Mac Gollehon

Mac Gollehon is an American trumpet player who has played on over two hundred gold and platinum records and remixes. He is especially noted for his performances on David Bowie's Let's Dance, Duran Duran's records, Notorious and "Skin Trade", Billy Ocean's "Get Outta My Dreams", and Grace Jones' Inside Story. Down Beat called Gollehon's latest record, "A Molotov cocktail of electronic clave Bitches Brew funk and flat out brass playing is intelligent disco."

Career Mac Gollehon started out by playing with country bands at the age of 10 in his home of North Carolina. By age 13 he played the circus with bandleader Merle Evans. In high school, he played with a variety of bands, as well as the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. At age 18 he went to Berklee College of Music and played the club circuit at night. During the summers he played with jazz legends like Buddy Morrow as well as Buddy Rich.

In 1979, Gollehon moved to New York City and was introduced to Miles Davis through a mutual friend, Davis gave Gollehon the nickname 'Chops'. It was around this time that he started to impress New York producers like Nile Rodgers, Arif Mardin, and Mike Chapman. He was noted for his ability to come up with arrangements on the fly, as was the standard in New York City at that time. Through gradually building his name on this scene he found himself working with the likes of Mick Jagger and Bruce Springsteen. He found himself on literally thousands of recordings and on dozens of Top 40 singles.

Solo discography Smokin' Section (1996) Live at the Blue Note (1999) Smokin' Live (1999) In the Spirit of Fats Navarro (2000) Mac Straight Ahead (2010) Odyssey of Nostalgia (2011) La Fama (2012) Mac Gollehon & the Hispanic Mechanics (2016) The End Is the Beginning (2022) MAC Gollehon & The Hispanic Mechanics “Bite of the Street” (2023) MAC Gollehon & The Hispanic Mechanics “Pistoleros” (2025)

Notable credits Credits according to AllMusic