The All-Star Buglers
The Beatles
Abbey Road, Magical Mystery Tour and Let It Be
Piano, Vocal, Guitar
One of horse racing's longest standing traditions is the playing of "First Call" prior to each race by the track bugler. If you've been to a horse race in the last 24 years, then there's a pretty good chance that the person you saw and / or heard playing this tune was Mark O'Keeffe. That's because Mark has been a fixture at race tracks across North America since 1987, both as a soloist and as director of his popular bugling group The All-Star Buglers.
A former student of world renowned cornet soloist James F. Burke, Mark set out to raise the bar higher for race track buglers right from the very start. Performing the text book, military version of "First Call", his audition at Belmont Park in July of 1987 was greeted with standing ovations for each of his first three races. He was hired on the spot as the official NYRA bugler where he served through 1992.
In 1993, Mark relocated to Albuquerque, NM where he was hired as the official track bugler at The Downs _ Albuquerque and The Downs _ Santa Fe. He was also the track's public handicapper, co - host of a local radio program and co - host of the track's in house television program. After the 1993 season, Mark left the racing industry for one year to pursue business and real estate interests.
In 1995 Mark began a career as a guest bugler with appearances at The Ohio Derby and all three legs of the Quarter Horse Triple Crown at Ruidoso Downs. Then in 1997, he moved back east, this time for a three year stint at Delaware Park where he formed "The All-Star Buglers". Several performances at The Breeders' Cup and The Belmont Stakes would follow, but a career highlight came on August 8, 2003 as Mark and fellow bugler Rich Garrick appeared on "The Late Show with David Letterman", interrupting the monologue with a rendition of "First Call".
From 2003 through 2010, Mark was the official track bugler at The Meadowlands. He now spends his time teaching , directing his internationallly popular group "The All-Star Buglers", and playing trumpet with Variable Elements, an R&B/Funk cover band from Philadelphia, all while remaining horse racing's "go to bugler".
Performed by:
The All-Star Buglers at
Suffolk Downs on
Kentucky Derby Day, 2008.
Instrumentation: Bb Trumpet 1
Bb Trumpet 2
Bb Trumpet 3
Bb Flugelhorn
on July 4, 2008 at
Finger Lakes Race Track, Farmington, NY.
The All-Star Buglers at the 2006 Little Everglades Steeplechase, Dade City, FL.
Instrumentation: Solo Bb Cornet
Bb Trumpet 1
Dedicated to my parents, Richard and Cecilia, deceased veterans of WWII.
The All-Star Buglers for the 2008 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships, at Santa Anita Park , Arcadia, CA.
This performance was aired live in its entirety on ESPN.
Instrumentation:
4 Bb Herald Trumpets
A fanfare for 4 Bb Herald Trumpets.
Composed in 2000.
The All-Star Buglers at The Meadowlands, E. Rutherford, NJ in 2007.
Composed in 2008.
Here are two other websites I have published that may be of some interest:
The James F. Burke Tribute Page, dedicated to my teacher, the late James F. Burke, world renowned cornet soloist with the famous Goldman Band, and the last celebrated cornet soloist of the 20th century.
- also -
The Del Staigers Tribute Page, dedicated to Del Staigers, one of the greatest trumpet and cornet soloists of all time and a former teacher of James F. Burke.
Both websites include bios, photos and numerous recordings which demonstrate the extraordinary ability and musicianship of these two amazing soloists.
In 1975, I was selected to participate in the New Mexico All-State Concert Band and was awarded 1st trumpet, 2nd chair. The concert was held on January 18, 1975 at Popejoy Hall in Albuquerque.
Fantasia on a Folk Theme is one of the pieces we performed. Composed by E. Madden and conducted by Dr. John Corley, the piece begins with a lyrical duet for oboe and muted trumpet, the latter performed by me, aged 16. The oboist was either Karen Bame or Nancy Hunter.
Belmont Park, 1987
Composed in 1964 by American cornet soloist James F. Burke, Jimala Beguine is a fast, rousing concert piece in traditional ABA form with a brilliant coda and a driving, beguine beat. The solo's title is a play on a nickname affectionately given to Mr. Burke by certain members of The Goldman Band. The percussion and piano parts were done with MIDI. The trumpet solo is played by Mark O'Keeffe.
In 2000, Mark was invited to record a reggae Christmas CD with Swedish trombone sensation Ulf Bjorlin. The CD was produced by Grammy Award Winner Paul Fakhourie for Zam-Jam Entertainment and was distributed primarily in Europe.
During his time as the official track bugler at Delaware Park, Mark hooked up with guitarist Jeff Moore of Eve's Faces in 2000 to compose and play a few trumpet parts for the group's debut CD, produced by Grammy Award Winner Paul Fakhourie.
Zomby Woof Horns.pdf
Slime.pdf
Montana.pdf
Camarillo Brillo Score.pdf
Fifty-Fifty.pdf
Nanook.pdf
St Alfonzo Horns.pdf
Cosmik Horns.pdf
Pygmy Horns.pdf
Penguin.pdf
Village of the Sun.pdf
Echidna Horns.pdf
Son of Orange County Horns.pdf
Cheepnis.pdf
More Trouble.pdf
Included here are 2 unpublished cornet solos composed by J.B. Arban and recorded by American cornet soloist James F. Burke on his Decca LP "Horn of Plenty".
Deuxieme Grand Solo.pdf
Deuxieme Fantasie Brilliante.pdf
Often times musicians want to learn and / or perform music which unfortunately has not been published.
So, what's a musician to do?
We have to transcribe the parts we want to play. We accomplish this task by listening to the recording over and over again, usually through headphones, sometimes employing software devices like "Audacity" for some of the more challanging parts and then entering all the data to music notation software.
As you can probably tell, the music of Frank Zappa is of great interest to me, and for this very reason I have transcribed the horn parts to some of my favorite Zappa songs. If you're like me - a brass player and a Zappa fan too - then this is the webpage for you! Enjoy!!
Countries: 2
States: 21
Race Tracks: 45
Calls to post: 58,000
Flight Miles: 200,000
Albuquerque
Aqueduct
Atlantic City
Atokad
Batavia Downs
Belmont Park
Charles Town
Chester Downs
Churchill Downs
Delaware Park
Emerald Downs
Everglades Ranch
Finger Lakes
Freehold Raceway
Garden State Park
Gulfstream Park
Harrington Raceway
Hastings Park
Hollywood Park
Hoosier Park
Horsemens Park
Laurel Park
Louisiana Downs
Meadowlands
Monmouth Park
Mountaineer Race Track
Montpelier Steeplechase
Oaklawn Park
Ocala Training Center
Philadelphia Park
Pocono Downs
Presque Isle Downs
Pimlico
Pinnacle Race Course
Radnor Hunt
Ruidoso Downs
Santa Anita Park
Santa Fe
Shawan Downs
Suffolk Downs
Tampa Bay Downs
Thistledown
Unionville
Willowdale Steeplechase
Yonkers Raceway
During the summer of 1988, I had a unique opportunity to work for one of the greatest horsemen of all time, Mr. Richard Dutrow.
I was employed as one of his hotwalkers, and these are photos of some of the winners I handled.
Since I was bugling in the afternoons, I walked horses only during the morning hours. When one of our horses would win, I'd take off my red coat and run down to the
winner's circle and pose with the team for the traditional winner's circle photo.
Richard's assistant trainer at the time, his son Rick (a great horseman in his own right) is present in many of these photos as well.
In the photo with King's Swan you'll notice the legendary Cab Calloway, a fixture at the track with whom I had the great pleasure of meeting and hanging out with on more than one occassion.
My brother Jerry is an avid golfer. I've played only twice - once when I was 11 years old and once when I was 52 years old. The results were about the same, a 69 for 9 holes.
However on this occassion, Thanksgiving Eve 2010, both of my brothers (Sean operating the camera) decided to play a practical joke on me. We are watching the video at home on television and I am recording the television.
Also a life long fan of the prog-rock group YES and their amazing keyboard player Rick Wakeman, I could not pass up the chance to see Rick perform his landmark LP Six Wives of Henry VIII in its entirety at Hampton Court Palace, London, UK on May 1-2, 2009. This is a video I shot of the rehearsal for the May 2nd show.
I've also been very blessed to gain Rick's personal approval for an arrangement I did of his composition "Catherine Parr". Thanks Rick!
As a life long fan of The Beatles, it had always been a dream of mine to visit Liverpool, England. What I didn't count on was being given a guided tour by a resident of Liverpool, author David Bedford, seen here in this short clip of Penny Lane I put together. Cheers David!
The All-Star Buglers , under the direction of Philadelphia trumpeter Mark O'Keeffe have been entertaining audiences across the United States and Canada since 1997 with their popular and unique renditions of horse racing's most famous song, "First Call".
Over the years, the group has been called upon to summon some of the world's finest equine and human athletes to the post for many of horse racing's most prestigious races like The Breeders' Cup (G1); The Belmont Stakes (G1); The Florida Derby (G1); The Santa Anita Handicap (G1); The Hambletonian; The Cane Pace and many others.
Career highlights for the group include their appearance on "The Late Show with David Letterman" in August, 2003 interupting his monologue; performing our national anthem in front of crowds numbering over 100,000 people at The Belmont Stakes twice , and meeting former president Bill Clinton after one of those performances.
Another highlight for the group has been to perform our national anthem at several major league baseball games hosted by The Tampa Bay Rays and The Philadelphia Phillies.
"I just can?t stop dancing!!! Great job guys!!! "
Larry Lederman,
Freehold Raceway Track Announcer
"Fabulous!!! We were thrilled to have The All-Star Buglers play at our steeplechase. Every note was wonderful!!!!"
Karen Streaker,
Little Everglades Steeplechase
"Once again it was a pleasure to have you at our Week of Champions Race!"
Gail Castles,
Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.
"Thank YOU Mark. Your group is out-standing! So many people commented to me about how much they enjoyed your performances."
Christian Teja,
Director of Marketing, Suffolk Downs
"Thank YOU! You guys really enhanced the "Festival" atmosphere we try to project. You guys know how good you are, and now Omaha Racing fans know too. Hopefully we can do it again next July. All the Bets(Best) to all of you! "
Gary Java,
Director of Marketing & Advertising _ Horsemen's Park
"You make beautiful music!"
Frank Stronach,
owner of Magna Entertainment
"You guys are just tremendous! Nothing like that sound of a brass quartet!"
Keith Jones,
track announcer at PARX, formerly Philadelphia Park.
"The best in the business, The All-Star Buglers."
Sam McKee,
track announcer at The Meadowlands
"Thank you so much for contributing to the success of last night's opening! The All-Star Buglers presence was truly enjoyed by everyone..............Please send my thanks to Jason and John for their excellent performance............Your flexability and efficiency made it a true pleasure to work with you. I hope that the Museum will have the opportunity to work with The All-Star Buglers in the future! Thank you again for all of your work".
Sara Marino,
American Museum of Natural History, NYC.
