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Mac Gollehon

Trumpet Player Mac Gollehon of New York was born and raised in North Carolina and began playing guitar in blues and what was then called "uptown country bands" four nights a week at age 10. At around that same time his father Joe Gollehon, a trumpet player with natural ability and tone quality much like Billy Butterfield, started him on the trumpet. At the same time he taught Mac on trombone, euphonium, French horn and a few years later tuba. Mac's dad would always stress focus of tone center and not to over blow past pitch center.

Around age 13, Mac played the circus and the band-leader Merle Evans had returned from retirement briefly. Merle was well known as a great cornetist and on these gigs Mac did with him he was playing a pocket trumpet. Up to this point Mac was always trying to emulate the sounds he was surrounded by so listening and imitating was a valuable experience. Mac continued through high school playing rock, blues, and jazz on all the instruments he had learned and was performing occasionally with the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. Mac gravitated more toward one nighters and club work just because he found it to be more fun. Also at age 17, Mac briefly raced late model modified stock cars.

At age 18, Mac went to Berklee School of Music in Boston during the day and in the evenings worked what was called the "Combat Zone." These clubs were strip joints and the gigs started at 8 pm and ended at 4 am. The band Mac was in was trumpet, drums, and Hammond B3 organ. The B3 players on that circuit were amazing players and most of them rivaled the performance level of the well known giants of that time on B3. Every night was like being on a gig with Don Patterson or Jimmy McGriff. Mac played that circuit for 2 years and it was great for developing endurance, learning hundreds of songs and playing up to the level the organists played every night. Mac also noted that these great players were living in virtual obscurity for various reasons. While in Boston, Mac did some recording for PBS but did not give it much thought to pursue past what just fell in front of him. Mac was real focused on a hardcore jazz life. Mac took some lessons with Dr. Elmer White from Appalachian State North Carolina and went on the road during the summer with Buddy Morrow and later ... Buddy Rich and Stan Kenton.

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Album Review

Mac Gollehon: The End is the Beginning

Read "The End is the Beginning" reviewed by John Pietaro


From the opening moments of “As Your World Burns," Mac Gollehon's music embraces not simply the underground, but the underside. This collection of fleeting, gripping brass and dense atmosphere amounts to the lost score for the '70s-'80s noir film we've longed for, as nasty in its perfection as was the Manhattan of those years. Gollehon's trumpet soars above the fray, offering a mind's eye view of urban decay, violent crime, and rooftop fisticuffs in the cold light of day or ...

3
Album Review

Mac Gollehon: Mac Gollehon & The Hispanic Mechanics

Read "Mac Gollehon & The Hispanic Mechanics" reviewed by Paul Naser


It's not often you hear of Miles Davis complementing trumpet players, but apparently prolific studio player Mac Gollehon was one of the rare exceptions. Nicknamed “chops" by the jazz icon (according to myth anyway), Gollehon has a very impressive resume; arranging and playing lead trumpet on over 500 gold/platinum records, he worked with big names like the late master David Bowie on his legendary “Let's Dance," 80's favorites Duran Duran and the inimitable Rick James to name just a few. ...

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Album Review

Mac Gollehon: Mac Straight Ahead

Read "Mac Straight Ahead" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Brass man Mac Gollehon means business on Mac Straight Ahead. The ten tracks on this album present Gollehon in a variety of settings and on a variety of instruments...at the same time. While the idea of overdubbing oneself on record is fraught with peril, Gollehon beats the odds. Sometimes he conjures sounds of a full, brassy big band, while other settings pare things down to a few instrumental voices. Though trumpet might be his main axe, Gollehon plays better trombone ...

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Album Review

Mac Gollehon: In The Spirit Of Fats Navarro

Read "In The Spirit Of Fats Navarro" reviewed by AAJ Staff


The broad listening public may be starting to perceive the exhilarating trumpeting of Mac Gollehon. However, the musicians and entertainers have known about him for a long time.Having performing with top-shelf music industry icons like Madonna, David Bowie, Diana Ross, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Mick Jagger, Gollehon understands the necessity to entertain audiences through the power of his instrument. And he has learned to improvise on-the-spot solos that thrill listeners, even as he weaves a story and ...

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Recording

Mac Gollehon's "Straight Ahead" Virtual Big Band

Mac Gollehon's "Straight Ahead" Virtual Big Band

Source: Gapplegate Music Review by Grego Edwards

Trumpeter-trombonist-arranger Mac Gollehon has done something that is far from easy to pull off. He's created big band charts and then realized all the trumpet and trombone parts by overdubbing (except for the bass trombone, which is in the capable hands of Sam Burtis). He's then fleshed out the rest of the group with some notably great players—Victor Lewis, Warren Smith, Ronny Cuber, Ron McClure (where has he been?) and others. The result is a swinging old-school big band date ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The End is the...

Nefarious Industries
2022

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Oddissey of Nostalgia

Point of Departure, WMPG-FM
2012

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Straight Ahead

Point of Departure, WMPG-FM
2011

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Mac Straight Ahead

Self Produced
2010

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In The Spirit Of Fats...

Half Note Records
2001

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