The sound is inside you

Gordon told Les Tomkins he had owned just two mouthpieces in seventeen or eighteen years, both metal. The first, made for him, was stolen around 1952.

A five-star

The one he played in 1962 was medium-sized, a five-star, and people were surprised: they expected an eight or a nine from the size of the sound. It is the projection that counts, he said.

Your tone, your sound is inside of you. You hear it before you produce it.

For a student bringing a horn to a workshop, that is the whole lesson: listen first, then play.