Portland’s world-class trumpet maker David Monette on PBS’ ‘Craft in America’ Sunday

THE OREGONIAN

Portland’s world-class trumpet maker David Monette on PBS’ ‘Craft in America’ Sunday
By  Kristi Turnquist
November 20, 2015

Portland’s David Monette will be in good company on Sunday’s “Craft in America,” the Season 7 premiere of the PBS series that celebrates handcrafted work. The episode, titled “Music,” explores the art of handcrafting instruments, and includes input from the artists who use them to perform.

Among those featured in the episode are Monette, who makes trumpets for the likes of Wynton Marsalis and Scotty Barnhart, director of the Count Basie Orchestra.

In the episode, we see Monette talking about the painstaking art of making a trumpet, a process that can take a year to complete.

Putting the instrument to use is Barnhart, who shows what makes a Monette trumpet exceptional.

The “Music” episode also features the Kamaka family who have, for four generations, specialized in crafting ukuleles in Hawaii; Geoff Stelling, the bluegrass banjo maker headquartered in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains; Rhiannon Giddens, of the group Carolina Chocolate Drops, talking about the fretless minstrel banjo, and James Hartel, who made Giddens’ instrument; and Joan Baez discussing why Martin guitars are essential to her career.

The “Music” episode of “Craft in America” airs at 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22, on OPB (10.)