I watched this 90-minute program last night on my PBS channel, "Never Too Late: The Doc Severinsen Story." Being of a somewhat senior age myself I clearly remember his run as band leader and featured soloist on the old Johnny Carson Tonight Show. I thought he had died ... until I came across this TV show.
Seeing this was also a natural for me as I too am a trumpet player since childhood, however I never loved it as much as Doc did so I gave it up 20-some years ago during my 50s. I had never given too much thought to trumpet playing longevity but paint me as very surprised that Doc can still play at such a high level in his 90s.
But he works at it, except for a recent hospital stay with pneumonia that almost killed him, he goes to the gym three days a week and works with a trainer particularly to keep his "core" strong, the strength needed to play trumpet the way he plays it. The fingers and lips are important but without exceptional abdominal strength it just won't work out very well.
In addition to solo performances he plays with a small group and also does clinics all over, and after several marriages has settled in with what they term his "partner", Cathy Leach, also a professional trumpet player. It seems that only traveling professional trumpet players can understand and accept that type of life.
The program also features a number of old clips particularly of Doc's interaction with Carson on the show, and some commentary about the very loud outfits that Doc regularly wore. This is an excellent program to show who Doc was and now is and find myself wondering how much longer he can keep it up. Will he still be traveling and playing when he turns 100 in less than 7 years? I wouldn't bet against him.
