Al Hirt - Carnival of Venice-Theme & Variations 1-3

Al Hirt Band from Spring 1987 at the West Virginia Jazz Festival in Charleston, WV.
Al Hirt-trumpet, Dave Zoller-piano, Bill Huntington-bass & Bobby Breaux-drums. This concert was simulcast on West Virginia, Virginia and Ohio public television.
Thanks to WPBY-TV, West Virginia Public Broadcasting, Huntington/Charleston, WV. for the great video.

[@oznerriznick2474]

My grandpa played this same variations on the Carnival of Venice at the 1933 Worlds Fair and took first place. He later played in bands with Louis Armstrong and Al Hirt. He gave me his old gold plated King trumpet and when I was in high school I learned how to play that same variation. He could still play Flight of the Bumblebee when he was 70 yrs. old. This brings back memories...

[@donaldduke2233]

I played a King Liberty. That was a great horn.

[@EdWeibe]

awesome.

[@Cherryvanilla27]

Jumbo played a Le Cormier

[@mikecozzi1040]

😲Ozner you must be proud of your grandpa! and I bet you learned a lot about trumpet playing, bet you're a pro at it and Thanks for Sharing! 🎶🎺

[@ЕркинАитахунов-и8е]

👍👏🤝

[@kenyork1107]

I had the pleasure of hearing and meeting Big AL in New Orleans at his club . A table came open I n front and I grabbed it . This was in July of 1973 . I got him a drink , and when he finished playing he came and sat with me for a while , he asked my name and thanked me for the drink . He was soaked in sweat and looked exhausted, but he always gave everything to his audience. He was so down to earth and made you feel like he had always know you . I didn't ask for it , but he gave me a album of his and autographed it . I still have it as well as all of his other albums . I went down the next year and got to see him again and he remembered me . He was a very humble and honest man and he was my friend . Thanks Big AL, R.I.P.

[@cole5013]

The best part is that this is an old and tired hirt. If you listen to him when he was young it's unbelievable how sharpened his ability was.

[@EdWeibe]

same with Doc Severnson. The younger days...omg. Style, feeling, perk.

[@Cherryvanilla27]

His health really imterfered with everything. He needed to work though. He had a huge family and terrible management

[@williamcollins3565]

Old and tired he may have been, but not many trumpet players can match that performance. That's because for him, it was easy . . .

[@Chazd1949]

Not only that, but in the 1970s he was playing in a Mardi Gras parade and was struck in mouth by an object hurled by someone in the sidelines. Fortunately, he recovered and was able to play again, but his sound was never quite the same. I have recordings of his playing before and after and his sound afterward became a little raspy - not as clear and pure as it was before. It really shows up on his later recording of The Trumpeter's Lullaby. Still, a great performer and as some have already stated, a genuinely humble and nice, friendly guy. I had the privilege and pleasure to meet him and chat with him at his club in New Orleans back in 1993.

[@cole5013]

@@Chazd1949 very jealous - he's one of my favorites by far still listen to him pretty consistently

[@djacobs880]

He was an underrated trumpeter! One of the best in my opinion. Great sound, technique, flexibility, and never took himself too seriously. He played the music, not just the notes and made it fun for the audience.

[@Cherryvanilla27]

Nothing underrated about Jumbo. Hes been gone since 99 and hes now a legend.

[@brucehehl5688]

We miss you Al. You were such a gift to young trumpet players as well as old trumpet players still working on their skills!! 🎺🎺🎺 R.I.P. dear heart.❤ We still love you today!!

[@dinodeluca6210]

A true legend....Miles Davis also spoke very highly of Mr. Hirt's playing. Also seems like the kind of guy you'd want to sit down and have a couple of cold ones with...R.I.P Al!

[@mikekaupa9190]

my trumpet teacher got drunk with him!

[@donaldduke2233]

He was a genuine nice guy. That's about as fancy as I can say it.

[@Cherryvanilla27]

A cold one some butter beans and a ton of oysters

[@Cherryvanilla27]

@@mikekaupa9190 hes not the only one!

[@jimwortham8634]

All I can say is wow as a trumpet player if there is such a thing unbelievable absolutely unbelievable

[@bwiggs6]

That Ladies & Gentlemen is trumpet playing at it's finest. No one ever did it better than Mr. Al Hirt. RIP.

[@garylsmalley]

Al Hirt concerts were so enjoyable. In his prime, he played with staggering power and he always entertained with music as well as conversation and humor, included the audience in the evening by talking to them as if they were friends of his. Michael Buble does the same thing. Mark of a great entertainer. Not all musicians are entertainers. Miss Jumbo

[@YooLookMarvelous]

When I was a young trumpet player, Al Hirt was my hero and gold standard for what a trumpet player should be. When I was thirteen a teacher made a transcription of "Java" -- the whole thing, with all the licks. It was too much for me at the time, but it became a star to shoot for. Still shooting.

[@MarkJones-xz4gc]

There comes a plateau moment in the life of every practicing musician when you realize that you have learned all that there is to learn, except that which you yourself will invent and perhaps even re-invent. Mr. Hirt - GRHS - came to that point in his career very early on, and it is soooooooooooooooo much fun to share by listening in his having sheer fun with his horn. He will be sorely missed, by me for one. I will never approach his technique, but he will be a constant inspiration, and I will never forget his music.

[@Funkadelic3]

No mistake here! Al was a master trumpet player all the way through, and a great entertainer as well.

[@ALEXANDER49668]

Фантастичое и фееричное ,Bravissimo! ❤

[@makeshiftmusic]

Al seems like such a humble guy, you can't help but love him

[@SCTV59]

The man who owns the trumpet!!

[@jeffcraven7376]

Never imagine Al to be a monster player in anything but traditional jazz. Hearing him play Carnival of Venice was a big treat. I was at his concert blundering around. Greetings from Buckhannon and Clarksburg WV. PS: I live, sleep and eat jazz; what did I just throw up? The Greatest hits of Justin Bieber after I smashed my clock radio.

[@SWOBIZ]

Despite his prodigious talent, Hirt comes across as a regular guy, not some snot-nosed prima donna. Bravo!

[@whazzat8015]

Needs to wipe up a bit more snot

[@ernestgruenberg9492]

What an outstanding musician, Al Hirt does Carnival of Venice better than anyone else.

[@MYNAME_ABC]

Listen to Allen Vizzutti! Now tell me who is better?!

[@MYNAME_ABC]

Vizzutti was and is best member of carneval!

[@msmith53]

Wynton Marcellus does it rather well!

[@swiftyedits4067]

my left ear definitely enjoyed the solo

[@leohuitz4487]

same

[@WithTimeComesStories]

Turn on Mono in your audio settings.

[@RichardFallstich]

Not only that, the video & audio are slightly out of sync.

[@Pibbolino]

He played a solo for solo-eared

[@rmbaker100]

When I was young I played every day. I used to play his records and play along, RIGHT well I tried but could never keep up with this!!!

[@sergioalexiscamacho]

Found a record of Al Hirt at a thrift store, just buy it and hear it for the first time and I love it, excellent music!

[@pjdeluca360]

Never had any idea that Al Hirt had that kind of technique, very impressive playing!

[@brokenwrench1]

+pjdeluca360 he was much better before he got hit in the upper lip with a brick. mendez helped him recover

[@williamwallace2736]

Al Hirt was my idol as a kid learning the trumpet. Fortunately I got to see him a couple of times in person.

[@wildbill5670]

Mom and Dad sure did like him. Miss them both every day. Lost my dad 2014 mom 2007

[@jsusna1972]

My dad loved the trumpet. He always had Harry James and Al Hirt records on the record player and later Her Alpert. I ended up taking trumpet and he pretended like my version of "My Country 'tis of Thee" was awesome! RIP, Dad.

[@Will_Moffett]

The one rendition I have ever heard after Wynton Marsalis which is worth listening to. Amazing articulation and original variations make this great. If it sounds this good on an old recording one can only imagine what it should sound like.

[@GeneTrujillo]

Though Marsalis's version of Carnival is fantastic, I personally prefer Maurice Andre's by a bit. His tone is to die for and his technique so effortless he can play it with ~feeling~.

[@bradfordstavig9171]

Most impressive! I've always been a Maynard Ferguson fan, but this launched Al Hirt into the top three in my book.

[@rebeltuba9422]

Look up an old Cinemax special called "Sass & Brass". Hirt smokes Maynard.

[@jaywatson8720]

I love Maynard but Al Hirt will always be higher for me because he is from the NOLA like me.

[@JFinch57]

@@rebeltuba9422 each excelled in what they did. Al was a technical wizard, but listen to some Roulette years Maynard, it's just insane!

[@JimMcDade_Exploration]

Al Hirt is the greatest of all time!

[@mhacousticrenderings]

That's insanely great!!

[@skyhawk53]

He makes it so easy and effortless.

[@pieyedapple]

YES--BEAUTIFUL STUFF!!

[@Blue.Skies.888]

My God the talent!

[@davidlongoria]

always awesome AL!!!!

[@tommyd.6592]

A master at work.

[@jaredwirth3990]

Outstanding! Well performed, I got to see Alan Vizzuti and Arturo Sandoval performing this exhibition piece, and I like his sendup of it best!

[@susanowens6422]

Hirt, along with Rafael Mendez, Maurice Andre, Harry James and several other big band trumpeters were my heroes growing up. His ability to pull off music like this and his incredible dixieland stuff were the reasons why. Thanks for posting this!

[@EdWeibe]

thanks for making me feel young. I'm 52

[@EdWeibe]

damn. now I'm 60. uhg.

[@5ivestring]

I heard this story so long ago, and I can't say even if it was true. But the story goes that other musicians were upset with Al Hirt for playing "bubblegum" music because in their view he was such a master of Jazz. His answer was "people like it". Don't go to the bank with this, but it's what I remember hearing.

[@Cherryvanilla27]

He had a huge family and overhead. He loved the Good Life. He was taken advantage of by crooked managers. It wasnt all art for him.

[@Dorodigital]

dado You have literally brought tears to my eyes...seriously ive been searching for video performaces of al all my life. I have all of these in audio but never got a chance to see the master perform them live....I too am a trumpeter and Jumbo IS my hero.....you made my day possibly my year thanks again for posting and sharing these wonderful treasures....as i said before the world needs this right now...long live the king....

[@charlesfrancis6925]

My Grandfather was a Trumpeter in the British Indian Army Band.

[@kellycoleman715]

My dad had an Al Hirt LP when I was a kid and I wore the grooves off of it. I even bought the transcription sheet music for the songs on the album but never got close to playing them as well as Al. Some idiot threw a brick at him in a Mardi Gras parade which hit him in the lips and ended his career, sadly.

[@woody95124]

This dude can play Awesome!

[@alexdamasio2388]

Excelente trabalho parabéns 👏😁

[@lightningbot85]

So you can compare each and see which is your favorite: Theme: 1:07 Variation 1: 1:59 Variation 2: 3:04 Variation 3: 4:29

[@Musicman2012Now]

Yeh, he say's that triple tonguing is easy. YIKES! I tried to play the trumpet for a period of time. All I can say is that single tonguing was tough enough. I have tremendous admiration for anyone who can triple tongue, and Al Hirt is a prime example of why I have such respect for trumpeters who have professional control over their instrument.

[@trutten88]

Yes Triple tonguing is more easy then duo tonguing. the trick is only move a small part of your tongue. Simple mechanics: a smaller lighter part can move faster.At the duo tonguing you move back and forth. with triple you move in a more circular way.Two at the front and one more to the back.It is possible to do the two movements at the same time. But that leads to nothing of course. But you can do them very short after each other. Hence the triple tonguing is easier. I am not sure why,but my duo tonguing is faster then the triple. I think it is because the first two notes are with normal articulating.

[@Musicman2012Now]

Thank you for this information. I am still amazed and even more amazed that double tonguing is tougher than triple tonguing. Again, thank you.

[@mikeprevost8650]

It's not that hard. I mean, junior high kids triple tongue The Fox Hunters. Practice. And yes, double tonguing is harder. Single tonguing a very fast triplet passage is light years harder than triple tonguing it.

[@dreadedsage8630]

@@mikeprevost8650 double tounging is harder? Gotta disagree

[@nickmalone3143]

The master

[@donaldduke2233]

Once Jumbo got to heaven, Gabriel had to move to second chair.

[@loganwilkins5603]

My left ear enjoyed this

[@joebukovsky8876]

Al Hirt had more talent in his pinky than most have in their entire body and he was a regular guy .

[@edsonbraz4358]

Muito ruim! Nem eu executo tão ruim!

[@nesansmusic1591]

What a playing... Wow...

[@herasjulian]

Al Hirt Fantastic trumpeter. THE BEST.

[@kattrakee]

Great 👍🏼!!!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️🎶🎵🎶🎶🎵

[@philiponcale1820]

That voice and little interjection is what people born and raised in New Orleans sound like.

[@jimwortham8634]

Years years ago I used to play he can Sure hold his breath a long time wow unbelievable my ass off

[@carloberto6582]

Iy doesn't get any better than this.

[@paoloamicibibliotecavenezi2199]

very nice!

[@VoodooDewey69]

Hard to believe the carnival of venice was written in 1829 and most modern trumpet players still cant play it .Its really weird because I dont even think there were any valved cornets until the 1820's ,but they were only two valve models . Most all trumpet players are still studying the arbans method .It's basically the trumpet players bible .But Mr. Hirt owns this recording .But to really see his technical skill you must see him in his younger years before his lip injury caused by a flying brick in a parade in New Orleans .

[@herasjulian]

Al Hirt The BEST trumpeter FOREVER

[@keithchrysler3732]

My freshman solo in 1969! I still use it as a warm-up or as an exercise. I've played both the Del Steigers and the J B Arbans versions. Very challenging!

[@alanwitton5039]

Fantastic

[@michaelg3074]

hanks for posting this master.

[@paulgrimm]

What a set of Chops Al had.

[@woody95124]

Awesome player

[@assignmentearth2899]

It was November 21, 1980. The night they aired 'Who Done It?"....the "Who Shot JR episode?" It was a miserable, rainy Friday night and there were maybe only 75 people in the civiic center where I saw Al Hirt perform this as his encore. I guess Al had an idea that besides the weather being a factor, everyone stayed home to watch just who did shoot JR. Al came out after intermission and told us all who did it.

[@nicholasneyhart396]

Most wonderful story

[@jeffcraven7376]

1980 or 87, one year runs into the next; yesterday I was 22 now I'm 61 y/o...I do know me & my gal at the time drove up from WV Wesleyan College to see AL perform, so it must have been 1980. Maybe AL was at WVU twice.

[@markberryhill2715]

@@jeffcraven7376 1980.

[@ELVENGADOR858]

THE GREEN HORNET

[@JohnnysCorner]

BRAVO Al Hirt!!

[@russellaustin8453]

A Great Star !

[@chrismarx4717]

The greatest !

[@WithTimeComesStories]

I recommend using your mono audio setting for this video.

[@rmbaker100]

I have to pull my head phone jack out a little to get the stereo to work.

[@phatstaxx]

God Bless You and thank you

[@armandogiordano1226]

A showman and, after that, a trumpet player.

[@Cherryvanilla27]

Armando Giordano charisma for miles

[@asd123321b]

The Jetone mouthpiece Al used is geared for high notes and doesn't have the mellow tone of the mouthpiece Wynton uses. For a mellow tone you get one with a deep inner cup. A Jet-tone T2b is super powerful and my favorite.

[@cooperhamilton6141]

Bach megatones are better

[@germanmartinez789]

Xczz,, ,,, .. E SOSewszz Martínez

[@hkl536]

Incredible..

[@senorkaboom]

OK! You can’t fool me! He had some lessons along the way.

[@mrbigg151]

Very talented and funny player.

[@Music--ng8cd]

Santa Claus can really blow. Think there must have been a bumblebee at this carnival.

[@slyspy9819]

He's the Greet Hornet Theme player

[@mcdonoghrahloh459]

RIP Jumbo!From uptown New Orleans

[@josephgraif2588]

he should have played the arban arrangement as written, BECAUSE HE COULD.

[@larrysmith6797]

His name was Hirt, not Arban.

[@ljubomirlazarevic8614]

He yodels on trumpet!

[@InvalidUserNameUsed]

Love hearing him on the theme to "The Green Hornet" which has been re-release on Heroes and Icons Channel, which is actually "the Flight of the Bumblebee" on steroids!

[@freiretrompete1174]

magnífico

[@dougarters2691]

Heard him at Chautauqua, 1968.

[@tat3917]

Al is looking very slim in this video. In the 60s TV program he did with Dizzy, Pete Candoli and Don Ellis, the trumpet looked like a toy against his sizable torso.

[@Cherryvanilla27]

He loved Lew Magram Shirtmaker to the Stars

[@michealridenoour5320]

Me too as I'm completely deaf in my right ear!

[@Tomatohater64]

Oh you just HAVE to love this.

[@juancarlossanchez7318]

El Gran Al Hirt!!!

[@39lloydb]

They always said of Al, he never plays one note when 10 will do....

[@danielhawkins5612]

I'm from new Orleans he didn't get the accolades here he deserved

[@МихаилМеренков-у8х]

👍👍👍🙏🙏🙏🎺🎺🎺🤷‍♂️

[@bushyconn]

What a pity I was only able to download the left channel.

[@janzwiggelaar8231]

zeer goed. Prof. Dr. Jan Zwiggelaar,

[@laurentinovillegas2615]

trumpet, music clàsic, carnival of venice, Yucucundo, Mèxico

[@jarensmith1609]

this is so weird to listen with ear buds on. my ear buds are perfectly fine and both ears work, but it only goes to one ear bud so it's weird

[@celestialskye1]

Hehehe, it's called Mono.

[@Mrsjuniify]

Entertaining.

[@stevenormandin2059]

Al Hirt legendary trumpeter no doubt

[@JC-bj5cv]

I am partial to Ralph Kramden's performance.

[@LowReedExpert1]

Wow, first non-Arban version that i've liked! leave it to Al Hirt right? though he is right, triple tonguing is simple ;p

[@donaldduke2233]

The day Jumbo died Gabriel had to move to second chair.

[@petruursu5832]

Master Al Hirt, and air blowing trumpet?