The Trumpet Whisperer from Margraten

It took me a while to understand how the name was written. One says Huub, but you only write it with one “u”.  That‘s because Hub is short for Hubertus. Hubertus Elisabeth Egidius van Laar, and in Hub‘s own words “just an ordinary man from South Limburg“. But a man who makes trumpets and flugelhorns, which are treasured the world over.

Hub knew from an early age that he would one day make trumpets. He made it his life‘s ambition to create the ideal instrument for me. At least, that‘s what I felt every time I visited him. For me – as a trumpeter, and for me – as a human being. What made Hub special was that he gave all of us the feeling that he was making an instrument just for you. It was important for him to get to know you. That he did in a typical Burgundy way, via the necessary food and drink. The local restaurants profited from Hub.

He always wanted to know what one wanted to convey with one‘s music. Loud or restrained, complex, maybe warm? Back in the workshop Hub listened to you playing. Very often he was in another room with the door closed …. but he heard you. He was a sort of trumpet whisperer in that he knew exactly what suited you. A trumpet whisperer who was not concerned with names or status. When Bob Findley (who, together with his brother Chuck, is one of Hollywood‘s most prominent studio trumpeters) visited Hub for the first time and politely asked if Hub knew who he was, Hub answered – tongue-in-cheek -: “No. You have to pay for a trumpet first!“ In the meanwhile, both Bob and Chuck Findley each have their own characteristic Van Laar model.

Once, before I performed with Corrie van Binsbergen and Kees van Kooten in Maastricht, I visited Hub and told him about the concert. Obviously with Laurel and Hardy in mind, Hub cheekily asked: “Is Kees van Kooten the fat one or the thin one?“

Hub was a trumpet whisperer for all styles of music and all levels of music, and a man who fulfilled each person‘s wish. Ibrahim Maalouf plays a Van Laar instrument with an additional quarter-tone valve so that he can conjure up the typical Arabic tonal range. Marco Blaauw travels the world to perform contemporary music playing a Van Laar instrument which has two (!) bells and a quarter-tone valve. Hub once heard Eric Vloeimans performing in a concert with the Calefax Reed Quintet and was dissatisfied with the instrument‘s projection. The result was a newly developed trumpet for Eric. And Hub was close friends with Ack van Rooyen. He not only created an iconic flugelhorn model for Ack but also accompanied him for many years to concerts both at home and abroad. Moreover, he sat at his bedside during Ack‘s final hours on this earth. That is Hub. A modest, caring and generous human being with an irrepressible passion for his instruments, music, but first and foremost for musicians. Hub’s company motto says it beautifully and succinctly: “A brass wind instrument is a handmade product with the highest standards, but only the performer can elevate it to a work of art.“

I am truly grateful to you, Hubertus Elisabeth Egidius van Laar. You have given me my voice. Me, and all the other trumpeters all over the world. You are never far away, Hub, although you died so suddenly on 24th December. We hold you in our hands, we breathe our breath through you, we let our voice sound out together with your voice. Wherever, whenever and with whomever we can.