The James F. Burke Tribute Page

A Biography of James F. Burke (1923 - 1981)

 

James F. Burke with his famous Buescher "Super 400" Cornet

      James Francis Burke was born the youngest of three children to Robert Arthur Burke and Helen Marguerite Gobel on April 15, 1923 in Port Jefferson, New York. Robert was a mason contractor and semi professional cornetist. Helen was a loyal housewife and pianist who together with her husband performed at many private parties in their area. At the time of his birth, James Burke weighed 15 pounds 9 ounces. Because of this, surgical instruments (including forceps) had to be used. During the birthing procedure, the child suffered a brachial plexis injury. The injury was caused by the forceps pressing on and pinching the brachial nerve in the neck area resulting in permanent damage to his right arm. The damage was so severe that the arm never fully developed and remained withered and virtually useless his entire life.

 For those who might not be able to grasp the concept of living life with only one arm - let alone excelling at an instrument designed to be played with 2 hands and fingered with the right hand, I offer this challange: try putting on a pair of tight blue jeans. Next, put your right hand in your back pocket and keep it there for 24 hours. Then try to go about your daily routine using only your left arm. If you can do this without cheating for 24 hours, then you might get an idea of what life must have been like for Jimmy for 58 years.

   At the age of five, Jimmy (as he was known to his friends and family) began to study with his father. Something had to be done to help the child hold the cornet and so his father had an apparatus built to hold the cornet in place while Jimmy fingered the horn with his left hand. It was a tripod stand and at the top was shaped like a horse shoe. The horn would sit in this stand and a strap would go over the front of the valves to hold the horn in place.The tripod was on rollers for easy transportation around the home and could be raised and lowered like a music stand.

   By the age of seven, Jimmy was playing little solos and soon began performing at the local Rotary Club. At the age of 11 he auditioned for and became a member of "Coast To Coast On A Bus", a radio program broadcast each Sunday morning on WJZ. At the same time he was also performing on WABC's "Horn and Hardart's Childrens Hour". This was Jimmy's ritual until he was eighteen: a solo broadcast on each show every Sunday morning. During his high school years, he participated in just about every regional and national contest and was eventually declared national champion.

   In 1935 he was sent to Del Staigers for lessons. At that time, Staigers was considered the world's foremost cornet soloist, having performed along side the great Frank Simon in Sousa's band before holding the solo chair with  the famed  Goldman Band from 1926-1934. He is credited with teaching Jimmy musicianship and the responsibility of solo cornet performance. Staigers was also responsible for having a horn designed by the King company especially for Jimmy and left handed playing.  The bell was mounted on the right side of the horn to accomadate the holding problem. Jimmy always regarded Staigers as the greatest cornet soloist he had ever heard. "....You could see the notes coming out of the bell. There was just that much fire. It was electrifying" he would say, clearly in awe of his teacher decades after studying with him.

    In 1936, some of the participants of "The Children's Hour" made a short movie for Warner Brothers titled "Stars Of Tomorrow". Jimmy played the trumpet along with a few other child instrumentalists in a version of "Comin' Round The Mountain". Rehearsals were in New York City and lasted six weeks. Jimmy made the 60 mile daily trek into New York City and then, on to New Jersey where the film was shot. For all of his efforts he was paid $10.00.

   In 1937 Jimmy began studying with John "Ned" Mahoney, a highly respected and well know teacher and cornetist with the Goldman Band. Ned Mahoney was a graduate of the Ernest S. Williams School of Music in Brooklyn, New York. Along with Leonard B. Smith and J. Frank Elsass (also graduates of the Williams School), Ned was part of a very popular cornet trio in Goldman's band. In fact, Herbert L. Clarke thought so much of them that he invited them to his home in Long Beach California to perform "The Three Aces" with his band. Around 1938, at Ned's recommendation, Jimmy began attending the Williams School.

   Ernest S. Williams was a legend in his own time. He replaced another legendary trumpeter - Harry Glantz - as principle trumpet with The Philadelphia Orchestra in 1917. Williams was also the cornet soloist with Patrick Conway's Band, Victor Herbert's Band, Sousa's Band and The Goldman Band. But more importantly, his success as a teacher is unsurpassed. Coming from a long line of famous teachers himself (including E.W. Garrett, Henry C. Brown and Herbert L. Clarke), Williams was responsible for producing numerous soloists and first chair players with virtually every major orchestra and concert band in the country. Leonard B. Smith, J. Frank Elsass, Raymond Crisara, Louis Davidson, Milton Davidson, Gilbert Mitchell, Bobby Hackett, Walter M. Smith and Don Jacoby were just a few of the many great trumpet and cornet players who studied with Williams.

   In 1942 at the age of nineteen, Jimmy was selected by famed bandmaster Dr. Edwin Franko Goldman to replace Del Staigers (who had returned briefly to fill the vacancy left by Leonard B. Smith) as his permanent cornet soloist and solo chair player. And so in 1943 Jimmy began his career with the Goldman Band. During his 32 years with the Goldman Band, Jimmy was contracted to play five solos each week. The band played seven nights a week with 50 concerts in a summer season. All totaled, Jimmy played over 1100 solos with the Goldman Band. He had a prodigious memory for music and rarely read from sheet music during a performance.

   In 1943 Jimmy began a seven year stint as principle trumpet with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and professor of trumpet at the Peabody Conservatory. Jimmy moved to Baltimore and would take the train up to New York for the summers with the Goldman Band. Another band Jimmy was closely associated with was The Cities Service Band of America, conducted by Paul LaValle. From 1948 through 1954 he was a featured soloist on weekly radio broadcasts with that popular band. He recorded The Carnival of Venice (on trumpet) with LaValle which was released as a single and also on the album "A Sunday Band Concert".

   In 1951, Jimmy recorded what are considered by many to be the definitive versions of A Trumpeter's Lullabye and Bugler's Holiday with Leroy Anderson and his orchestra. Bugler's  Holiday, the popular trio, was recorded with fellow trumpeters Ray Crisara and John Ware. Seven takes were made during the recording process with each take faster than the previous. It is not clear which take was used for the record album.

   While there are many recordings by various trumpeters of A Trumpeter's Lullabye, Jimmy's performance ranks right at the top. Never has this melody been played with more style and beauty. In fact, after the recording session the orchestra along with the pleased composer/conductor gave Jimmy a huge round of applause.

   In 1954, Jimmy was the featured soloist on a recording by Archie Bleyer titled "S'il Vous Plait". This was another rare occassion where Jimmy played the trumpet rather than the cornet. The record was actually the flip side of the hit "Hernando's Hideaway" from the film "The Pajama Game". The single, on Bleyer's own label Cadence rose to # 2 on the charts and featured castanet soloist Maria Alba.

   In 1955, Jimmy was working regularly with composer and conductor Robert Russell Bennett. Under Bennett, he recorded the soundtrack to "Victory At Sea" for RCA records and premiered Bennett's "Rose Variations" for cornet and band.

   In 1956, Jimmy recorded a solo album called Horn Of Plenty. Included here are phenomenal performances of rare cornet solos by J.B. Arban, including Deuxieme Grand Solo, Deuxieme Fantasia Brilliante and The Carnival Of Venice.  Verdi's Fantasie sur Aida is included here as well  and in Burke's own words "... this was the most challanging and difficult solo I ever played." All of the aforementioned solos come complete with his phenomenal double and triple tonguing, unique sound, perfect intonation and beautiful musical expression in the Bel Canto style. The album also includes some of his own compositions as well as his own arrangement of Walter Rogers' The Volunteer. This record is long out of print, unavailable on CD, and is considered a real collectors item today. The solos were all performed on his famous Buescher Super 400 cornet (converted for left handed playing) which is pictured on the cover of the album.

  In 1960 Jimmy co-founded The All-Star Concert Band with famed tuba soloist Dr.Harvey Phillips. For this endeavor, Jimmy chose the music and Harvey chose the musicians. The band was comprised of every top soloist and first chair player in the country. The trumpet section included Jimmy's close friend Ray Crisara, Bob Nagel, Harry Glantz, Manny Weinstock, Ted Weis and Wilfred Roberts. The band recorded three albums: "The All-Star Concert Band"; " Walter Beeler Conducts The Golden Crest Band" and "The Burke-Phillips All-Star Concert Band Vol. 2". Jimmy conducted the band (along with Harvey Phillips and guest conductors Lucien Cailliet and Hunter Wiley) and performed as cornet soloist on three of his own compositions. His lone composition for concert band "Lincoln Square March" is also included. These three albums are scheduled for re-release as a double CD in early 2005 and represent some of the finest concert band recordings ever made. In addition, the band also recorded a single "O Holy Night" backed with "God Bless This House" on the Golden Crest label. "O Holy Night" features Burke as cornet solist in one of the most beautiful renditions of this popular Christmas hymn ever recorded.

    Around this time, Jimmy recorded an album titled "Clinician Series" on the Golden Crest label. This was a live recording of a clinic given at a junior high school where Jimmy demonstrates all facets of trumpet/cornet playing. You can hear some excerpts from this recording on the mp3s page.

   In 1964 he participated in a 14 week U.S. State Department good - will tour of 20 African countries. The tour began in Senegal on the Ivory Coast and ended in Morrocco. Jimmy always considered this to be one of the greatest learning experiences of his life.

   Jimmy was not only a fabulous cornet and trumpet player, he was equally famous for his wonderful, jovial personality and wry sense of humor. Nobody ever said a bad word about him. He never saw himself as handicapped and would often joke about his shortcomings. Once, when asked by a student if he ever used pressure (regarding the placement of the cornet or trumpet against the lips ) he joked "Damn right I use pressure. In fact I use so much pressure that I wore out one arm and now I'm workin' on the other!", after which he (surely) exploded with his famous "from the belly", and often hysterical laughter!!!

      He retired from performing in 1975 to devote his time to teaching, conducting and family as he now had five children and many grandchildren. He always had a full book of students and would often teach from early morning until late at night, sometimes 7 days a week. He always made time for his students and would often go over, above and beyond the scheduled one hour lesson, a characteristic no doubt gleaned from Ernest S. Williams. His teaching style was that of a doting father, all business and very intense when it came to playing the horn, yet he had a great compassion and warmth that made even the most nervous student feel at ease. He would never yell or get angry, only sigh "You have sinned..." whenever a student hadn't practiced. You had to know your fundamentals. He would often say "If you can't finger the horn, just what can you do?" If you were having difficulty fingering the horn, he would sit right next to you and finger your horn while you blew it. The transformation would often be mind blowing to the student who now sounded almost as good as the master who would chuckle and say "See? Nothin' to it." He would do the same thing if the student had trouble breathing by using his hand and actually pushing the air from the students belly, or for a students deeper understanding of proper breathing he would have the student put their hand on his belly while he played. Whatever it took to get his message across, he would do it.

   At any lesson, his incredible memory for music would leave even the most accomplished student awestruck. He had the entire Arban book memorized and would often sit on the other side of the room and say to the student "OK, go to page 168, number 58. It's in the middle of the page and it goes like this..." And he would play it for you right there on the spot. One time at a lesson, this student was playing a solo titled "Treasure Waltz" by Roger Smith. As he played the opening cadenza, Mr. Burke called the students attention to some wrong notes being played. "That's an Eb there" he said. The student replied "No it isn't, it's an E natural". Mr. Burke, in a rare display of displeasure ripped off his glasses, walked across the room, viewed the music, sighed and proceeded to correct (in his own handwriting) not only this publishing error, but over a dozen other errors throughout the solo. Nothing got by him.

   On June 26, 1981, Jimmy was his usual self, joking with some collegues over coffee as they were getting ready for a band rehearsal. Jimmy was going to be "guest" conducting The Guggenhiem Memorial Band, the successor to the Goldman Band in a performance of one of his favorite pieces: Scheherazade. The rehearsal began and after a few minutes, Jimmy suffered a massive heart attack. Paramedics came and worked for an hour to revive him, but their efforts were in vain. The last in a long line of celebrated cornet soloists dating back to Arban had suddenly died at the age of 58. To this day anyone who knew him would testify to the fact when Jimmy Burke died, not only did the world lose one of its greatest cornet soloists, one with truley unbelievable ability, but a man who was respected and loved even more for who he was.

   There was a large turnout of family, friends, students and colleagues from all over the country at Jimmy's funeral. His Buescher "Super 400" cornet was prominently displayed nearby the open casket. He was laid to rest in the family plot at Cedar Hill Cemetary in his home town of Port Jefferson, New York, beneath the tombstone which he himself carved. His cornet may have been silenced, but his music, memory and example will live on for generations to come.

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