Name Bernie Glow | Role Musician | |
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Died May 8, 1982, New York City, New York, United States Similar People Ernie Royal, Frank Rehak, Danny Bank, Jimmy Cleveland, Bill Barber |
Bernie Glow, lead trumpet
Bernie Glow (February 6, 1926 – May 8, 1982) was an American trumpet player who specialized in jazz and commercial lead trumpet from the 1940s to 1970s.
Contents
- Bernie Glow lead trumpet
- Top Tracks Bernie Glow
- Training
- Early Career 1942 1949
- NYC Freelance Years 1949 1952
- Studio Years 1950s 1970s
- As sideman
- References

Glow's early career was on the road with Artie Shaw, Woody Herman and others during the last years of the big-band era. The majority of his years were spent as a first-rate New York City studio musician, where he worked with Miles Davis and Frank Sinatra, and did thousands of radio and television recording sessions.
Top Tracks - Bernie Glow
Training
Born in New York City, Glow began on the trumpet at age 9, studying with Max Schlossberg of the New York Philharmonic, the most sought after teacher at the time. This training was at the command of Glow's Russian maternal grandfather, Sam Finkel, who knew Schlossberg from Russia, and who told the family that young Bernie was going to become a first trumpet player in an orchestra. After Schlossberg died, Glow studied with orchestral players Harry Glantz and Nat Prager, both students of Schlossberg.
At The High School of Music & Art, during the Second World War, Bernie played in bands with future notables Stan Getz, Tiny Khan, Shorty Rogers and George Wallington.
Other than the influence of symphonic trumpet masters and his peers, Glow was influenced early on by performances of Snooky Young with the Jimmie Lunceford band, and Billy Butterfield with Benny Goodman.
Early Career 1942-1949
Just sixteen and out of high school, Glow spent a year on the road with the Richard Himber Orchestra. Two years later he was with Xavier Cugat and then Raymond Scott on CBS radio. In 1945 he was playing lead trumpet with the Artie Shaw band. Following that stint, he was with Boyd Raeburn.
In 1949, at 23, he retired from the road after more than a year with Woody Herman and his famous "Second Herd".
NYC Freelance Years 1949-1952
In this middle period Glow worked as a trumpet player in a wide variety of situations. He played in big bands, Latin bands and dance orchestras. He performed around Manhattan in theaters, dance halls, night clubs and on the radio. This was the final preparation that launched him into the burgeoning commercial and studio scene.
Studio Years 1950s-1970s
Beginning in 1953 Bernie Glow was a first-call trumpet player and played on thousands of recording sessions. There was great variety in the kinds of music being recorded; One day he would play a radio commercial for Pepsi, and the next he would record an album with Frank Sinatra or Ella Fitzgerald. Many of these studio big-band sessions were led by leading composer/arrangers Nelson Riddle, Quincy Jones and Oliver Nelson. He played on the seminal Miles Davis and Gil Evans collaborations that produced the masterpiece albums Miles Ahead (1957), Porgy and Bess (1958), Sketches of Spain (1959), and Quiet Nights (1962). Glow also spent time as a member of the NBC and CBS staff orchestras.
He played a Bach Stradivarius Bb 72* (lightweight) trumpet.
As sideman
With Manny Albam
With Tony Bennett
With George Benson
With Bob Brookmeyer
With Ruth Brown
With Kenny Burrell
With Candido Camero
With Betty Carter
With Al Cohn
With Hank Crawford
With Miles Davis and Gil Evans
With Bill Evans
With Gil Evans
With Art Farmer
With Maynard Ferguson
With Aretha Franklin
With Curtis Fuller
With Dizzy Gillespie
With Jimmy Giuffre
With Benny Golson
With Urbie Green
With Eddie Harris
With Billie Holiday
With Freddie Hubbard
With Milt Jackson
With Al Kooper
With John Lewis
With Mundell Lowe
With Herbie Mann
With Gary McFarland
With Blue Mitchell
With the Modern Jazz Quartet
With Wes Montgomery
With Mark Murphy
With Oliver Nelson
With Joe Newman
With Laura Nyro
With Anita O'Day
With Chico O'Farrill
With Jimmy Smith
With Sarah Vaughan
With Walter Wanderley
With Dinah Washington