Lenny Kravitz and the Voice of Praise Choir: Monday YouTube Fix

This clip embodies everything I love about music.  Lenny Kravitz, the singer/instrumentalist/songwriter, was hanging out in New Orleans when he heard a band and choir covering one of his songs.  Even if you are the biggest Lenny Kravitz fan, the rest is best described by just watching the clip. The whole thing is summed up by the expression of the acoustic rhythm guitar player the moment that Lenny sits down on the drum kit.  I just think this clip is the perfect example of pure joy that only music provides in my life.  And how about this kid on guitar?!?

This is just awesome.

Enjoy!

Stevie Wonder: Monday YouTube Fix

The Monday YouTube Fix is back after a brief hiatus due to way too much international travel with horrible internet connections.  Look for weekly video links again.  In fact, if you have any clips to suggest please leave them in the comments.  If you've followed this feature you know I post all different kinds of music.  My only requirement is that it's good! I figured what better way to start off 2013 than with Stevie Wonder.  I can't name 10 musicians in the history of music that play with more style than this guy.  He is a true living legend.

I was reminded of his brilliance when Lance LaDuke and I were eating some absolutely incredible ramen in Singapore last week.  The ramen place was playing his 'Fulfillingness' First Finale' album in its entirety.  I'm not sure whether the star of the meal was the broth or Stevie's funk.

This is some footage from the studio of his iconic "Superstitious."  The trumpet player, Steve Madaio, is amazing.  You must be warned...the fade out at the end of this clip is criminal.  What I wouldn't pay to hear them jam on this for another 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDZFf0pm0SE

Monday YouTube Fix: Sam Pilafian, Harry Watters, David Cutler + Dan Hostetler

Happy Holidays everyone! This is some footage from a Boston Brass rehearsal a few years ago.  Sam Pilafian and Harry Watters, two of the best brass players in the world, formed a jazz combo along with their rhythm section friends David Cutler on piano and Dan Hostetler on drums. They played a combo tune as a change of pace during one of our Christmas big band shows.  They came up with the tune and started rehearsing it on the spot.

Watching such amazing musicians work so cohesively at the drop of a hat is truly amazing.  Such groove, lyricism and storytelling.

Happy Holidays and enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-ZxFqLILI8

Monday YouTube Fix: Mahler 7 - Chicago Symphony with Pierre Boulez (Live)

This is taken from the Great Performances series on PBS so both the audio and the video are top quality.  The Chicago Symphony brass section really leaves me in awe every time I hear them these days. Gene Pokorny is of course one of my heroes and sounds really great as always on this recording.  But it really is the trumpet section that keeps grabbing my attention.  There is not a first trumpet in any orchestra in the world that I am currently more fond of than Chris Martin.  His tone is just unreal! The blend that the entire section gets is truly remarkable.

In fact, I recently wrote about my experience playing with the Chicago Symphony's Tage Larsen while we were both in the Dallas Brass.  The whole brass section sounds amazing and I love me some Mahler!

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u34TL77GHss

A Reminder about the Kids in the Back Row

"Challenge Precedes Development"

- Arnold Jacobs

All musicians need to be constantly challenged to experience continuous development. This goes for everyone from professional musicians to middle school band students.

Some players, such as tuba players like me, don’t always have challenging parts all the way in the back of the band. This is why many low brass players don’t develop the same proficiency on their instrument as some of their fellow students.

Whether it be through chamber music, duets, lessons, or some other outlet, every player in the band must be challenged in order to grow. Many experience a challenge right in their band parts but that doesn’t go for everyone. I know. I’ve counted an awful lot of rests in my day.

Monday YouTube Fix: Renaud Garcia-Fons

Rarely do I hear a musician who makes me reevaluate what I think an instrument can do.  That is exactly what happened the first time I heard this man play the bass. It is nothing short of criminal that this video has less than 10,000 views.  I'm not sure how anyone can watch this clip and not be mesmerized by the artistry and virtuosity in that order.  Simply incredible!

This man raises the bar for all of us playing bass clef instruments.  I've got some practicing to do.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZNKLUHeJtg

Sweat the Small Stuff

 

Try to make the simple beautiful.

- Marty Hackleman

The best musicians are the ones who can make a ton of music out of very few notes.  It is easy to play the best melodies ever written in a musical manner, but what about the other 99.9% of all composed music? A truly great artist can communicate as much in a one or two note phrase as they can in a long melody.

One of my favorite tuba parts in the orchestral repertoire is Brahms 2.  There is not much "meat" in this part.  There are very few long passages for tuba and nothing that is very technically demanding.  But there are some players who can make so much music in the one and two note phrases in the first movement.  Most young players would look at this part and label it as "easy."  But simple music can be deceiving.

I had the privilege of playing for a year in Dallas Brass with Tage Larsen who now plays trumpet with the Chicago Symphony.  I remember listening to his warm-up each morning.  The tone, the effortlessness, the music making! He could make so much music with his warm-up that it would make you stop and have an opinion.

How musical was your warm-up this morning?

Monday YouTube Fix: Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown & Ed Thigpen

Oscar Peterson is such a bad man that it's hard to process.  Combine him with one of the best bass players in the world and a drummer with amazing touch and you've got a winner. Tunes don't get much more simple than C Jam Blues.  Couple that with the elegant and transparent instrumentation of a piano trio and it allows for a lot of space for these three gentlemen to operate.  I love the piano breakdowns.  As with any great jazz musician, Oscar keeps grooving his you know what off when the rhythm section drops off.  We classical players can learn a lot from that.

Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTJhHn-TuDY&feature=related]

Monday YouTube Fix: Eric Ruske

Eric was the horn player in the Empire Brass when I attended the Empire Brass Seminar at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute in 1990 and 1991.  I learned the most those summers from attending the Empire open rehearsals.  It really was an incredible thing for a 14 year old to get to experience. Even at that young of an age, I was immediately struck by Eric's phrasing.  He played phrases that were a mile long and his playing always sounded so elegant.  This  recording of the Romance by Saint-Saens is a great example of his gorgeous, flowing musical lines.

We can all learn a lot from anyone on any instrument who phrases like this.

Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kHcvpsu_QY]

Monday YouTube Fix: Led Zeppelin

The first time I really heard Led Zeppelin and paid attention was in the Leningrad Airport in the former Soviet Union in 1990.  A friend in the trombone section said "Hey Hitz, check this out" and handed me his headphones. That experience changed my musical life forever. As soon as I got home I bought my first Led Zeppelin album, Led Zeppelin 4.  Within two weeks I bought two more and soon owned all 10 of their albums.  I had never heard non-classical music that had spoken to me so profoundly.

This track, Going to California, was on that first album I purchased.  This is a live version from Earl's Court which is simply stunning and so beautiful.  These guys are real musicians.  They have possibly the greatest rock and roll drummer in the world in their band and yet they are able to groove this hard without him even on stage.

I love me some Led Zeppelin!

Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luDgb5vVHuA&feature=related]