I am blessed to have had the opportunity to sit next to Wayne during a performance with the Plano Community Band at the Texas Music Educators Association in 2018. At one point near the end of the piece called "Ballad Blues and Boogie", I held a whole note pretty much at the top of my usable range - about an F# above high C - and then the angels started to sing in my right ear as Wayne went a fourth higher, sticking an amazing B, and I thought "Lord, take me now. it's never gonna be better than this!" Stockton Helbing was on the trap set during that performance, as he is in this video. Two absolutely SICK musicians. And two of the nicest guys you will ever meet. After that performance at TMEA, Wayne stood in the middle of the stage, and made ZERO effort to leave until everyone had an autograph an/or a photo. One of the most gracious people you could ever hope to meet. If you haven't heard Wayne in person, I encourage you to put it on your bucket list.
Wayne's tone is unprecedented. I can recognize him more than anything when I hear him play and his upper register is so clear compared to a lot of others. He's a great composer as well.
Wayne is a better trumpet player than Maynard was, I will always be in awe of how well all of his registers center. While Maynard was a pioneer screamer, Wayne has all his range and more, and plays circles around Maynard in the low register. Bergeron's sound is perfect.
Once a pioneer breaks the trail, other can follow, and often improve on it, but Maynard’s Live at Jimmy’s version of this is still the best by a looooonnggg shot!
