Roger Guerin, a good enough trumpeter for Clark Terry’s Quincy Jones Big Band, played nearly ten years on the violin before switching to the brass world. Guerin, who was still just a teenager when he won the Paris Conservatory’s first prize, can be said to have established his status as one of France’s greatest trumpeters. In the second half of 1940, Guerin began playing professionally with various bands. He quickly became a part of jazzy music with bandleaders Don Byas (saxophonist) and James Moody (guitarist). Guerin’s versatility grew over the 1950s. He sang in an ensemble led by Blossom Dearie and also continued to freelance as a trumpet player. Guerin was part of an international youth group that included German trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff at the Newport Jazz Festival 1958. He then took the chair from Terry two more years later. Michel Legrand, the leader of big-bands, has made great use of Guerin’s soloist abilities, which resulted in several recordings, some of which Guerin himself said are his favorite, including an amorous version of Cole Porter’s “I Love You.” Guerin was featured on over 150 jazz albums by the mid-’90s. Guerin performed a majority of these concerts as an instrumentist, but he also sang in many lineups of Les Doubles Six. Allmusic
