Rafael Mendez

Rafael Mendez (b. March 26, 1906, Jiquilpan, Mexico – d. Encino, California, September 15, 1981) – Trumpet player, composer, and arranger. Born and raised in Mexico, legendary trumpeter Rafael Mendez starting playing cornet at age five and soon joined the family orchestra. At only ten, he and the orchestra played for Pancho Villa, who invited the group to travel with him. During his teens, the young trumpeter worked very hard on his technique – developing his trademark double tonguing – and gigged with circus bands, dance bands, and various other groups. When he came to the United States at age twenty, his first home – though only for a short time – was in Gary, Indiana, where he worked a factory job. Disappointed that he couldn’t find an outlet to play the trumpet there, he moved to Flint, Michigan, and eventually to Detroit, where he played in an orchestra at Fox Theater. A lip injury in 1932 put him out of work and sent him back to Mexico to study with his father. By 1934, he was back in the U.S. with some embouchure adjustments that gave him masterful technique and incredible endurance. After living another stretch in Detroit, he based his career out of New York City and then Hollywood. After joining the MGM Orchestra in 1939, he got noticed by Decca and signed a twelve-record deal with them. He was soon on his way to becoming a high profile virtuoso noted for his impeccable technique and circular breathing. He could play the heavy classics, the light classics, jazz, popular music, and traditional Mexican styles. Some of his best-known appearances include the Ed Sullivan Show, the Art Linkletter Show, the Red Skelton Show, and the Hollywood Bowl. Among the many showpieces that he championed – including his own transcriptions of Paganini Caprices – was Leroy Anderson’s “Bugler’s Holiday,” which he played with his two sons on the other trumpet parts.