Bernie Glow

Bernie Glow (b. New York City, 6 February 1926; d. NYC 1982) 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.

Training

Glow began on the trumpet at age 9, studying with Max Schlossberg of the New York Philharmonic, 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.

Early Career 1942-1949

Just sixteen and out of high school, Glow spent a year on the road with the Richard Himber 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".

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 Manhattan 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 Sinatra 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* bell trumpet and 3C mouthpiece.

External links

• Verve website
• New Yorker article, 1969
• New York Times obituary, 1982