Opinionated Fingers

Valves on a brass instrument need to be up or they need to be down - not somewhere in between. This is always the case with the Pat Sheridans and Carol Jantschs of the world. Their fingers never get caught in no-man's-land. You could say their fingers are opinionated. They have a very strong opinion about when they are being pushed down and when they are being released. I always learn a lot about technique when I watch great trombone players. When watching Scott Hartman or Joe Alessi play I am immediately taken aback by their slide work. Their slides seem to always be in one position or another and never seems to be en route. And this is just as true when they play Rochut as when they are playing Till Eulenspiegel.

Those of us with valves can learn a lot from them.

Monday YouTube Fix: Medeski, Martin & Wood

No brass this week but instead one of my favorite bands in the world.  I have seen MMW in concert around 75 times and always walk away inspired and motivated to make music.  All three of them play with an incredible amount of style.   The keyboard player, John Medeski, is one of my favorite musicians in the world.  This is a great clip of him in particular.  I have always likened him to a mad scientist.  I have had a lot of luck transferring the intensity with which he plays music like this to my own playing, even things like orchestral excerpts.

As Rex Martin taught me you can play any note or any phrase with one of two punctuation marks: a question mark or an exclamation point.  All three members of MMW scream exclamation points.

Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUZL_wmsXLI&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

Monday YouTube Fix: Mstislav Rostropovich

One of the greatest cellists of all time playing my second favorite solo piece ever written. The Bach Cello Suites, as anyone who has ever attempted to play them on any instrument can tell you, are deceivingly difficult.  Whenever you are playing an unaccompanied piece you must be everything: the melody, the time, the harmony, everything.  Few in history have done this more convincingly than Rostropovich.

If I could play any instrument other than the tuba it would be the cello and that is because of people like this.

Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZwKjpEtnSQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player]

Monday YouTube Fix: Matt Perrine, Lew Soloff, Ray Anderson & Bobby Previte

With all due respect to Ray Anderson, Lew Soloff, and Bobby Previte I put Matt's name first because he is one of my hero's.  The first time I heard him play the sousaphone I was driving into New Orleans and listening to the great radio station WWOZ.  He was playing with Bonerama and the tune was called Blues for Ben from the album 'Live at the Old Pointe'.  I started fist pumping and yelling woo-hoos! I had never heard sousaphone playing like this in my life.

They didn't say what the tune was or who was playing and this was long before the Shazam app so I called the station.  Evidently I asked the DJ with such urgent enthusiasm who in the hell I just heard playing the sousaphone that he literally cracked up.  After he told me it was Matt he said to stay tuned for the song.  He then mentioned the eager sousaphone fan and played another track of Matt's with the Tin Men.  That morning in New Orleans changed my conception of what a sousaphone could do.

I had the privilege of meeting Matt last spring when we did clinics on consecutive days at his alma mater in Sacramento.  It was great to put a face to the name and he is as nice a guy as you could ever hope to meet.  Not every day you get to meet one of your heroes!

Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WhRMFsVT5o&feature=share]

Maintaining Focus In Performance

"Adrenalin will help us onstage but won't do everything for us.  Make sure we are still really focused 25 minutes into our concert." - Tiffany Hitz, Band Director at Mark Twain Middle School in Alexandria, VA

This was a comment my wife made to her band last summer at the UNCG Summer Band Camp. I think this is great advice for us grown-up kids as well. I have never had trouble focusing during the first tune of a Boston Brass show. But what about the 5th?

Adrenalin is an asset in any performance but must not be relied upon to maintain focus?

Monday YouTube Fix: Carl Fontana

This clip is incredible yet not in any way exceptional.  Carl Fontana has played a million solos in his long and illustrious career that were just as effortless.  That were just as in the pocket.  That were just as melodic.  That were just as magnificent. It is mind-boggling to me the legacy he has left behind.  I've never heard anyone talk about the best trombone soloists of all time and not include Carl Fontana in the discussion.  Many of my heroes consider him one as well.  I always come back to the word effortless and this clip embodies that.

Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GohhLbN981s]

Let Your Skeleton Do The Work

"If you stand or sit in a perfect way your skeleton keeps you up, not your muscles. If you have good posture you allow your body parts to move while you breathe." - Pat Sheridan

It is very important for us to let our skeleton do the work and not our muscles. When we use our muscles it creates tension which leads to hindered breathing and a bad sound.

Monday YouTube Fix: Les Neish and David Childs

I was very happy when I stumbled upon this clip of two of the best low brass soloists in the world.  Les and David are the kind of players that keep the rest of us in the practice room a little longer than we might have otherwise. The first thing that strikes me about players is their sound.  No matter how difficult a passage may be, they both play with the same characteristically beautiful sound at all times.  That is what I strive for always and it is not as easy as these two make it look!

Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wmg0KVDf-8c]

Monday YouTube Fix: Maurice André

I was very fortunate growing up to have a father who was very interested in classical music.  He had a large collection of compact discs before it was common.  In fact, he picked upped our family's first CD player on a business trip to Tokyo when they were still incredibly expensive here in the States.  As a brass player himself growing up, he had quite a few albums by many different brass players.  One of the artists I remember the most was Maurice André. What a sound.  What style.  What phrasing.  He was the consummate artist.  His trumpet playing was lush and always passionate.  His sound is one that an entire generation of brass players has modeled themselves after.  I was honored to meet him in 2001 at the ITG in Manchester, England.

Mr. André passed away last month and the world lost a true gem.  May he rest in peace.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLDF8OeD-hc]

Monday YouTube Fix: Jeff Nelsen "Fearless Performance" from TedxBloomington

Last week's collection of motivating and inspiring quotes from Jeff Nelsen's master class at George Mason inspired me to post this video.  It is truly a powerful thing watching Jeff do what he does on stage, whether with his horn or with his words.  This is an incredible talk that is absolutely worth 10 minutes of your time to become a better performer in all aspects of your life. Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ko1pS9LeTg&]