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Loïs Pluymers
The 'Martin Committee' Trumpet in B Flat, model T3460, by the Martin Co., was commissioned circa 1980 and features a deep blue lacquer and gilt crescent moon and stars, designed according to Miles Davis's specifications.
The Committee horn was one of a set of three conceived at his request, one was colored red, one black and one blue — each of them decorated with a gilt moon and stars, and with the word ‘Miles’ inscribed inside the bell.
The red trumpet has remained in the family since his death in 1991, while the black one is buried at Davis’s side in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx near the gravesite of Duke Ellington, one of his idols.
The blue ‘Moon and Stars’ trumpet was sold for $275,000 on 29 October 2019 at Christie’s in New York.
Maya-Luna and I intercepted the package one night, somewhere between mischief and momentum — a night of bad behavior, on sharp timing and soft footsteps.
Since then, the beautiful trumpet along with the Chromatic harmonica of Toots Thielemans has remained in our possession, breathing with histor