Malcolm McNab is an American trumpet player who grew up in California's San Gabriel Valley and began studying the instrument at the age of nine, with his father Boyd McNab as his first teacher. In 1958, at the age of 15, Malcolm began playing with the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra and which led to a position as the Principal Trumpet and librarian for the Pasadena Symphony. After touring with the San Francisco Ballet and service in the U.S. Army (where he played with the West Point Band), he studied privately with John Ware and William Vacchiano of the New York Philharmonic. Since 1970, he has recorded classical music with such organizations as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the New York City Opera. As a member of the California Chamber Symphony, Malcolm appeared as a soloist with Aaron Copland in his Quiet City. His recording credits in popular music include albums with Dionne Warwick, Peggy Lee, Chicago, and the Carpenters.
It is the soundtracks of popular films and television shows which have made Malcolm McNab's playing familiar to hundreds of millions of people who have never heard his name. He has been in the 1st trumpet chair for John Williams on 46 scores recorded in Hollywood, and has also given solo performances on the soundtracks of such television shows as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and Highway to Heaven. To date, McNab has performed on the soundtracks of over 2,000 films and television productions, including: E.T., Jaws, Indiana Jones (2-4), (9) Star Treks, Karate Kid (1-3), Field of Dreams, Pretty Woman, Hoffa, Home Alone (1-3), Hook, Beauty and the Beast, The Rocketeer, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, The Chronicles of Narnia, Jurassic Park (1-3), Wyatt Earp, First Knight, Far and Away, Spiderman (1-3), Toy Story (1-3), James and the Giant Peach, A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., The Matrix, Planet of the Apes, War of the Worlds, Godzilla, Polar Express, The Sixth Sense, Pirates of the Caribbean (1-4), Tin Tin, Monsters University, War Horse, Mission Impossible (3 & 4), Inside Out and Tomorrowland. In addition to movie and television soundtracks, Malcolm can also be heard nightly on both the NBC and CBS network news themes.
