Good times still good and sweet for Las Vegas trumpet player

Trumpet master Tommy Porrello is a proud Yankees fan, but he admits he’ll root for the Boston Red Sox in the World Series.

All things considered, it seems like the right thing to do.

Historic baseball rivalries aside, back in 1969, Porrello and his horn helped create Neil Diamond’s soft-rock smash “Sweet Caroline,” which echoes through Fenway Park during the middle of the eighth inning at every Red Sox home game.

His trumpet’s sweet call — “BUH-Buh-buh” — reverberates not only for the Fenway faithful, but it has become an iconic tune at sporting events from here to Hamburg.

Like so many other highlights in the Las Vegas musician’s life, the “Sweet Caroline” gig was the result of an artist’s passion mixed with a remarkable work ethic.

After touring widely and becoming a first-chair soloist in packed showrooms for nearly a decade, Porrello decided to try studio session work in Los Angeles and accepted a job at ABC. He stayed a year. The musicians were great, but after a short time, the playing felt a little like factory work. Precision was essential, but his role was often an isolated layer in a lengthy production process.

So it was with “Sweet Caroline.”

“We actually didn’t know who we were recording for,” Porrello recalls. “The voice is the last thing to go on. We didn’t even realize what we did until months later.”

With little fanfare, an ABC official later informed the musicians, “You guys are on a million-seller.”

For many players, such news would qualify as a career highlight, but Porrello was too busy making music and moving on to take much note.

We’re not talking about just any trumpet player here. Born into a musical family in Easton, Pa., he developed a facility with the trumpet as a child. By 12, he had sat in with Stan Kenton and his big band. A few years later, he would emerge as Kenton’s top horn man.

Not bad, but then Porrello also held first chair in the band of Harry James, one of the world’s greatest trumpet players. And Porrello thundered across country with Woody Herman’s big band.

Then there’s the lineup of superstars he has worked with. It would make Murderer’s Row buckle at the knees. Because newsprint is expensive, consider this an abbreviated list: Sinatra, Streisand, Tony Bennett, Elvis, Sammy, Perry Como, Vic Damone, James Brown. Not to mention that Diamond guy.

With a self-deprecating shrug, Porrello says, “It’s probably easier to name the people I didn’t play for.”

Did I mention the albums he has been on? It’s 29, at last count. That includes one sweet little ’69 single on the ABC label.

Here’s the best part.

This hall-of-fame trumpet player, whose home office is festooned with achievements, is still in the lineup.

He toured with Sinatra and Elvis, and soloed on Broadway in Barbra Streisand’s “Funny Girl,” but in the Strip’s post-showroom orchestra generation, the venues and bands are often smaller.

Lately you can catch him with “The Rat Pack is Back” at the Rio and just about anywhere else fine music is heard. That includes The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, which he helped open and where he is scheduled to play next month behind Michael Feinstein.

In its heyday, the Strip was heaven for musicians. It provided opportunities that enabled players from across the country to get off the road, settle down and raise families in Southern Nevada. Porrello and wife Marylou — the daughter of a trumpet player — did just that.

“There was so much work you couldn’t handle all of it,” he says, recalling months-long stretches when he played six shows a day at three hotels. “I should have saved more money.”

He laughs a little and, like a veteran ballplayer, anticipates the age question. How long can he continue?

“I’m very fortunate to be doing it at this age,” he says. “I’m going to keep doing it until I don’t sound good. When I don’t sound good, I’ll quit. I haven’t lost the fire. I enjoy it too much. As long as I’m playing well, I’m going to keep doing it.”

For Tommy Porrello, the good times continue to be very good, indeed.

John L. Smith’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at jsmith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295.