Calicchio Artist Series: Larry Gianni Custom Mouthpiece - A Brass Mavens Exclusive!
Larry Gianni was an LA-based commercial electrician and local trumpet player who had done some electrical work at the Calicchio shop in Hollywood. He became friendly with the family and at one point he struck up a friendship with Calicchio’s master craftsman, John Duda (who later went on to buy the company from the family not long after).
Being an LA trumpet player, Gianni eventually introduced himself to Zig and soon found himself doing electrical work around the Kanstul factory. He was somewhat of a fixture there for a couple of years. In fact, Zig always made sure that Gianni had a NAMM badge.
By this point, Duda had purchased the Calicchio company and had relocated to Tulsa, where he was looking to refresh the company's image. Duda didn’t care much for mouthpiece making (although he knew how to do it) but Gianni had approached him with the beginnings of an idea. They got together and thought, let’s have Kanstul scan and duplicate some high profile artist mouthpieces and perhaps some historic commercial mouthpieces, and offer them to the community. This legacy collection proposal started growing into what was to eventually be called the ‘Calicchio Artist Series'. There was occasional input from Zig Kanstul, his mouthpiece maker Jim New, and myself along the way.
Larry Gianni was a good player, and knew a lot of the cats in town so he convinced a few of them to loan him their mouthpiece for an hour or two for scanning, to cut a duplicate, and to verify. A few of the guys let him do it, or brought it in themselves, or overnighted it to and from. The collection grew, though it went nowhere. Gianni wanted to be part of this Calicchio Artist Series legacy, and he worked with Jim New on a custom mouthpiece of his own to be included
0.621” diameter cup - small diameter, like a Bach 11 or 10
Gently rounded rim, not too wide nor too narrow
Shallow cup - similar to the Schilke 5A4
Efficient #29 throat
Contemporary Calicchio Contour
Authentic Calicchio stamp
A nice lead piece - very comfortable, with brilliant tone. Easy compression and efficient blow. This would have been a terrific addition to the Calicchio Artist Series, had the project been able to move forward. Some of the parties involved in the project have since passed (RIP John Duda); the Kanstul factory is no longer in operation, and Larry Gianni himself hasn’t been heard from in a decade. This mouthpiece has a terrific story, and it’s a great mouthpiece!
Larry Gianni was an LA-based commercial electrician and local trumpet player who had done some electrical work at the Calicchio shop in Hollywood. He became friendly with the family and at one point he struck up a friendship with Calicchio’s master craftsman, John Duda (who later went on to buy the company from the family not long after).
Being an LA trumpet player, Gianni eventually introduced himself to Zig and soon found himself doing electrical work around the Kanstul factory. He was somewhat of a fixture there for a couple of years. In fact, Zig always made sure that Gianni had a NAMM badge.
By this point, Duda had purchased the Calicchio company and had relocated to Tulsa, where he was looking to refresh the company's image. Duda didn’t care much for mouthpiece making (although he knew how to do it) but Gianni had approached him with the beginnings of an idea. They got together and thought, let’s have Kanstul scan and duplicate some high profile artist mouthpieces and perhaps some historic commercial mouthpieces, and offer them to the community. This legacy collection proposal started growing into what was to eventually be called the ‘Calicchio Artist Series'. There was occasional input from Zig Kanstul, his mouthpiece maker Jim New, and myself along the way.
Larry Gianni was a good player, and knew a lot of the cats in town so he convinced a few of them to loan him their mouthpiece for an hour or two for scanning, to cut a duplicate, and to verify. A few of the guys let him do it, or brought it in themselves, or overnighted it to and from. The collection grew, though it went nowhere. Gianni wanted to be part of this Calicchio Artist Series legacy, and he worked with Jim New on a custom mouthpiece of his own to be included
0.621” diameter cup - small diameter, like a Bach 11 or 10
Gently rounded rim, not too wide nor too narrow
Shallow cup - similar to the Schilke 5A4
Efficient #29 throat
Contemporary Calicchio Contour
Authentic Calicchio stamp
A nice lead piece - very comfortable, with brilliant tone. Easy compression and efficient blow. This would have been a terrific addition to the Calicchio Artist Series, had the project been able to move forward. Some of the parties involved in the project have since passed (RIP John Duda); the Kanstul factory is no longer in operation, and Larry Gianni himself hasn’t been heard from in a decade. This mouthpiece has a terrific story, and it’s a great mouthpiece!
Larry Gianni was an LA-based commercial electrician and local trumpet player who had done some electrical work at the Calicchio shop in Hollywood. He became friendly with the family and at one point he struck up a friendship with Calicchio’s master craftsman, John Duda (who later went on to buy the company from the family not long after).
Being an LA trumpet player, Gianni eventually introduced himself to Zig and soon found himself doing electrical work around the Kanstul factory. He was somewhat of a fixture there for a couple of years. In fact, Zig always made sure that Gianni had a NAMM badge.
By this point, Duda had purchased the Calicchio company and had relocated to Tulsa, where he was looking to refresh the company's image. Duda didn’t care much for mouthpiece making (although he knew how to do it) but Gianni had approached him with the beginnings of an idea. They got together and thought, let’s have Kanstul scan and duplicate some high profile artist mouthpieces and perhaps some historic commercial mouthpieces, and offer them to the community. This legacy collection proposal started growing into what was to eventually be called the ‘Calicchio Artist Series'. There was occasional input from Zig Kanstul, his mouthpiece maker Jim New, and myself along the way.
Larry Gianni was a good player, and knew a lot of the cats in town so he convinced a few of them to loan him their mouthpiece for an hour or two for scanning, to cut a duplicate, and to verify. A few of the guys let him do it, or brought it in themselves, or overnighted it to and from. The collection grew, though it went nowhere. Gianni wanted to be part of this Calicchio Artist Series legacy, and he worked with Jim New on a custom mouthpiece of his own to be included
0.621” diameter cup - small diameter, like a Bach 11 or 10
Gently rounded rim, not too wide nor too narrow
Shallow cup - similar to the Schilke 5A4
Efficient #29 throat
Contemporary Calicchio Contour
Authentic Calicchio stamp
A nice lead piece - very comfortable, with brilliant tone. Easy compression and efficient blow. This would have been a terrific addition to the Calicchio Artist Series, had the project been able to move forward. Some of the parties involved in the project have since passed (RIP John Duda); the Kanstul factory is no longer in operation, and Larry Gianni himself hasn’t been heard from in a decade. This mouthpiece has a terrific story, and it’s a great mouthpiece!
Domenick Calicchio may best be remembered as a master craftsman and instrument maker, but did you know that he also made fine custom mouthpieces? Dominick used traditional tooling and methods, and did not keep many notes or drawings of these unique pieces, but he crafted fabulous custom mouthpieces - by hand- for the best players of the day.
A few years ago, Calicchio’s owner master craftsman John Duda sought to recreate some of these famous one-of-a-kind mouthpieces as the Calicchio Artist Series, and collect others to be included in the collection. Trusted agents helped track down the owners and asked if they would consider allowing replicas of these hand made custom mouthpieces to be made.
It was decided that the task of recreating these 'Holy Grail' mouthpieces should only be entrusted to the experts at Kanstul Musical Instruments, the pioneer and industry leader in single point mouthpiece scanning and accurate duplication at the time. Zig Kanstul welcomed this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to honor this part of Domenick Calicchio’s legacy and he appointed his master craftsman (who at one time had worked for Domenick himself) to do the work.
These rare mouthpieces were collected and scanned over a period of weeks, and the originals quickly and safely returned to their owners. But John's health began to decline and for a time the entire industry was facing the challenges of a major recession. Later, Zig Kanstul passed, and the factory he founded shuttered. John Duda himself passed away recently, and it seemed the Calicchio Artist Series mouthpieces might never see the light of day after all...until now!
With your purchase, you will have bragging rights that you are directly supporting the effort to not only save Calicchio Musical Instruments, but also to highlight the contributions Domenick Calicchio and John Duda made to the industry.
Kanstul Musical Instruments was a pioneer in single-point scanning and mouthpiece duplication. Before the factory was shuttered, players from around the world trusted Kanstul for their accuracy in duplicating the most valuable and unique mouthpieces, as well as extremely consistent production mouthpieces. It can be argued that Zig Kanstul’s master craftsman helped educate the current generation of mouthpiece makers, and he continues to serve as a resource and consultant to the industry to this day.
