My name is Dave Painchaud and I am a composer, producer and trumpet/flugelhorn player specializing in mashing electronic, ambient, orchestral and jazz music in unusual ways.  One of my missions is to entice listeners with a style they already like and then turn them on to genres they would never have otherwise checked out.

When people invariably ask what that sounds like I say that Miles Davis, Brian Eno and Daft Punk held a conspiratorial meeting aboard my time machine/trans-dimensional spacecraft while I furiously took notes. My album, “Tales Told And Journeys Imagined” is an attempt to realize what I think would have been discussed.

Why go in this direction? Because the magic can be anywhere, and we’re at a point culturally where we’re tired and dismissive of genre. Passion – the ability to distract and transport – that’s all we really need and we’re perfectly capable of jumping around a bit stylistically. In fact, I think it keeps our interest up.

As a trumpet player who grew up on the coast of Maine, spent my youth obsessed with jazz and classical music, and cut my teeth at Berklee before finally moving to New York to play every kind of gig imaginable, ending up fixated on electronica and the studio, is, perhaps, an atypical destination. But after years of jazz in the village, horn sections, drum corps, pop, rock, funk, street music, high end stuff and gigs to keep your chops up, a deep impression was formed that the contemporary listener could travel to these varied musical locales and dig the diversity while also appreciating their interconnectedness just as I had. The result is a recording that leans heavily on jazz and retro-fusion, tilts into minimal and ambient pieces and plays a bit with avant-garde and orchestral moments yet still sounds like one album.  Come take a genre-spin!

My current "A" horn is a Yamaha YTR-6310 Z.  This horn has a step bore design (which starts out very small) and a reversed leadpipe. When fitted with my GR mouthpiece, this horn gives me the tone quality, control and sizzle that I'm looking for.

My flugelhorn of choice these days surprises me a bit as I've always been a Yamaha guy, but I recently had a chance to play the LeBlanc F357 and it was just a perfect fit for me.  Great sound and overall playability.  I tried out eight different flugels and it was the clear winner (even over my tried and true Yamaha 631), so, at least for now, this is my horn. 

One of my favorite horns is a Bach 37G (Elkhart) that has been overhauled and refitted by Chuck McAlexander at the Brass Lab in New York.  Changes from the original include a new leadpipe (by Charlie Melk of Charlie's Brass Works in Milwaukee), 1st and 3rd valve triggers, amado water keys and weighted valve caps. At the time of the photo I was playing Stork mouthpieces for my trumpets (I have since found a slighly better fit with GR's).  I also enjoy playing my Flip Oakes "Wild Thing" and my vintage Martin Committee and have often used them depending on the requirements of the situation, but for overall balance, this Bach, after Chuck's modifications, is very hard to beat.

I play the Kanstul Model 180 G mellophone, seen here as it should be, on grass.  Like all G mellos it can be very hard to keep in tune, but there is a certain brightness to the timbre of the G mello that I find far more characteristic then the overly dark F mellophone.  In order to keep the instrument as centered as possible I often use the Curry T/F mouthpiece although there is something special about the instrument's response when using the definitive Mello 6.

My Martin Committee - it's considerd "vintage" because it's old (and that usually doesn't equate to "good" with a horn), but there are exceptions.  In this case this Martin is the same model trumpet that Miles, Chet and so many others played.  The sound as produced by these instruments was, and is, iconic, but Martin made changes to the design of the instrument in the 1960's and frankly, the horn was never really the same again.  So, if you can find a still functional instrument from before those changes took place - the same model as played by the immortals - it's a way to sort of connect with them.  You're playing the same horn from a design point of view, so the characteristics of the instrument are the same and it opens a window on how the great ones approached an instrument.  It IS instructive and there are moments when you can't believe to what degree your own sound approaches that of the jazz trumpet from the 1950's.  It can be pretty uncanny.  This instrument is in no way "perfect".  The valves have issues and need tons of lubrication just to be usable.  It's old and a bit banged up, but there are moments when the sound is just right on the money - and you're touching history, how can you beat that?

6/18/13

It's been a while since have I posted some news, but that's mainly because I have been deep within the confines of the Amoeba creating new tunes; however, I don't want to risk burying the lead, so the latest and greatest is that I've been asked to host a one hour, monthly radio show on RadioBuzzD.com out of Los Angeles.  The show will be on every 3rd Wednesday at 10 PM EDT/7 PM PDT and will be called "Harmony Of The Spheres."  The intention will be to play vastly divergent styles within the same set and encourage the listener to stretch their ears and hear the interconnectedness of things that are not normally programmed together (sort of like the same mission as my recordings, huh?).  Many thanks to Diggy Kat and the cool folks at RadioBuzzD for affording me this opportunity.  The first show will be on tomorrow night - I hope you can check it out!

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4/4/13

Tonight I will be the guest of the sensational Miss Mouse on the Mouse Tracks program on RadioBuzzD.com out of Los Angeles at 6 PM EDT/3PM PDT.  The Mouse-stress will be doing a series of mini-interviews (about five minutes a piece) with the musicians she will be playing.  I have no idea what she'll be playing or what we're going to talk about but, of course, that's part of the fun.  Should be an enjoyable five minutes!

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1/10/13

We will be played on the Mouse Tracks program tonight hosted by Miss Mouse on RadioBuzzD.com from 10 PM to 12 AM EST - always a great show and I hope you can check it out!

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1/8/13

So, with a new year upon us I’ve made some changes here to make the site easier to navigate and a little less cumbersome.  All of my previous “News” posts from 2011 and 2012 are now on their own page that I’ve entitled “Archives”.  Feel free to check it out and you’ll get a sense of how things have evolved since the initial release of the album in June of 2011 to the end of 2012.  As we begin 2013, my focus is on completing project number two while continuing to get airplay and licensing opportunities for “Tales Told…”.

I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the numerous DJ’s and stations that have given me so much airplay throughout 2012 (and in most cases continue right into 2013).  Many thanks to Wayne Benson at Krankit Radio in Boston, DJ Meatwad at Head Case Radio in Seattle, Diggy Kat and Miss Mouse at RadioBuzzD.com in Los Angeles, Earl Watts at WNUR and JazzyLounge.com in Chicago, The Jackass Penguin Show’s Jazzy Selection in Limerick, Ireland, Don Campau of KWTF in San Francisco and his “No Pigeonholes Podcast”, Radio Marabu in Belm, Germany, Mark Lamdanski at Butterflies Radio in South Florida, the Eclectic Bliss Podcast, Mikey Jay at KGUP 106.5 “The Emerge Radio Networks” in Los Angeles, Veronica Dee and Howard Stone at Mutiny Radio in San Francisco, Rodney Bardin at KCTY “The City” in Long Beach, CA, KLBC also In Long Beach, Jason Smith and his Radio BSOTS Podcast, E J Buster at Hollow Earth Radio in Seattle, Rick Mizuno and his “Indies In Motion” show on Global Voice Broadcasting  and, of course, enormous thanks to the leading feline ass-kicker in the west, Taylor Van Arsdale, for playing me on her “Music And Mayhem” show on Indie 100  out of Los Angeles.

Thanks also to Mike El at Song and Film, James Davis at musiconlinelibrary.com and Chris Richards at Six Palms Entertainment Music Placement Service  for trying to find a place for my work in the realm of television.

Lastly, I recently did an Interview with Diggy Kat of RadioBuzzD.com which can be found here.

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