Page 1 of 1
Like Bigfoot emerging from the woods, JJ's Minick with the 12 inch bell appears on Mike Dease's social media
Posted: Fri May 15, 2026 11:03 am
by slidefunk
After reading about it in JJ Johnson's 'autobiography' I had always wanted to see a picture of the legendary horn with the huge bell. I had never been able to find one until today, there it was on Instagram. In a video, no less:
Re: Like Bigfoot emerging from the woods, JJ's Minick with the 12 inch bell appears on Mike Dease's social media
Posted: Fri May 15, 2026 12:27 pm
by Finetales
That has to be a French horn bell, right?
Re: Like Bigfoot emerging from the woods, JJ's Minick with the 12 inch bell appears on Mike Dease's social media
Posted: Fri May 15, 2026 1:17 pm
by slidefunk
It's been a while since I read the book so I would need to check my facts, but I believe it is indeed a French horn bell.
Re: Like Bigfoot emerging from the woods, JJ's Minick with the 12 inch bell appears on Mike Dease's social media
Posted: Sat May 16, 2026 5:04 pm
by tbonesullivan
That definitely has an interesting timbre. What was JJ looking for by asking Minnick to make that for him? A slide flugabone?
Re: Like Bigfoot emerging from the woods, JJ's Minick with the 12 inch bell appears on Mike Dease's social media
Posted: Sat May 16, 2026 8:14 pm
by slidefunk
I think this is the Downbeat interview quotes in the book:
Re: Like Bigfoot emerging from the woods, JJ's Minick with the 12 inch bell appears on Mike Dease's social media
Posted: Sun May 17, 2026 9:50 am
by chromebone
JJ had been doing that for a long time. He used to play a 3b slide on a 4B bell section and a 2b slide on a 3b bell section before that.
Re: Like Bigfoot emerging from the woods, JJ's Minick with the 12 inch bell appears on Mike Dease's social media
Posted: Sun May 17, 2026 12:25 pm
by harrisonreed
That looks like AI
The sound is kind of like there is zero resistance on that horn. I'm not sure about it lol.
Re: Like Bigfoot emerging from the woods, JJ's Minick with the 12 inch bell appears on Mike Dease's social media
Posted: Tue May 19, 2026 1:31 pm
by dembones
I heard him play it at the Blue Note in NYC. I was sitting right in front of him. Man could he play loud! I remember liking his tone on his regular horn better than the sound on this.
Re: Like Bigfoot emerging from the woods, JJ's Minick with the 12 inch bell appears on Mike Dease's social media
Posted: Tue May 19, 2026 4:47 pm
by Finetales
slidefunk wrote: Sat May 16, 2026 8:14 pm
I think this is the Downbeat interview quotes in the book:
Interesting, so he was trying to get a darker sound by making a trombone as conical as possible. I wonder if he ever tried a bass trombone (a la Slide Hampton) and concluded it took too much air, leading him to search for a different solution.
Kinda funny to see the Yamaha TG77 noted as "2G77". I would bet they just transcribed him talking and assumed the T was a 2.
Re: Like Bigfoot emerging from the woods, JJ's Minick with the 12 inch bell appears on Mike Dease's social media
Posted: Tue May 19, 2026 8:54 pm
by Doug Elliott
dembones wrote: Tue May 19, 2026 1:31 pm
I heard him play it at the Blue Note in NYC. I was sitting right in front of him. Man could he play loud! I remember liking his tone on his regular horn better than the sound on this.
I also heard him play it at the Blue Note, probably the same time. And Slide Hampton, the day before or the day after. I went up to hear both of them.
Re: Like Bigfoot emerging from the woods, JJ's Minick with the 12 inch bell appears on Mike Dease's social media
Posted: Sat May 23, 2026 5:03 pm
by slidefunk
Finetales wrote: Tue May 19, 2026 4:47 pm
Interesting, so he was trying to get a darker sound by making a trombone as conical as possible. I wonder if he ever tried a bass trombone (a la Slide Hampton) and concluded it took too much air, leading him to search for a different solution.
That's exactly what I had envisioned in my head for years, a wider slide and larger bell throat. Maybe gold or red brass. Dark and mellow sound.
The real thing looks and sounds much different.