Bud Herseth - The Orchestral Trumpet Player

I feel like an old fuddy-duddy.  There was a time in Chicago when brass players rejoiced in the powerful, clean, balanced, precise playing of the CSO Masters.

Even the Chicago Tribune understood and recognized their talent by putting them on the cover of the magazine section.

I still have my article, in a trunk in the attic. We had Bud Herseth on trumpet, Dale Clevenger on french horn, Arnold Jacobs on tuba, and Jay Friedman on trombone.  

Each was in a league of their own, and each could have had an illustrious solo career.

It was however, unfair to every other orchestra in the world. It was like having the best players in a sport, all on the same team.  I really feel that in their heyday, they were unmatched. That in itself can be problematic, with egos and personalities.  The beauty of the CSO Brass was a complete support of the articulation, and musical style of the first chair and amongst all the first chair players.  Clean, clear, precision was sometimes confused, as loud blasting.  It was nothing of the sort,  it was that the ENTIRE BRASS SECTION was supporting the lead so precisely, that no one had heard anything like it before.  That was the legendary beauty of the CSO Brass and why the passing of Bud Herseth creates such a sad affair. Besides his playing, he was a warm, funny, generous person and was one you were happy to have met.

Our hearts, thoughts, and well wishes go out to the Herseth family, and the CSO extended family.

He will be greatly missed, but those recordings act as a monument to a time that has passed.  I hope to hear brass playing like that again in the future, but they set the bar to a such a high level that we may never hear it again.

I hope you doubt my words, I encourage you to listen to the recordings and prove me wrong.  The problem is, upon listening, you won't be able to.