Charlie Porter: Don't Let Great Trumpet Playing Cause You Pain. Ep. 167

This episode of The Other Side of the Bell, featuring trumpet educator, composer and performer Charlie Porter, is brought to you by Bob Reeves Brass.

This episode also appears as a video episode on our YouTube channel, you can find it here:

"Charlie Porter Trumpet Interview"

And, find the expanded show notes, transcript and more photos here

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Charlie Porter turns a lifetime of trumpet breakthroughs, setbacks, and hard-won lessons into an absolute masterclass for us on The Other Side of the Bell: on sound, practice, endurance, and finding your own voice.

Charlie traces meeting as a kid Wynton Marsalis, backstage at a concert, which lit the fuse to a lifetime of inspiration. Yet he points out that inspiration has to be renewed constantly, not just found once.

After cruising along through high school music, Juilliard and the early years of touring, Charlie’s pursuit of a great sound without considering sustainability led to serious pain and embouchure issues, developing a blood blister and taking eight months off from playing to recover.

What followed was a total rebuild of his embouchure and approach, reshaping his ideas about oscillation and balance, and learning to understand airflow as more than just “pressure.”

Charlie tells us how transcribing, composing, and teaching has made him a better musician, and why he believes every player should save the advice they do not fully understand yet: it may come in key later!

"I love limitations. When there's something that says, 'No, you can't do this,' I say, 'Well, how can I work around that?!'" - Charlie Porter

About Charlie Porter:

Charlie Porter is a GRAMMY Award–winning trumpeter, composer, educator, and internationally recognized trumpet pedagogue whose career spans jazz, classical music, Broadway, orchestral performance, and contemporary music. He studied trumpet with Wynton Marsalis, Raymond Mase, Mark Gould, Laurie Frink, Guy Touvron, and Pierre Thibaud, drawing on a wide range of traditions and approaches to develop his own distinctive musical voice.

For twenty years, Porter performed as solo trumpeter with the Absolute Ensemble, the acclaimed electro-acoustic crossover chamber ensemble known for its adventurous programming and genre-defying collaborations. His diverse performance career has also included a year touring with Dallas Brass, performances in Broadway productions both as a featured performer and substitute, and work with orchestras throughout the New York area.

As a bandleader and recording artist, Porter has released seven albums, exploring original compositions, concept-driven projects, and new approaches to jazz performance. His recent projects include Cipher, an innovative musical treasure hunt embedded in an album, and Sci-Fi Standards, Vol. 1: The Future We Knew, which reimagines iconic science-fiction film music through the language of jazz. 

Equally committed to trumpet education, Porter has presented clinics and master classes internationally and has reached a global audience through his extensive collection of YouTube instructional videos. His recent work includes writing trumpet étude books designed to develop musicianship, technical facility, and intelligent, purposeful practice. He is a Professor of Trumpet at New York University, where he continues to teach and mentor the next generation of trumpet players.

Across an unusually broad range of musical settings, Porter brings a perspective shaped by decades of professional performance, rigorous study, creative exploration, and a deep commitment to understanding the trumpet and helping others play it at their highest level.

Episode Links:

• Website: https://www.charlieportermusic.com/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CharliePorter/featured
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charlieportermusic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/charlieportermusician/

Bob Reeves Brass Events and Appearances:

• NCMEA Conference, November 8-9, Winston-Salem, NC
  Greg Black Mouthpieces, November 10, Mount Holly, NC
  Book your valve alignment! https://trumpetmouthpiece.com/products/2025-north-carolina-alignments

Podcast Credits:

• “A Room with a View“ - composed and performed by Howie Shear
• Podcast Host - John Snell
• Photo Credits - Courtesy Charlie Porter
• Audio Engineer - Ted Cragg