The Martin Committee Trumpet was popular from the late 1940s to the mid-1960s and it got it's unusual name as it was designed by a "committee" made up of the best trumpet designers of the the time, and local musicians for the Martin Band Instrument Company.
The 'committee' included eminent names such as Vincent Bach, Elden Benge, Foster Reynolds, a local Chicago Symphony player (name unknown) and Renold Schlike (who actually states that the committee horn was designed only by him).
John Heinrich Martin formed the Martin Company in Chicago in 1865. Born in Dresden, Germany in 1835, he trained as a musical instrument craftsman, and later emigrated to the United States to set up his own brass instrument manufacturing business.
Many jazz greats have played these legendary trumpets, including the one and only Miles Davis, Chet Baker, Dizzy Gillespie, Al Hirt, Maynard Ferguson and many more. Chris Botti plays a rare Committee trumpet with a slightly larger bell. In 2003, he purchased this rare 1940 custom-made Martin horn with a silver plated mouthpiece from Bach and said, “It was like finding a rare Jaguar or a rare Porsche. The sound is just so dark and beautiful, with a really soft and inviting tone."
The Martin Committee Trumpets were mainly used in jazz music because of its warm and rich sound with flexible intonation. The jazz musicians of the time that played this brass instrument would often describe its unique sound as dark and smoky.
They have a clean and focused tone which is handled well throughout all registers, which is why they are still popular with jazz musicians. Famous jazz musician Dizzy Gillespie was the first musician to use a bent horn, which was the result of an accident. He liked the effect produced by this bent Martin committee trumpet that he used it for the rest of his career. This unique and famous Committee trumpet owned by Dizzy Gillespie was sold in an auction at Christies in 1995 for $55,000.
The Martin Committee trumpet have solid nickel slides and plating, and intricate engravings on the bell. Known as the deluxe trumpet, it had an unique sound, and a warm and rich tone.
The Committee trumpet came in three flavors: small (0.445), medium (0.451) and extra large(0.468). The medium and xtra-large bores were the most popular, and rumour has it that a medium large bore (0.460) was manufactured as well, but this may just be an urban myth as none have survived.
The most valued trumpets are those with serial numbers between 140,000 & 210,000, but Martin produced good horns before and after these dates as well.
Unfortunately, the quality of Martin musical instruments seemed to deteriorate after 1956, and the top jazz musicians at the time started switching to other trumpet brands. Chet Baker, for example, moved over to a Connstellation, citing the disappointing new Martin trumpets as the reason.
The Martin Band Instrument Company changed hands several times over the years and was eventually purchased by Conn-Selmer, Inc. in 2004, whose extensive portfolio now includes Bach, Selmer, King, Conn, Benge, LeBlanc, Holton and more. They unfortunately decided to discontinue the Martin line in 2008, thus ending the musical legacy that was the Martin Committee Trumpet.
From: besttrumpet.com
From: besttrumpet.com
