 Since the 1980s, Pugh became New York's top-call freelance trombonist for film scores, records, and music for television and radio advertising.He can be heard on more than four thousand recording sessions.His trombone is heard in collaboration with classical and popular artists and orchestras such as Yo-Yo Ma, Steely Dan, Eos, Concordia, St. Luke's Orchestra, André Previn, Paul Simon, Barbra Streisand, Tony Bennett, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Pink Floyd, and Frank Sinatra.