The Tonight Show, Brian Setzer, Bob Dylan…
LA is both a great place and a difficult place to earn your keep as a working musician. Lots of opportunity comes with lots of competition. There’s an extremely high level of proficiency and commitment required to make the cut. Only the absolute best get called back time after time; these cats are referred to as first-call players.
Kye Palmer is a first-call player.
You’ve heard his trumpet on film scores for Jersey Boys, Crazy Rich Asians, and Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar. You’ve heard his trumpet sitting in the lead chair on the Tonight Show band. Perhaps you caught him performing with legends like Bob Dylan, Tom Jones, Tony Bennett, Seal, Stanley Clarke, Helen Reddy, and Joe Williams… He’s the guy Michael Buble calls when it’s time to make a record.
Currently on the faculty of the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at Cal State Long Beach, Kye has taught applied trumpet at USC and Cal-State Fullerton, Jazz Theory and Improvisation at Riverside Community College, and maintained a private teaching studio for students of all ages since 1999. His former students include members of John Mayer’s and Michael Buble’s touring bands as well as a Downbeat college award winner and a Grammy In The Schools band member. As a clinician/soloist he has worked with students and bands at the University of North Florida, University of Memphis, Mount San Antonio College, Riverside Community College, Cal-State Fullerton, and many local high schools. He has also authored several articles on jazz improvisation for the International Trumpet Guild.
We first met Kye in 2019 as part of the Golden Globes award show orchestra. Vanguard V4 FET mics were used extensively for the brass and woodwinds by LA engineer Gary Lux (and have been ever since). Kye fell in love with the sound and scored one for himself.
“I love my Vanguard V4 FET! It gives me the clean, lifelike sound of a vintage large diaphragm condenser at a fraction of the price. It has a beautiful, elegant look that is just as appealing as it sounds. I highly recommend!“