Recording artists Jim Pugh, Wycliffe Gordon and Maynard Ferguson’s music director Reggie Watkins are now playing the first Monette small shank trombone mouthpieces.  With the help and encouragement of these three players, we should soon make the first model of Monette small shank trombone mouthpiece available to the general trombone-playing public! The first step in the design process was to come up with an improved rim and cup design for roughly an 11C – 7C size mouthpiece.  Jim Pugh described to Dave over the phone what he thought he might like, and Dave hand-cut the first prototype late last year.  Jim liked this first mouthpiece over his conventional piece – and started playing it immediately.  This first rim and cup design is now our model TS-11!  Over the next six months, Dave and Jim worked methodically to perfect the myriad of design details that go into making a new Monette mouthpiece.  Decisions on weight, temper, blank proportions, throat size, backbore size, backbore shape, shanking, etc. were systematically made over the course of three visits Dave made to New York City.  Dave and Jim worked together play-testing backstage at Carnegie Hall, in various other concert and studio settings, and also in the pit of the Broadway show Fosse in order to find out in real-life performance situations how to best dial-in the above design details to produce a state-of-the-art new mouthpiece.  Shortly after Dave started working with Jim, he finally make a mouthpiece for Wycliffe Gordon - who had asked about getting one for years!  Wycliffe received his prototype mouthpiece – the TS-6 – in January, just before a “Live at Lincoln Center” televised Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra concert.  Dave was backstage during the broadcast, working with all the brass players in the orchestra.  Wycliffe has now been using our large shank trombone, small shank trombone and tuba mouthpieces ever since that concert, and we are thrilled to have him as a client! We are also happy to be working with Maynard’s music director Reggie Watkins.  Reggie liked one of the prototypes made up for Jim, and he has been using it non-stop since he received it this last winter. Please watch our WEB site for news of when we have the first batch of TS-11’s available for purchase.  In the mean time, catch Jim, Wycliffe or Reggie in concert to hear the new mouthpieces in action!

Dave and Jim backstage at Carnegie Hall. Wycliffe Gordon and Jim Pugh backstage at Lincoln Center with their Monette mouthpieces. Reggie Watkins, Maynard Ferguson's Music Director. Jim Pugh, Dave and Tony Kadleck outside the stage door at Carnegie Hall! Our old friend Lew Soloff, a recording engineer and Jim Pugh pose after a recording session in Manhattan.  Dave Monette heard the session, and worked with Jim on the new mouthpiece in the studio afterwards Our mouthpiece maker Dean Comley… Shop employee Jeff Snyder holds up one of the latest versions before boxing it up and sending it off via Fedex to Jim Pugh.