I'd say it's mostly rehearsal - Prince always had a great way of making things look like improv.

phoenixrising said:

I heard a cut of a live recording of Prince and the NPG (sorry I don't remember which song) where there was a break and the horns took over, and then the keyboards.. My question is, how did that work out? That is to say, Prince didn't play any brass or wind instruments as far as I know so did he tell the horns you have 48 bars to improvise and I want it to go something like this and then demonstrate on the piano or guitar, Or did they just have hours and weeks of rehearsal to learn what Prince wanted?

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Any idea what year? I could probably answer this in detail if it was the 90's NPG

MrMoops said:

Those guys are professional, and Maceo is a legend. 48 bars ain't shit if you're called out.

phoenixrising said:

MrMoops said:

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Any idea what year? I could probably answer this in detail if it was the 90's NPG

Sorry not sure of the year, but maceo was called out by name

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Maceo did most of his stuff with P in the 2000s

if he called out Maceo, then it was all improvised. That would pretty much always be the case with individual soloists. If it was the horn section playing something together, then it would be something they already worked out. When we got in those jams at the end of a show, we would usually have a lead line and/or hook of some sort to go to if he called a "horns on the one". We also had some simple riffs to back up other soloists or just add to the jam. I would call those out using hand signals. On the D&P and the Act I & II tours, the outro would have specific cues for the big horn stuff at the end like "Horns, hit me in the back" and "Horns, kick some ass"

MrMoops said:

luv2tha99s said:

MrMoops said:

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Maceo did most of his stuff with P in the 2000s

if he called out Maceo, then it was all improvised. That would pretty much always be the case with individual soloists. If it was the horn section playing something together, then it would be something they already worked out. When we got in those jams at the end of a show, we would usually have a lead line and/or hook of some sort to go to if he called a "horns on the one". We also had some simple riffs to back up other soloists or just add to the jam. I would call those out using hand signals. On the D&P and the Act I & II tours, the outro would have specific cues for the big horn stuff at the end like "Horns, hit me in the back" and "Horns, kick some ass"

Were you a member of the NPG?

Yes

Michael B. Nelson - trombone/horn arranger, leader of NPG Horns/Hornheads

I worked with Prince from 1991-2001, and again from 2011-2016 as horn arranger and string producer.

MrMoops said:

luv2tha99s said:

MrMoops said: Were you a member of the NPG?

Yes

Michael B. Nelson - trombone/horn arranger, leader of NPG Horns/Hornheads

I worked with Prince from 1991-2001, and again from 2011-2016 as horn arranger and string producer.

.

I am so sorry for your loss.

MrMoops said:

prittypriss said:

MrMoops said:

Yes

Michael B. Nelson - trombone/horn arranger, leader of NPG Horns/Hornheads

I worked with Prince from 1991-2001, and again from 2011-2016 as horn arranger and string producer.

.

I am so sorry for your loss.

Thank you. It's been a lot tougher than I ever imagined (partly because I never imagined)

MrMoops, did you play on "Freaks On This Side"?

If so, just wanna say those are my favorite horns on any song, pretty much ever. Always get that riff stuck in my head.

Hope you're holding up, all things considered.

dustoff said:

MrMoops, did you play on "Freaks On This Side"?

If so, just wanna say those are my favorite horns on any song, pretty much ever. Always get that riff stuck in my head.

Hope you're holding up, all things considered.

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Thanks

yeah, that's a pretty crazy fun one. He gave me the track with the main horn hooks on it and I arranged different variations for him to work with. Also, he gave me space to write the horn break that happens in the middle and near the end. Then we would go in the studio and proceed to mess around with everything. At one point in the song he just told us to play a lick as high as we could. I still smile when I hear it. Only P would try that.

MrMoops said: