Doc Severinsen: Monday YouTube Fix

On Friday night I had the privilege of hearing Doc Severinsen solo with the incredible Alan Baylock Jazz Orchestra. It was one of the best concerts I've ever seen.  The writing, the ensemble, the communication and DOC SEVERINSEN! This guy is 85 years old.  That is not a typo, 85 years old, and is still playing his tail off.  I was accompanied by Joe Alessi to the concert and beforehand Joe said "Doc might be the greatest brass player of all time." If you know Joe, you know that he doesn't throw superlatives like that around too often.  He said no qualifiers and there was no context.  He is simply one of the greatest brass players of all time.

I wish I could tell you that Doc sounded good "for an 85 year old." He sounded good, end of sentence.  I'm not sure I've heard anyone be able to get more tone, more substance, on fast, passing 16th notes than he did a few nights ago.  It was truly incredible to witness.

After the concert Joe got us backstage and I got to hear the two of them reminisce and tell stories for about 15 minutes.  It was amazing.  The last thing I said to Doc before we split was "Every single phrase you play is #@$%ing master class.  It's truly incredible." I hope he knows I was serious.

This is Doc playing on the Jack Jones Show in 1977.  First is MacArthur Park followed by I Can't Get Started.  It will take your breath away.

Enjoy!

Van Cliburn Live in Moscow 1972: Monday YouTube Fix

Sadly, the music world lost one of the true giants recently.  Harvey Lavan Cliburn, Jr passed away in Fort Worth Texas at the end of February at the age of 78.  Even superlatives fail to truly convey his impact on classical music. Countless young pianists have grown up trying to emulate his sound, his style, his storytelling.  He leaves a legacy that is almost unmatched.  His name is on every single short list of the greatest pianists of all time.  He was a true legend in every sense of the word.

I had never seen this clip of him performing Sergei Rachmaninov's Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18 until now.  This was recorded in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory in 1972.  I performed in the Great Hall as a wide-eyed 14 year old visiting the Soviet Union in 1990 with the Massachusetts Youth Wind Ensemble.  Seeing footage from there is really a trip as I can remember the space well.  It seemed like a place where some important music making had occurred.  I wish I had seen this footage before that concert.  It would have inspired me!

This is a really special clip.  I can't even remember life before YouTube and the ability to watch things like this historic performance from right on my phone.  What an age we live in.

Mr. Cliburn, you are dearly missed.  May you rest in peace.

Amazing Piece on Practicing

Every once in a while you stumble on a post online that just nails it.  My friend Eric Berlin, trumpet professor at UMass and one heck of a player, wrote a blog post on the subject of practicing last week that every single musician absolutely must read.  If you are a player, you must read this piece.  If you are a private teacher, you must read this piece.  If you are a music educator, you must read this piece: Practice Space - The Practice Routine

There is not a single thing in his post that I haven't heard in some form or other over the years.  Musicians have been talking about practicing for hundreds of years so I'm not sure there are any original ideas left! But the way Eric puts everything in this post is so clear and concise that it inspired me to share it with the world.  He made me a better and more efficient practicer after reading it.

He breaks down his practicing routine into four stages (I've included a small snippet from each):

1) Mental Practice - Create: Creating your ideal trumpeter: (The real creative process.)

"This is the most powerful part of the process and what most people skip."

2) Press Record - Perform: Bringing your creation to life.

"Hit the record button on your recording device and just play along with that wonderful sound you created in your head."

3) Press Play - Listen: Changing hats from performer to critic.

"Changing into listening mode will free that critic which you have drowned out with the excessively loud amplifier you turned up to 11 in the last segment."

4) Back to the wood shed: Refining the vehicle of expression.

"Your practice is now informed by a much more detailed idea of what you hope to achieve and where you need improvement."

-----------

The above quotes only scratch the surface of this post.  Do yourself a favor and take five minutes to read the whole thing.  I've already read it more than once.  Here's the link again:

Practice Space - The Practice Routine

Thank you Eric for a terrific piece!

Øystein Baadsvik: Monday YouTube Fix

I had just had the privilege of performing with Boston Brass at the Chicago Brass Festival this weekend.  It was a real treat to return to the city where I studied in college for such a prestigious festival.  The best part of the weekend was getting to hear both Øystein Baadsvik and Rex Richardson who were also featured artists.  What a weekend! On Friday night before our concert I was able to attend the beginning of Øystein's tuba master class.  I will post some quotes from this excellent class a little later this week.  But perhaps the highlight of the weekend was hearing him play the next day, first with the NEIU Faculty Quintet and then with the NEIU Wind Ensemble.  What a treat!

The audience demanded more than one encore after his very impressive performance.  The first encore he did was one of his standard solo selections, Czardas.  I don't think I've ever heard it played better on any instrument.  The clarity this man gets on fast passages on a tuba simply must be heard to be believed.  A true showman, a real gentleman, and one hell of a tuba player, any Øystein performance is a master class.  And this clip is live.  There is something not right with this man!

Enjoy!

Jaco Pastorius "Modern Electric Bass": Monday YouTube Fix

This is an incredible interview with Jaco Pastorius, arguably the greatest bass player to ever live.  His bass playing is interspersed throughout the interview.  He was a transcendent talent that has inspired countless players of all instruments. The number of subjects he touches on is incredible.  He talks a lot about bass playing but his message also speaks to the mastering of any instrument.  Talk about someone who never accepted the limitations of his instrument. 

I particularly love his discussion about learning how to read music to such an incredibly high level.  One of his bands, Weather Report, had really intricate lines that many bass players can't even begin to read or process let alone play.  This exchange happens just a little ways into the interview:

Interviewer: "What did you use to get to that (high level of reading)?"

Jaco: "Believe it or not it sounds corny but just hard practice.  You've got to put in lots of hours."

He then goes on to describe reading anything he can get his hands on in any clef.  How many electric bass players practice reading out of books written in alto and tenor clef?! There is a reason he was such a virtuoso and it wasn't just the luck of the draw.  He also worked harder than just about anyone else.

There is more stuff in this interview than you can imagine.  I think you'll be riveted even if you've never touched a bass in your life.

The flow of his bass playing in this interview is inspirational for any musician but especially for a tuba player.  There truly are no limitations to any instrument if you simply insist there aren't any and then do the work to back it up.  What an inspiration!

Enjoy!

Gil Shaham - Barber Violin Concerto: Monday YouTube Fix

I don't know about you, but when I was 11 years old I sure as heck wasn't soling with the Israel Philharmonic.  Gil Shaham has been a staple of the violin world for so long that it seems impossible that he could only be in his early 40's. Samuel Barber has been one of my favorite composers since high school when I had the privilege of playing his First Symphony on a European tour with the Greater Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra (now BYSO) in 1992.  He is an amazing composer with a very unique voice.  My father was a fan of Barber's and introduced me to his music.  I remember thinking immediately that he seemed to have something to say as a composer.

My favorite part of this Shaham clip, aside from the phrasing and his amazing tone, is how much fun he is having on stage.  That is not always the case with many professional musicians and is a breath of fresh air.  He really seems to be enjoying the conversation he's having with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and we can all learn from that.

Enjoy!

Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton: Monday YouTube Fix

I have evidently been living under a rock because I had no idea two of my favorite musicians headlined an entire concert together.  Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton are both institutions on their respective instruments and in music in general for a good reason.  This is just fantastic. Every person on this stage is expressing a strong musical opinion without stepping on each other's toes.  Tons of exclamation points going around this band and no question marks at all.

The slow, relentless groove alone is enough of a reason to play this for any young musician.  I don't know how many times I've been told that slow music is "easy" by young players.  Slow music ain't easy.  In fact, it's the hardest music to play in the world.  The slow groove in the first half of this clip wouldn't have budged if the hall had caught on fire.  As it should be.  This is how "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" goes.

Enjoy!

Quotes from Marty Hackleman Master Class at George Mason University (Repost)

Two years ago this week I posted the following quotes from a Marty Hackleman class at Mason.  I still use many of these quotes in my every day teaching and thought they were worth reposting.  I hope you find these as insightful as I do! -----

Last night, Professor Marty Hackleman gave an amazing master class at George Mason University.  Marty is the principal horn of the National Symphony and a former member of both the Empire Brass and the Canadian Brass.  In my opinion, he is one of the premier teachers and performers that the brass world has ever known.

I have put a few of the quotes that really spoke loudly to me in bold.  What quotes jump out at you? Please comment with your favorite quote and how it relates to your playing.

Here are the highlights from the class:

• It's not that you work, it's how you work.
   
• How simple can you make the problem?  How simple can you make the solution?
   
• We don't see the causes.  We see the symptoms.
   
• All that you want to do is make it slightly better than yesterday but not as good as tomorrow.  And you enjoy the chase.
   
• When you do a daily routine, don't sit in front of the TV wasting your time.
   
• Think of your routine as a physical brass mediation.  Enjoy the time alone.
   
• The routine is a question of how you play and not what you play.
   
• A lot of times when you have a problem with your playing and you think you know the solution try the exact opposite.  85% of the time it will work.  And that comes from personal experience.
   
• I only breathe as much as I need when I'm warming up and I focus on quality over quantity.  But if you're playing a different instrument, like the tuba, it may be different.
   
• It is more important to practice efficiently than a lot of inefficient practicing.  If you don't feel like it, stop.  Get a cup of coffee and then come back.  Then suck it up and make yourself feel like it for even 15 minutes.
   
• Even if you can play your ass off, try to make it easier.
   
• Make it as simple, natural and easy as you can.
   
• Don't save the high notes until the end of your routine.  They shouldn't be that precious.  They should be a natural extension of everything else.
   
• I failed first.  Everybody failed first.  But do you stop at failure?
   
• You'll be surprised that if you ask yourself to do something regularly, you'll find a solution.
   
• If tension is creeping into your playing, your routine is where you find that out, not in rehearsal or in performance.
   
• Support isn't caused by air.  They are separate things.
   
• You want to use your routine to make yourself better, not just make yourself functional.
   
• I know (my routine) works because at almost 60 years old I believe I can play better than I've ever played in my life.  And it's not luck.  I promise you.
   
• First thing is you have to make sure that your horn sounds like what's in your head.
   
• You have to be more responsible about being a musician and not just a horn player.
   
• We make crescendos and we don't come all the way back.  If you come all the way back you have somewhere to go again.

Some Advice on Practicing from Abe Lincoln

"You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today."

- Abe Lincoln

President Lincoln uttered these words at a master class he gave at The Juilliard School shortly before he took office.  It was in regards to a clarinet player who was struggling with the high register.

Alright, so I made up the above paragraph! But the quote is real and is a great lesson for all of us musicians to hear.  If you are a clarinetist who struggles with the high register, the best way to improve is to play in the high register.  Not tomorrow. Today.

Putting off sounding bad in the practice room (or simply practicing at all) until tomorrow is like leaving your bills unopened.  Never in history has that ever led to someone owing less money when they finally open their mail.  (Do people even get bills in the mail any more?!) You will simply owe even more money when you finally face reality.

Don't wait until tomorrow to attack your deficiencies as a player.  Do it today.

Derek Sivers - "Why You Need to Fail": Monday YouTube Fix

Every once in a while you stumble on a video that makes you reevaluate something you do on a daily basis.  This video by Derek Sivers did just that for me. In a departure from the norm around here, this is the first Monday YouTube Fix that is not a musical performance.  In fact, this video isn't even specifically about performing music, although as you'll see it is referenced and couldn't be more relevant to that pursuit.

"Why You Need To Fail" is a 15 minute look into why failure, whether it be in the practice room or the board room, is essential to all human growth.  This video made me do so real soul searching about my own practicing and I already feel a refreshed approach to my craft.  I can not possibly recommend this more to ANY musician (performer, teacher, conductor, composer, ANYONE.)

Prepare to have your eyes opened...

Enjoy!

(A tip of the hat to my friend Syd Schwartz who is currently serving as Music Business Entrepreneur-In-Residence at NYU for bringing this video to my attention via his twitter feed.)