lunceford was an American jazz alto saxophonist and bandleader in the swing era.-Biography:...
band, and Billy Butterfield
Billy Butterfield
Billy Butterfield was a band leader, jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist and cornetist.He studied cornet with Frank Simons, but later switched to studying medicine. He did not give up on music and quit medicine after finding success as a trumpeter. Early in his career he played in the band of Austin Wylie...
with Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
.
Early Career 1942-1949
Just sixteen and out of high school, Glow spent a year on the road with the Richard HimberRichard Himber
Richard Himber was an American bandleader, composer, violinist, magician and practical joker.-Early life:He was born as Herbert Richard Imber in Newark, New Jersey to the owner of a chain of meat stores...
Orchestra. Two years later he was with Xavier Cugat
Xavier Cugat
Xavier Cugat was a Spanish-American bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, Cuba. A trained violinist and arranger, he was a key personality in the spread of Latin music in United States popular music. He was also a cartoonist and a successful businessman...
and then Raymond Scott
Raymond Scott
Raymond Scott was an American composer, band leader, pianist, engineer, recording studio maverick, and electronic instrument inventor....
on CBS radio. In 1945 he was playing lead trumpet with the Artie Shaw band. Following that stint, he was with Boyd Raeburn
Boyd Raeburn
Albert Boyd Raeburn was an American jazz bandleader and bass saxophonist.Boyd Raeburn was born in Faith, South Dakota, and became one of the greatest and least-known of jazz bandleaders during the 1940s...
.
In 1949, at 23, he retired from the road after more than a year with Woody Herman
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...
and his famous "Second Herd".
NYC Freelance Years 1949-1952
In this middle period Glow worked as a trumpet player in a wide variety of situations. He played in big bands, Latin bands and dance orchestras. He performed around ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in theaters, dance halls, night clubs and on the radio. This was the final preparation that launched him into the burgeoning commercial and studio scene.
Studio Years 1950s-1970s
Beginning in 1953 Bernie Glow was a first-call trumpet player and played on thousands of recording sessions. There was great variety in the kinds of music being recorded; One day he would play a radio commercial for Pepsi, and the next he would record an album with Frank SinatraFrank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
or Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
. Many of these studio big-band sessions were led by leading composer/arrangers Nelson Riddle
Nelson Riddle
Nelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid 1980s...
, Quincy Jones
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
and Oliver Nelson
Oliver Nelson
Oliver Edward Nelson was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger and composer.-Early life and career:...
. He played on the seminal Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
and Gil Evans
Gil Evans
Gil Evans was a jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader, active in the United States...
collaborations that produced masterpieces albums Miles Ahead
Miles Ahead
Miles Ahead is a jazz album by Miles Davis that was released in 1957 on Columbia CL 1041. This was the first album following Birth of the Cool that Davis recorded with Gil Evans, with whom he would go on to release albums such as Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain...
(1957), Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess (Miles Davis album)
Porgy and Bess is a studio album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released in 1958 on Columbia Records. The album features arrangements by Davis and collaborator Gil Evans from George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess. The album was recorded in four sessions on July 22, July 29, August 4, and August 18,...
(1958), Sketches of Spain
Sketches of Spain
Sketches of Spain is an album by Miles Davis, recorded between November 1959 and March 1960 at the Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City....
(1959), and Quiet Nights
Quiet Nights (Miles Davis and Gil Evans album)
-Personnel:* Miles Davis — trumpet* Gil Evans — arranger, conductor* Shorty Baker, Bernie Glow, Louis Mucci, Ernie Royal — trumpets* J.J. Johnson, Frank Rehak — trombones* Ray Alonge, Don Corrado, Julius Watkins — french horns* Bill Barber — tuba...
(1962). Glow also spent time as a member of the NBC and CBS staff orchestras.
He played a Bach Stradivarius Bb 72* trumpet.
As sideman
With Manny AlbamManny Albam
Manny Albam was a jazz baritone saxophone player who eventually put the instrument down in favour of a long and respected career as an arranger, writer, and teacher.-Biography:The son of Lithuanian immigrants, who was born in the Dominican Republic when his mother went into labour en route...
- Jazz Goes to the MoviesJazz Goes to the MoviesJazz Goes to the Movies is an album by American jazz arranger and conductor Manny Albam recorded in 1962 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
(Impulse!, 1964)
With Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett
Tony Bennett is an American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz....
- Tony Bennett at Carnegie HallTony Bennett at Carnegie HallTony Bennett at Carnegie Hall is a 1962 live album by Tony Bennett.After the success of his single I Left My Heart in San Francisco, Bennett was invited to appear at Carnegie Hall The June concert was directed by Arthur Penn and Gene Saks. Carnegie Hall had not featured a pop performer until...
(Columbia, 1962)
With George Benson
George Benson
George Benson is a ten Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of twenty-one as a jazz guitarist....
- The Other Side of Abbey RoadThe Other Side of Abbey RoadThe Other Side of Abbey Road is a 1970 studio album by American guitarist George Benson of songs from The Beatles' 1969 album Abbey Road....
(CTI, 1969)
With Candido Camero
Candido Camero
Candido de Guerra Camero, also known simply as Candido is a Cuban percussionist who backed many Afro-Cuban jazz and straightforward jazz acts since the 1950s...
- BeautifulBeautiful (Candido Camero album)Beautiful is an album by Cuban jazz percussionist Candido Camero recorded in 1970 and released on the Blue Note label.-Reception:The Allmusic review by Matt Collar awarded the album 3 stars stating "Beautiful isn't the most essential of Candido's recordings, but should hold a fascination for...
(Blue Note, 1970)
With Betty Carter
Betty Carter
Betty Carter was an American jazz singer renowned for her improvisational technique and idiosyncratic vocal style...
- Social CallSocial CallSocial Call is an album by Betty Carter featuring Ray Bryant and a big band arranged by Gigi Gryce. Of its eleven tracks, the first six were recorded in 1955 and originally released as part of the album Meet Betty Carter and Ray Bryant...
(Columbia, 1956 - released 1980)
With Miles Davis
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
and Gil Evans
Gil Evans
Gil Evans was a jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader, active in the United States...
- Miles AheadMiles AheadMiles Ahead is a jazz album by Miles Davis that was released in 1957 on Columbia CL 1041. This was the first album following Birth of the Cool that Davis recorded with Gil Evans, with whom he would go on to release albums such as Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain...
(Columbia, 1957) - Porgy and BessPorgy and Bess (Miles Davis album)Porgy and Bess is a studio album by jazz musician Miles Davis, released in 1958 on Columbia Records. The album features arrangements by Davis and collaborator Gil Evans from George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess. The album was recorded in four sessions on July 22, July 29, August 4, and August 18,...
(Columbia, 1958) - Sketches of SpainSketches of SpainSketches of Spain is an album by Miles Davis, recorded between November 1959 and March 1960 at the Columbia 30th Street Studio in New York City....
(Columbia, 1960)
With Bill Evans
Bill Evans
William John Evans, known as Bill Evans was an American jazz pianist. His use of impressionist harmony, inventive interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, and trademark rhythmically independent, "singing" melodic lines influenced a generation of pianists including: Chick Corea, Herbie...
- SymbiosisSymbiosis (album)-Track listing:# "Symbiosis 1st Movement - 24:58# "Symbiosis 2nd Movement - 15:55*Recorded in New York City on February 11, 12 & 14, 1974.-Personnel:*Bill Evans - piano, electric piano...
(MPS, 1974)
With Gil Evans
Gil Evans
Gil Evans was a jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader, active in the United States...
- The Individualism of Gil EvansThe Individualism of Gil EvansThe Individualism of Gil Evans is an album by pianist, conductor, arranger and composer Gil Evans originally released on the Verve label in 1964. It features Evans' big band arrangements of five original compositions and compositions by Kurt Weill, Bob Dorough, John Lewis and Willie Dixon...
(Verve, 1964)
With Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
- Aretha NowAretha NowAretha Now is a gold-certified 1968 album by Aretha Franklin. It reached #5 on Billboards album chart. In the 1990s this recording was reissued on compact disc through Rhino Records.-Track listing:#"Think" - 2:19...
(Atlantic, 1968) - Soul '69Soul '69Soul '69 is a 1969 album of cover material released by Aretha Franklin. The album charted at #1 on Billboards R&B albums chart and at #15 on Billboards Top Albums, launching two unsuccessful singles, "Tracks of My Tears" which reached #21 on "Black Singles" and #71 on "Pop Singles" and "Gentle on...
(Atlantic, 1969)
With Curtis Fuller
Curtis Fuller
Curtis DuBois Fuller is an American jazz trombonist, known as a member of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers and contributor to many classic jazz recordings.-Biography:...
- Cabin in the SkyCabin in the Sky (album)Cabin in the Sky is a 1962 album by jazz trombonist Curtis Fuller, on which he plays song from the musical Cabin in the Sky.Manny Albam arranged and conducted the accompanying orchestra.-Tracklisting:#"The Prayer" #"Taking a Chance on Love"...
(Impulse!, 1962)
With Freddie Hubbard
Freddie Hubbard
Frederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard was an American jazz trumpeter. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on...
- WindjammerWindjammer (album)Windjammer is an album recorded in 1976 by jazz trumpeter Freddie Hubbard. It was released on the Columbia label and features performances by Hubbard, Jon Faddis, Michael Brecker, Bob James, George Cables Steve Khan and Eric Gale...
(Columbia, 1976)
With Al Kooper
Al Kooper
Al Kooper is an American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears , providing studio support for Bob Dylan when he went electric in 1965, and also bringing together guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills to...
- You Never Know Who Your Friends AreYou Never Know Who Your Friends AreYou Never Know Who Your Friends Are was the second album by New York City-based singer-songwriter Al Kooper, issued in 1969 on Columbia Records....
(Columbia, 1969)
With Gary McFarland
Gary McFarland
Gary McFarland was an influential composer, arranger, vibraphonist and vocalist, prominent on Verve and Impulse! Records during the 1960s, when he made "one of the more significant contributors to orchestral jazz"...
- ProfilesProfiles (album)Profiles is a live album by American jazz vibraphonist Gary McFarland featuring performances recorded at the Lincoln Centre Philharmonic Hall in 1966 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
(Impulse!, 1966)
With Blue Mitchell
Blue Mitchell
Richard Allen Mitchell was an American jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock, and funk trumpeter, known for many albums recorded as leader and sideman for Riverside, Blue Note and then Mainstream Records.-Biography:...
- Smooth as the WindSmooth as the WindSmooth as the Wind is an album by American trumpeter Blue Mitchell with strings and brass recorded in late 1960 and early 1961 and released on the Riverside label.-Reception:...
(Riverside, 1961)
With Wes Montgomery
Wes Montgomery
John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily...
- California DreamingCalifornia Dreaming (album)California Dreaming is a jazz album recorded by guitarist Wes Montgomery and released in 1966. It reached number one on the Billboard Jazz album chart and number 4 on the R&B chart...
(Verve, 1966)
With Mark Murphy
Mark Murphy (singer)
Mark Murphy is an American jazz singer based in New York. He is most noted for his definitive and unique vocalese and vocal improvisations with both melody and lyrics...
- Rah!Rah!The Allmusic review by Eugene Chadbourne awarded the album four stars and said that Rah! "has worn well over the years...On tracks such as "Green Dolphin Street," he dives into the rhythm with the relaxed calm of an expert...
(Riverside, 1961)
With Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro
Laura Nyro was an American songwriter, singer, and pianist. She achieved considerable critical acclaim with her own recordings, particularly the albums Eli and the Thirteenth Confession and New York Tendaberry, and had commercial success with artists such as Barbra Streisand and The 5th...
- Eli and the Thirteenth ConfessionEli and the Thirteenth Confession-References:*Michele Kort's biography Soul Picnic: The Music and Passion of Laura Nyro -External links:*[ Allmusic Laura Nyro biography entry.]**...
(Columbia, 1968)
With Chico O'Farrill
Chico O'Farrill
Arturo "Chico" O'Farrill was a composer-arranger best known for his work in the Latin idiom, although he also composed straight-ahead jazz pieces and even symphonic works....
- Nine FlagsNine FlagsNine Flags is an album by Cuban composer-arranger Chico O'Farrill featuring performances recorded in 1966 for the Impulse! label.-Reception:...
(Impulse!, 1966)
With Jimmy Smith
Jimmy Smith (musician)
Jimmy Smith was a jazz musician whose performances on the Hammond B-3 electric organ helped to popularize this instrument...
- The CatThe Cat (album)The Cat is a 1964 album by Jimmy Smith. It features the sound of Smith's Hammond B-3 organ with big band arrangements by composer Lalo Schifrin...
(Verve, 1964)
With Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan was an American jazz singer, described by Scott Yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."...
- In the Land of Hi-FiIn the Land of Hi-Fi (Sarah Vaughan album)In the Land of Hi-Fi is a 1955 studio album by the American jazz singer Sarah Vaughan. It was recorded on October 26 and 27 1955, in New York City.-Track listing:#"Over the Rainbow" – 3:30...
(EmArcy, 1955)
With Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington, born Ruth Lee Jones , was an American blues, R&B and jazz singer. She has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s", and called "The Queen of the Blues"...
- The Swingin' Miss "D"The Swingin' Miss "D"The Swingin' Miss D is a 1956 studio album by Dinah Washington, arranged by Quincy Jones.-Track listing:# "They Didn't Believe Me" – 2:44# "You're Crying" – 3:29...
(EmArcy, 1956)