Charlie Bertini - Trumpet
Charlie Bertini (CB)
Inner Diameter: 0.600
Outer Diameter: 1.062
Cup: Shallow
Bore: 27
"I have been playing my Warburton custom mouthpiece since 1985. Paired with the number 9 backbore, I fell in love with its versatility. I use the same equipment for all my musical chores, including studio work, big band, Dixieland, small group jazz, solo work, and pops concerts. This is the most flexible and reliable mouthpiece equipment I have ever used. I can't imagine any other mouthpiece that could make my work easier or more productive, and it creates a perfect balance for my Lawler trumpet."
- Charlie Bertini
Eager to play trumpet professionally, Charlie started his own dance band in the ninth grade. At age 19 he joined the Clyde Beatty-Cole Bros Circus and toured for six years as first trumpeter and later as musical director. The circus relocated him to Florida where he began to play a variety of gigs: Dixieland show clubs, stage shows with nightclub performers like Mel Tormé, Clint Holmes and Patti Page, and free-lance engagements at Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, and Church Street Station in Orlando, Florida.
In demand as a first-call trumpeter he has backed up artists such as Burt Bacharach, Liza Minnelli, Henry Mancini, Natalie Cole, Johnny Mathis, Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. He has played on network TV specials for Walt Disney World, Ringling Bros Circus, and several PBS music specials. His AppleJazz cable show from the 1995 AppleJazz concert was nominated for a CableAce Award for "Best Music Program For 1995".
As a recording artist, Charlie has seven solo albums – APPLESASS, JEWELS, ACID DIXIE, OUT OF SEASON, CHARLIE BERTINI’S APPLEJAZZ BAND CLASSIC PERFORMANCES, TRIOLOGY, and LIVE & UNPLUGGED (all on AppleJazz Records) and two Christmas albums, CHRISTMAS COOKIES and FRESH BATCH (on Arbors Records) which have become classics in the industry. Charlie has recorded thirteen albums with Bill Allred's Classic Jazz Band and has produced over ninety albums for other artists, including Warren Vaché, Bob Haggart, Wycliffe Gordon, Harry Allen, Dick Hyman, Bucky Pizzarelli, The Glenn Miller Orchestra, Milt Hinton, Flip Phillips and John Allred. He has played in 45 states, Europe, and China.
Charlie was the executive director of the annual AppleJazz Festival held in upstate NY, which ran for thirty years from 1984 until 2014. The AppleJazz Band also performed at the Syracuse Jazz Fest in July 2015.
As a teacher and clinician he has led workshops and lectures at universities and high schools, is an adjunct trumpet teacher at Osceola County School for the Arts, and keeps a busy schedule teaching private trumpet students. Still based in Orlando, Charlie enjoys a variety of musical settings and challenges and continues to be one of the most versatile and respected trumpeters and producers in the industry.