Randy Sandke: A Study in Versatility

Versatility and innovation are two terms that most appropriately can be applied to trumpeter Randy Sandke, although he considers himself more of a survivor who has been able to make a living playing music since he had to turn down an offer to play in Janis Joplin’s band because he had developed a hernia of the throat which made it uncomfortable for him to play the trumpet. Growing up in Chicago where his father was a college professor and his mother an amateur pianist. Randy and his older brother Jordan discovered some 78 rpm records his parents had and were soon immersed in listening to Armstrong, Beiderbecke, and Miles Davis. While Randy says, “These jazz legends had a lasting effect on us both, and while traditional jazz was my first love, it wasn’t long before I was listening to the likes of Clifford Brown and Dizzy Gillespie.” The Sandke brothers took a shot at playing the drums, but when Jordan brought home a trumpet, Randy knew he has found his instrument. It was while playing for dances and private parties in his early teens that Randy realized his father’s life as a professor was rather confining, and “the idea of traveling around and playing music seemed like the most thrilling lifestyle I could imagine.” “Great Promise” Randy Sandke takes a solo at Nate Najar’s “A Jazz Holiday” in