The Trombonist - Winter 2013

Winter 2013 ÂŁ4.00

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Winter 2013 The Trombonist

NEWS

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Contacts British Trombone Society www.britishtrombonesociety.org Honorary Patron: Gordon Campbell Executive Board President Christian Jones president@britishtrombonesociety.org Vice-President Vacant vicepresident@britishtrombonesociety.org Past-President Carol Jarvis pastpresident@britishtrombonesociety.org Chair Ben Bouzan eastanglia@britishtrombonesociety.org Secretary Geoff Wolmark 01377 202209 1-3 Church Street, Hutton, Driffield, Yorks, YO25 9PR secretary@britishtrombonesociety.org Treasurer vacant treasurer@britishtrombonesociety.org Development Officer Stewart Drummond education@britishtrombonesociety.org Staff Membership Manager and Bookkeeper Chris Sowerby 01924 437359 membership@britishtrombonesociety.org 1 Ullswater Road, Dewsbury WF12 7PH, Webmaster Edward Solomon 07903 152148 webmaster@britishtrombonesociety.org Associate Webmaster Mike Saville webmaster2@britishtrombonesociety.org Please submit news items for the website to Geoff Wolmark: news@britishtrombonesociety.org The Trombonist Magazine Editor Dr. Joanna Cambray-Young 07901 733719 editor@britishtrombonesociety.org Magazine Director Brett Baker 01606 783869 brett.trombone@googlemail.com Publishing and Distribution British Bandsman Reviews Editor Becky Rumens Syratt 07789 842062 buzzbee46@gmail.com Advertising Millie Caffull 01933 445474 adverts@britishbandsman.com Design and DTP GK Graphic Design The Trombonist is published quarterly.

Representatives Scotland Chris Stearn 01360 860220 scotland@britishtrombonesociety.org Wales Jo Hirst wales@britishtrombonesociety.org North East & Yorkshire Simon Mansfield 01484 602401 northeast@britishtrombonesociety.org North West Kerry Baldwin 07920 022395 northwest@britishtrombonesociety.org East Midlands Paul Emmett 07974 137693 eastmidlands@britishtrombonesociety.org West Midlands: Martha-Ann Brookes 0121 444 5655 mb 07966416198 westmidlands@britishtrombonesociety.org Northern Ireland Stephen Cairns 02892 602646 northernireland@britishtrombonesociety.org South Richard Debonnaire 07595 458984 south@britishtrombonesociety.org South West Tony Evans 01752 263069 southwest@britishtrombonesociety.org East Anglia Ben Bouzan 07970 502509 eastanglia@britishtrombonesociety.org Wessex Bruce Harding 01202 880814 wessex@britishtrombonesociety.org Brass Band Paul Woodward 01924 823840 brassband@britishtrombonesociety.org Jazz Jeremy Price jazz@britishtrombonesociety.org Young People James Howard 07906 392992 youngrep@britishtrombonesociety.org

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FROM THE EXECUTIVE

Winter 2013 The Trombonist

3

Editor’s Introduction Welcome once more to your favourite trombone magazine, which is packed full of all the usual exciting and informative features.

In this edition, Bill Broughton shares with us his tribute to John Cobb; we hear from Stephen Lomas, who has advice about bass trombone repertoire, and then Beth Calderbank gives us her top tips about how to succeed as a freelance trombonist. We get an insight into the lives of Callum Au, Ed Jones and James Lebens, thanks to our dedicated interview team, plus Amos Miller’s interview with Max Isley. We also feature our youngest ever Star of the Future, Thomas Wiggins, who is only eight years old and is well worth a look on YouTube!

Now I must say adieu, as this is the final issue of The Trombonist to be edited and processed by the current team. We wish the BTS and its members all the best for the future and, of course, a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

BTS President’s address What an amazing organisation we have! It has been such a pleasure to meet and play with so many BTS members since becoming President. Even in an age of technology, there is no substitute for gathering to make music and I’m delighted with the success of the ‘Go West’ day and our AGM in Oundle. Looking ahead, the Don Lusher and Bob Hughes competitions are set to continue on a biennial basis in 2014, and we have a host of events in the pipeline, including our national day at Chetham’s School on 30 March. As always, details will appear on our upgraded website, which is now fully compatible with smartphones and other mobile devices.

At our AGM, Simon Minshall took over from David Carnac, our meticulous Treasurer since 2007, and Alison Keep replaced Ben Bouzan, who stepped down after eight years of tireless work on our Committee. Such ‘musical chairs’ are inevitable among volunteers, so I’d like to outline the current line-up of BTS Committee members: Stewart Drummond: tenor trombone; ex-Scottish Opera, now Sinfonia Viva.

Matt Gee: principal trombone, RPO and cricket enthusiast.

Carol Jarvis: tenor and alto trombone; freelancer in all genres.

Christian Jones: bass and contrabass trombone; Opera North.

Alison Keep: bass trombone; retired librarian.

Simon Minshall: freelance bass and contrabass trombone.

Mark Templeton: principal trombone, LPO. Geoff Wolmark: bass trombone; retired education advisor.

We are as diverse a bunch as our members; please continue to contact us with ideas and suggestions for whichever genre you’re interested in!

In other news, we now boast professionally designed banners and flyers, highlighting what we do and the new membership discounts available. These were used to good effect at the recent Arcomis Festival in Cardiff and will be appearing at as many future brass events as possible. Recently agreed benefits include an offer from Allianz to give BTS members a huge 15% off musical insurance premiums, which in many cases would save more than your annual subscription! There are plenty more, so look on our website - and tell all the non-members you can find!

Lastly, this issue is particularly significant in that it will be the last published and distributed by British Bandsman. It kindly stepped in on a temporary basis in 2011, bringing expertise which has been vital in developing such a high-quality magazine. On behalf of the BTS I would like to thank the outgoing magazine team, and Brett Baker, Joanna Cambray-Young, Kenneth Crookston and Gerard Klaucke in particular, for their tireless efforts on our behalf. We will be back as usual in the Spring with an introduction to the new magazine team.

In the meantime, enjoy your magazine!

29-11-2013 17:06:22

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NEWS

Winter 2013 The Trombonist

5

Phil Goodwin Welsh appointment The Trombonist has learnt that Phil Goodwin has been appointed to the 2nd trombone chair of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in Cardiff.

Phil Goodwin, a very proud Mancunian, began trombone playing at Bury Music Centre, Besses Boys Band and then, at the age of 14, Besses o’ th’ Barn Band at a time when it was still competing in the top flight.

After four wonderful years at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester, two of those as principal trombone of the National Youth Orchestra, he went to study at the RNCM. There he won the Leggett award, The Hiles medal, ‘survived’ two years playing 2nd trombone to Graham Lee in the European Community Youth Orchestra (a pleasure and a privilege Graham!) and studied with Christian Lindberg in Sweden, with whom he remains great friends.

After first performing with the Hallé shortly after his 18th birthday and with the BBC Philharmonic soon afterwards (most notably playing alto trombone in Mozart’s Requiem with Sir George Solti at the age of 20), a very busy freelance career followed, playing with many of the UK’s finest orchestras and ensembles and touring the world.

Since 2002, Phil has been teaching trombone at Chetham’s, a job he loves and will continue to do after he moves to Cardiff. He commented: “My inspiration and love for the trombone comes from my two early teachers, at the time Neville Roberts, bass trombone of the Hallé and Peter Leary, 2nd trombone of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Both were very experienced orchestral trombonists, but also great musicians with huge personalities and a real passion for what they did, and most importantly, for teachers, they both had the ability to make you laugh until your sides were sore! I am greatly indebted to them both.” Donal Bannister added: ‘In a competition where we were spoilt for choice with lots of great players, Phil had the ideal combination of beautiful sound, musicality, solid technique, wealth of experience, and great good humour. He also has the scruffiest caravan in the country’.

Phil added: “I have been freelance for 23 years and have loved every minute of it, but perhaps it is time to settle down and grow up! I am delighted to have been offered this position and it will be an absolute privilege to play 2nd trombone to Donal, Darren and Dan, but don’t worry lads I don’t intend to grow up too much!”

First time over the ‘pond’ Jasper Rose, winner of the BTS Carol Jarvis Jazz Competition, reports on his experience in the USA Jazz at Port Townsend was a week-long jazz music workshop and Festival in Port Townsend, near Seattle. It was held in an old army base that had been completely restored and converted into a conference centre. The jazz musicians came from all around the world, from as far afield as Japan and the Lebanon; they were of all ages and backgrounds - there was even an Olympic rower from Canada. The teaching staff at this year’s jazz workshop included 35 virtuoso jazz musicians such as Jiggs Whigham, Wycliffe Gordon, Terrel Stafford, Gerald, John and Jeff Clayton and George Cables, who coached over 200 participants. The week ended with the Jazz Festival, where both the faculty and participants performed. I had never been to the USA before and it was great first time.

The students who were under 18 stayed in a dormitory-style converted barracks, while the older ones either lived off-site or in private rooms. However, we all mixed in and played in the same groups. The standard of the other players was incredible. Music definitely plays a very important part in American high schools.

We were required to do a live audition on the Sunday when we arrived. I entered the audition room and heard some of the most amazing saxophone playing, only to find out later that this was the player’s second instrument. After this there was an evening welcome performance from the faculty, which consisted of Jiggs Whigham playing duets with multiple other

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teachers including Joe Labarbera (Bill Evans’ drummer) and a performance from all of the brass teachers and a rhythm section.

The following days started with early morning rehearsals for small groups, each with a faculty coach. My combo was lucky enough to have the great Wycliffe Gordon coaching us. We consisted of an alto sax, tenor sax, trumpet, guitar (from Lebanon), bass (from Cuba), drums, piano and me on trombone. Wycliffe’s teaching and advice was incredible. Following this rehearsal, there were a number of sessions to choose from such as theory classes or lectures on things like ‘Theme and Variation in Improvisation’ and Wycliffe Gordon’s ‘Sing it first’ technique. This was followed by a lunch break, after which master classes for each instrument were held, led by the respective faculty member. The trombone players (about 20 of us in total) had Jiggs and Wycliffe. In these they talked about and illustrated many techniques both technical and musical. We then had a second combo rehearsal for our small groups. After that, there was a concert where several faculty members were featured, and over the course of the week the entire faculty performed for the participants.

This was followed by dinner and then ‘extras’, which were more workshops, or jamming with other players. At the end of the day we were free to go into town. Fortunately many of the people I made friends with had cars so we could drive to town and pick up some genuine American food!

The Festival on the last three days of the course featured some truly unforgettable performances from many of the teaching staff. The ‘Centrum

All-Star Big Band’, which also had some external players, played a Salute to Quincy Jones. In between sets we were free to roam around the town, which was a very attractive place full of beautiful architecture, with a stunning beach and mesmerising views of the Cascade Mountains.

The course was truly a life-changing experience for me and I feel I learnt an enormous amount.

Thank you so much to the BTS and to everyone involved for making the opportunity possible.

I’ve now started saving up to go again next year!

29-11-2013 17:06:42

6

Winter 2013 The Trombonist

TRIBUTE

by Bill Broughton

that I saw in John that kept coming back to my

Years ago the Wall Street Journal ran an article

memory. The players who made a way for me

on ‘Nice Guys Finishing Last’. Research found

in Hollywood were Dick Nash, Lloyd Ulyate,

that most ‘nice guys’ finish first. Their integrity,

Dick Noel, Tommy Pedersen, Hoyt Bohannon,

ability to get along with others, generosity,

George Roberts and others. In time that led to

acceptance, pleasant personality (and more),

a friendship with Don Lusher, another great

were all attributes that gained respect, trust,

player, and it was Don who ultimately helped

influence and success. They usually finished

‘Time’ is a very elusive commodity. There are

me get in touch with John as an adult. He and

first, or at least very high on the list.

times when a day seems so long and one half

John had played in the Salvation Army youth

I know personal stories of John and how he

of a century so short. In 1956, at the age of ten,

band together, a military band as well, and had

affected other people’s lives in much the same

my Salvation Army Officer parents dragged me

been friends for many years.

way as mine. I know that he was known and

off to some brass band concert that I had no

respected far above and beyond his musical

desire to go to. It was the International Staff

Though these next few words may seem like a

world in the UK and the London Philharmonic

Band from the UK and I was supposed to enjoy

digression from the purpose of this tribute, it is

Orchestra as a player and Personnel Manager.

the moment. Music was not in any part of my

indeed very important, from my perspective to

Thanks to Don Lusher for being in touch with

agenda at the time. Being from a musical family

mention a few words that seem to be common

John, we re-met 30 years later in Los Angeles,

it, seemingly, might have missed me.

in all of the players listed above: In them there is

where he was visiting family. From 6.00pm until

Long story short - during the concert a

John at the forefront, and those who knew him

very early in the morning, we opened our lives

gentleman came from the third chair in the

well, will see these attributes on the list.

to each other in every possible way. I know

trombone section and stood in front of the

The great players always, at some time or

the true story of what caused his embouchure

band. His first note literally said: “Hey, Billy,

another, play something that demands a

problems that caused him to quit playing. I

listen to this; this is just for you!” And for the

person’s attention. However, it’s not to gain

know of his disappointments, failures and the

next eight or nine minutes I was captivated,

attention at all; it’s just what they do while they

difficulties of his life, and he knew mine. In the

captured, overrun with great joy and absolutely

play. It’s so incredible that it captures a person’s

last moments of our most special time together,

inspired forever! The gentleman’s name was

essence, makes the heart leap and demands

he shared with me that, years earlier, he had

John Cobb. I met him after the concert and

a concentrated awareness. I don’t know how

heard something in one of my recordings

from that point in time a lifetime of wonderful

many times I would look at one of these guys

that affected him in the same way that he had

moments followed.

after a ‘take’ and say something like “how the

affected me 30 years earlier. That night started a

My father, not sure of what might become of

heck did you do that?” Their response? ”What?”

very deep friendship that will last long beyond

this ‘new’ awakening in his son, did heed my

The great players know they are accomplished,

him leaving us.

three-time request of “Dad, get me a trombone!”

they have to, but they never tell; they just

A third-hand trombone, an old Arban book for

skilfully demonstrate. They are, to me, basically

After leaving Hollywood I started recording CDs

cornet, a request just to “leave me alone, I’ll

a confident but egoless breed.

so I could still have a reason to play. Life had

learn on my own” and eleven years later (and

changed from player to composer to producer,

lots of stories in between) I went to Hollywood

Here are a few more attributes that I observed in

but I still needed to play to feel complete. I had

to try and become a studio player. And all of this

the great players that were also obvious in John.

just finished my second Christmas CD, which I

just seems like yesterday!

The ability to receive and accept; approachable

dedicated to John. I received his usual note of

and never condescending; joyfulness in

thanks and a few weeks later received a phone

That moment with John played itself over

witnessing a unique gift in another player;

call from him. He thanked me for the dedication

and over again through the years and I saw in

enjoying excellence without being intimidated;

and said that he was with Dudley Bright and

other great players many of the same things

encouraging and helpful; inspirational!

they had a question about my playing and how

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29-11-2013 13:31:51

TRIBUTE

Winter 2013 The Trombonist

7

ten years of age and how this gentleman was chosen to change my life forever. Introducing John that night was one of the most meaningful moments of my personal life.

The next day, I was having lunch with my brother, Bruce Broughton, so I could meet his fiancé (now Belinda [Bunt] Broughton). I started by saying that he would never guess who was at the concert last night so I’ll just tell you...

“John Cobb”. Before Bruce could even answer, Belinda asked with amazement, “you know John Cobb?!” I proceeded to tell her my story and she finished by telling me that when she had moved from New Zealand to the UK to start her professional career it was John who was her biggest encourager and help. “Everybody loves John,” she stated.

To himself, John was an ordinary man. He did not think of what he had done or believed himself to be special. He had in his life down times, disappointments, failures and challenges like every human being. But he was a doer and an over-comer who found that he could find new ways and abilities to take on the challenges that life would bring. He wasn’t perfect in all he did (who is?), but I would think I did a particular thing. Those kind of moments

(with a few other trombone players) at the

happened occasionally through the years and at

next evening’s concert. I saw him soon after

times I’d just call him to see how he was doing.

he arrived and we gave each other a big hug

got the best personal result, but the purity of

Of course, email took the place of voice to voice,

and some special words for seeing each other

his thoughts and approach were honest. You

but we still had an occasional phone call.

again, face to face, for just the third time in our

could hear it in his playing, you could see it in

In 1996, I went to the UK with a group

lives.

the respect that people had for him. His life

called Spiritual to the Bone: Ten trombones

At these evening concerts, it was my

will leave a symphony of beauty that few can

and rhythm. The group had gained some

responsibility and pleasure to give a little

match: and my life has been much better for

international recognition, professionally etc., so

presentation on my years in Hollywood as a

knowing him.

the UK was part of an occasional overseas tour.

player. This particular evening was a chance to

Don Lusher came the first night and compered

do something much more! There he was, the

I shall end this tribute with a ‘thank you’ to

the evening. I called John to let him know we

man who inspired me so many years earlier...

Maisie Ringham Wiggins for being John Cobb’s

were in town, and though he was extremely

in the audience. So that night I broke from

inspiration as a young man. Isn’t it wonderful to

busy he made a great effort and showed up

my normal script and told the story of being

be able to pass it on! Shouldn’t we all?

TR-W-13 6-7.indd 7

that he was perfect in heart. He gave his best in all situations. That doesn’t mean that he always

29-11-2013 13:31:53

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29-11-2013 13:31:35

SLIDES

Winter 2013 The Trombonist

9

Trombones Go West!

by Robin Benton Where: Pimperne Village Hall, Dorset.

What: Wessex BTS Day When: Sunday 22 September 2013 Why: To play massed trombone music and learn from the experts

Two dozen keen trombonists came from far and wide to this BTS Day, at the invitation of Bruce Harding. Kevin Morgan, principal trombone of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, led the group through warm-ups and into rehearsals of Vivaldi’s Domine Dues and Handel’s Sarabande.

The group especially enjoyed playing some original music that Kevin had composed; his Olympic Fanfare, Song and Weekdays were challenging but rewarding. Visit Kevin’s website at www.trombonemusic.co.uk, where there is lots of music to tempt you.

Our busy Past President Brett Baker made a flying visit and, as ever, played with style and seemingly effortless ease. He also led a useful question and answer session, and gave us tips on the mysteries of circular breathing, playing lip trills and multi-phonics.

After lunch, we were tutored by Steve Hayes who is a brass tutor at Bournemouth and Southampton universities.

His talk was on Jazz Improvisation Techniques and after stressing the importance of scales and arpeggios in developing improvisation technique, had everyone soloing to a 12-bar blues backing tape. This was new territory for some of us and perhaps could be developed at a future BTS day.

Our day ended with an excellent set from Kevin’s Moonlight Swing Band, which had a very professional sound and played a variety of pieces, the highlight being Autumn Leaves with a beautifully smooth solo from Kevin.

The finale saw all the trombones joining with the swing band to play Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy in another great arrangement from Kevin Morgan.

Tony Hart, a participant on the day, commented: “This has been a well-organised, full, diverse day and a fantastic opportunity for players of all abilities to listen and glean advice from players such as Kevin, Brett and Steve. All three had different themes and were very encouraging: Kevin with his warm-ups and group playing, Brett with solo techniques and Steve with improvisation. A thoroughly enjoyable day, finished off with the trombone ensemble joining in with a couple of numbers alongside the Moonlight Swing Band. Thanks to Colin Driver for displaying his wares in the form of a trade stand and to Inge and Les for keeping everyone refreshed with tea and coffee.”

So, many thanks to Kevin Morgan, Brett Baker and Steve Hayes for giving us the benefit of their expertise. Thanks also to Bruce and his team for a well-organised day. Let’s do it again soon!

TR-W-13 8-9.indd 9

29-11-2013 13:31:40

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TIPS FROM THE TOP

Winter 2013 The Trombonist

Stephen Lomas There is so much repertoire out there for bass trombone that sometimes it is so hard to find somewhere to start. After all, how do you start?

Why are you deciding to play solos?

I think that practising technique, flexibility and tone are all important, but the main reason we all do it is to perform to someone, somewhere.

The general lack of a challenge still in most brass band music for bass trombone gave me the idea of entering solo competitions at the tender age of 27; how often do you hear a bass trombone doing an ‘air varie’ or slow melody? I always thought that would be good fun and a good way of putting into action all that practising you do, along with a bit of performance pressure.

When choosing pieces, it is good to go for those pieces you enjoy listening to. This could be pieces from your favourite player or it could quite simply be a piece you think would be fun to play or something different that is unexpected; nothing is out of reach given enough practice.

A good starting point is to look around at set pieces for solo contests like the New Zealand and Australian solo championships. Take a different instrument’s solo and transpose it; cello, bassoon, euphonium, or even flute! An interesting idea is using pieces with a backing CD like Blackhawk by Michael Davis, as this adds variety to your repertoire.

I have fun doing tenor trombone air varies and

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putting them down an octave too. You have to think when taking another instrument’s music that you might have to adapt the way it was played on the original instrument to suit the bass trombone, but it is good to experiment.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but who cares?

I’ve decided to categorise the pieces to cover different aspects, be that unaccompanied, air varies, solo with piano or band, or some other instrument’s solo that I’ve just decided to hijack. They give me motivation to practice and learn something new.

Got a question? You can email me at Stephen.

Music@stephisoft.com. Just get out there and bring on the bass trombone revolution!

Band Solo Farther Neptune (Roy Newsome) Rhapsody for Bass Trombone (Stephen Bulla) Rainy Day in Rio (Goff Richards) Unaccompanied Bach Cello Suites (Jean-Clause Barbez) Suite (Eric Culver) Profile (David Fetter) Variations on a theme by Paganini for Bassoon Solo with Piano Concerto No. 1 (Alexej Lebedjew) - the Hofmeister version Concerto in Bb Major for Bassoon (Mozart) Sagittarius 2 (Norman Bolter) Tuba Concerto (John Williams) Tuba Concerto (Eric Ewazen) Sonatina (Halsey Stevens) New Orleans (Eugene Bozza) Flute Sonate No. 2 (Bach, arranged Walter Hilgers) Etoile des Profendeurs (Jerome Naulais) Suite of Negro Spirituals (James Markey) Air Varie Variations for Ophicleide (Kummer arr. Steven Mead) Theme Varie (Eugene Bozza) Variations on Barnacle Bill the Sailor (Steven Frank) Variations on a Welsh Theme (Peter Kneale) Variations on Turkey in the Straw (James Markey) Blue Bells of Scotland (Arthur Pryor) Falstaffiade (Jan Koetsier) Annie Laurie (Arthur Pryor arr. John Mortimer) Slow Melody Ivan Susanin’s Aria (Glinka arr. Ben van Dijk) Sang till Lotta (Jan Sandstrom) Ballade (John Golland) Two Songs (Robert Spillman) 2nd movement of Trumpet Concerto (Haydn)

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Winter 2013 The Trombonist

TIPS FROM THE TOP

by Beth Calderbank My musical life began at the age of six with Sandwell Youth Music, where I learned until gaining a place at the Royal Northern College of Music in 2008. There I had the pleasure of working with a variety of great musicians including Chris Houlding, Rob Holliday and Simon Cowen. Throughout my four years there, I had so many career ideas, from being involved in a chamber group and travelling the world, to becoming a soloist and, finally, wanting to be an orchestral musician. Leaving the RNCM has to have been one of the scariest but most exciting times of my life. New challenges were to be found in the ‘big world’ and I couldn’t wait to begin them.

The competition is so high in the world of freelancing and keeping on top of it can be really hard work. This last year has been fantastic for me and I have had the chance to work with some amazing musicians in various orchestras, including Covent Garden, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Opera North, the BBC Philharmonic, Welsh National Opera and the Hallé.

Each orchestra has a different personality. By this, I mean both the characters in each section and the many different ways each orchestra interprets a piece of music. To fit into the section nicely, a freelancer must have listened to and researched their excerpts thoroughly before getting to the rehearsal. Listening to different recordings is vital too, so you don’t get too much of a shock if the style of playing is different or the tempo is faster or slower than what you would expect.

‘It’s quite simple what I look for in a freelancer. I am after a relaxed, strong player who has good radar and listens to all that is happening around them. When a freelancer is sitting number two, then balance is key.

It is imperative that they support fully to

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TIPS FROM THE TOP

balance the section and are never too weak in volume. I’d sooner ask them to play quieter than louder. The quality of freelancing in this country is excellent and is such an important role. We are lucky to be able to choose any number of top class players to come in and do their job brilliantly.’ (Simon Cowen, RLPO) For all students out there wanting to carry on into the freelance world, make sure you go for every performance opportunity given to you.

Always volunteer in masterclasses, lunchtime recitals or any other occasion provided by the college. This is a great way to learn new repertoire each time, but also because performance practice is so important. Auditions in the ‘big world’ will become easier to get through and confidence in performing to new faces will increase. Another key issue is knowing how to practise for a certain audition; do we stick to a certain routine every day? Do we perform to the same group of people? Do we stick with just practising the audition repertoire or mix in some other pieces?

‘I listened to all the excerpts as much as possible, and to different recordings so I was prepared to play the excerpts at different speeds or in different styles. I played them as much as possible, to my teachers and peers and practised them in a different order. For example, I played the really quiet ones after loud ones, or highest one at the end.’ (Wizz Bateman, RNCM and EUYO).

Power through them and block out the nerves so the panel or audience of the performance can see you mean business. During my years at the RNCM, I was asked to perform for many events, but I only wish I had put my name forward more and had had the courage to go for everything. Looking back now, I know I could have made so much more of a difference to my playing and built up my confidence. For students in the higher years, you should also definitely take the time to travel and get lessons

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with new people.

Brass bands have always been a part of my life, whether I have been playing or listening.

I enjoyed playing with a few bands whilst studying, and now enjoy helping out whenever I can. Playing in a band is so useful for keeping up stamina in brass playing. As a freelance musician, you have always got to be in practice because the phone could ring at any point.

Orchestral music varies so much, from playing throughout the whole piece or counting rests until the finale! You definitely don’t want to be panicking about getting through the gig as pages of notes stare you in the face.

‘At Foden’s Band, when a substitute player is needed, we have a “go to” list of players (similar in many ways to an orchestral extra work list). Due to the high turnover of music, the challenging nature of programmes, the desired quality of ensemble and the sheer volume required to play for a twohour rehearsal or concert, the players we engage are ultimately those who understand the job they’re required to do. Foden’s usually will spend no more than two weeks in preparation for major contests or CD recordings, as this is all the schedule will allow. As such we look for the following qualities in players who “drop in” to help us out; the ability to read music very quickly and accurately; the musical ear to balance and blend for the performance or rehearsal; the correct attitude - we’re all there first and foremost to enjoy ourselves and make music (no one wants to sit next to a pain in the backside - effective rehearsals are for rehearsing not chatting throughout) and lastly the stamina to get through the programme. It is genuinely really tough on the chops completing a two-hour concert with some of the repertoire that is expected to be not only played but performed at such a high level - deps have to be tough!’ (John Barber, Foden’s Band)

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Over this past year, I have had the chance to do several off-stage parts in operas. I had never done this at college and so my first experience was on the job! It is so different to being in the pit or on stage, and it can be a really important role. If there is a lot of waiting around for you, really make sure you know where your cues are and check timing. The last thing you want to do is be late, run backstage and realise you have missed your only four notes in the opera!

Bumping 1st trombone is something else I have learnt a lot about this year. Knowing every bit of the music is vital because you may need to play at any point.

‘When I book a bumper for Opera North it’s always because the programme is very demanding or tiring. This means I want someone to come in who I think will match my sound and articulation so that when they take over from me, nothing sounds out of place. At the same time I need the bumper to be able to be flexible with what they end up playing as this can sometimes change between rehearsals and concerts at short notice. Mostly I want someone who’s on the ball, reliable and easy to get along with!’

(Blair Sinclair, Opera North).

Both of these roles rarely appeared in my studies at college, so advice for students out there is to form a section and choose repertoire that includes these and go over each part. Practise leading and following as you could be thrown in at the deep end and could be asked to cover either. There are so many differences between playing bump, 1st and 2nd in a section.

Finally, as with any job, you never stop learning.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my first year outside education, surviving on my own, and still I look forward to finding out what’s next. A comment made to me by my last tutor when getting my first professional gig will always stick with me: ‘Enjoy it, be yourself and make sure you are first in the bar. The first round is on you!’

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Winter 2013 The Trombonist

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INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

Winter 2013 The Trombonist

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James Lebens Interview by Peter Chester

Dr. James C. Lebens is a distinguished trombonist, teacher, conductor and Professor of Brass Instruments at Laval University, Quebec, Canada. American by birth, he has lived in Canada since 2003, but his trombone playing has taken him to many places across North, Central and South America, as well as to China, Japan and Europe. He has a particular interest in commissioning new works for the trombone and has collaborated with several contemporary composers, most notably Eric Ewazen. Dr. Lebens is a named artist for both Yamaha and Denis Wick. He was one of the guest players at the Paris ITF in July 2012, where he led a warm-up session and a clinic on techniques, as well as giving a major recital. It was there that Peter Chester met him and arranged this interview.

the human voice, so I’ve always gone with that vocal repertoire.

I did my Doctorate with Stuart Dempster in the 1980s and he was an amazing leader in contemporary trombone repertoire, so that’s important to me as well. He commissioned Berio’s Sequenza V, so when I studied with Stuart I concentrated mainly on the contemporary repertoire, which I still play on occasion. I’ve performed the Sequenza V maybe 50 times or so.

When he taught me that piece, he said nobody really plays it right. Either they make it too comic or too serious. He said he left that piece to me as his heritage, so that at least somebody will know what it’s about. In fact he had a little sketch, a self-portrait, done by Grock, the Swiss clown upon whom the piece is based. Stuart gave me that sketch and I have it hanging in my living room.

PC: I have no idea how you begin to play something like the Sequenza, but it is fascinating to watch. How on earth do you do it?

JL: One of the first major pieces I learned was Iannis Xenakis’ Keren for Solo Trombone and I eventually did my doctoral thesis on his music.

That thing is just a beast and I had a month to learn it because I was Artist-in-Residence at a Festival at Banff in the Rocky Mountains, and Xenakis was coming to a concert of his music.

At that time it was just a manuscript, so I guess I gave the North American première. But to approach it, you must understand that it’s not something that you can just play through. What I learned from Stuart Dempster in studying contemporary music, was to take as little as two bars or just three or four seconds of music at a time, and then spend 20 or 30 minutes until you get it perfect, and then move on from there.

PC: What led you to play the trombone?

JL: My family was musical and my mother was an amateur pianist, but we had a neighbour, Ronald Ricketts, who played trombone in the Minnesota Orchestra at the time. I asked him if I could try it, and he said yes. There I was, seven years old, a little kid playing the trombone, so Mom got me some lessons. The first thing that really interested me in the trombone was that other instruments had lots of valves and buttons which I thought looked pretty complicated, so I thought, well, there are no keys on a trombone so I don’t have to worry about fingering. I found out different later though!

PC: Do you have a favourite genre within the trombone world?

JL: I don’t really like the French repertoire and music from the Paris Conservatory. I teach it but I think it’s something I don’t play well. I don’t feel I have anything to say in it and it is important for me to perform things that I enjoy and I know I can play well. My favourites tend to be on the neo-classical side, the music of Eric Ewazen, for example, and I enjoy the Sonata Vox Gabrieli

by Stjepan Sulek. I’ve played a number of commissions and transcriptions, generally vocal music, even favourite operatic arias. Palestrina said the trombone is the closest instrument to

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Winter 2013 The Trombonist

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

That’s the way I approach all my music now and, in fact, when I’m practising, I rarely ever play a piece all the way through. I’ll work on bits and pieces in an area, just trying to get the phrasing absolutely perfect. Most of my repertoire I’ve played in recitals 20 or 30 times and I have most of it by memory, so when I’m preparing for a tour or a concert that’s what I’ll do.

As for other areas of music, I find it’s very important to play jazz. I have a jazz quintet and we do maybe 20 gigs a year. Classical musicians should support jazz because it gives you many more ideas, especially in phrasing and legato.

For ideas for phrasing listen to Mel Tormé, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee - all the great old jazz singers.

You get a way of taking the words and melting them into the phrase and because the trombone is such a vocal instrument you can really do that. The other musicians I like to listen to for ideas, and for phrasing especially, are violinists like Fritz Kreisler and Jascha Heifetz. I’m very old school - I just love it.

PC: Can you tell me something about the music you have commissioned and the composers you’ve worked with?

JL: I’ve commissioned nearly 30 works and every composer I meet I ask them if they’d like to write for the trombone. Write for me and I’ll perform it - I’ve gotten a lot of work that way! But there are three composers who are dear to me: Denis Dion and Robert Lemay here in Canada, but particularly Eric Ewazen from New York. In fact, Eric and I were students at Juilliard in the early 1980s, but I think it was 2004 at Ithaca in upstate New York when we met again and we sort of connected. My brass quintet was due to perform his Shadowcatcher, for brass quintet and orchestra, so I invited him to listen and take part in a composers’ forum we had planned. I wasn’t planning to play much myself, but in my office he produced a score of his Trombone Sonata and he said: “Why don’t we just read through the first movement?” There were three of my students present and I’m thinking: “Jesus, this is Eric Ewazen asking me to sight-read his Sonata”, but we did it.

We read through the first movement and straight away we knew there was something that really clicked. So, we performed the Sonata that night, and since that first concert we must have played at least 30 recitals together.

We have recorded three CDs together, one of music of just trombone and piano, with him at the piano. That’s the first and actually the only CD where he’s the pianist all the way through and I’m pretty proud of it. I’d like to think it’s a definitive version, with the composer at the piano and I’m pretty sure that the Sonata is going to become standard repertoire. It’s called

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Ewazen, Lebens & Eklund Play Ewazen, on Albany Records.(1) PC: So what has followed on from that?

JL: You’ve no idea how creative Eric is - the last time I spoke to him he said he has 74 pieces waiting to be published, and he’s just had more commissions. He must have 30 or 40 CDs of his music on the market at the moment and he’s written three works for me. One, on the CD, was written at my house. He and two trombonist friends were staying with me but the day that they were to leave we had a massive snowstorm. Everything was closed so we had an extra day on our hands with nothing to do and Eric said: “Well, I’d like to go and compose”.

So off he went to my electric piano and in the meantime we trombonists played trios down in the basement. Six hours later Eric came down and said: “I just wrote this trio, a trombone trio”.

So we read through it and it’s fantastic. It was published later - it’s called Eaglehawk. While he was composing he had raided my wine rack and found a wine with that name! It’s a great little trio that is maybe three minutes long. The other two pieces he wrote for me are the 3rd and 4th concertos. The 3rd was a commission because I wanted him to write something specifically with my style of playing in mind, but he also gave me the 4th as a present! There is a 2nd Concerto, Visions of Light, which I’ve played, but it was written for Joe Alessi. The 1st Concerto I’ve performed several times, although that is really an expanded version of the Sonata. But when I think that two of Eric’s four trombone concertos have been written for me it’s very humbling,

such an honour.

PC: In Paris I think you said the 3rd Concerto had a Brazilian connection?

JL: Yes, before he wrote it we were on tour together in Brazil. I have a Brazilian connection because, although now I’m a Yamaha artist, I was a Weril artist and Weril Trombones come from Brazil. I used to lecture in Franco da Rocha, just outside of San Paolo and I brought Eric to Brazil - we did a few concerts there. He was fascinated with Brazilian rhythms and while we were in a club in Rio one time he said he was going to base the Concerto on the rhythms of the country.

It so happens that one of the guys that I was very close to, because we were students at Juilliard 30 years ago, was one of the leading trombone players in Brazil at that time. That was Radegundis Feitosa Nunes, the leader of the Brazilian Trombone Ensemble, and Eric had also been one of his teachers. A couple of weeks after we left, that was in July 2010, we got the news that Radegundis had been killed in a car accident. It was terrible, and there were other players involved, all killed on impact, so Eric decided to dedicate the 3rd Concerto to his memory. Radegundis was a very special man and when he played that Brazilian stuff no-one could touch him. In Portuguese, the 3rd Concerto is called Cançoes do Sol (Songs of the Sun) and it was premièred in Salvador, Brazil by the Orquesta de Bahia, and the conductor was Per Brevig, which is really special because he was both my and Radegundis’ teacher at

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INTERNATIONAL FEATURE that was making a CD of Eric’s music for quintet.

In Paris I had premièred another of Eric’s works with Spanish Brass Luur Metals, the Chamber Concerto for Solo Trombone and Brass Quintet, and so we decided we would put in on CD with Simply Brass - they’re very good. I produced that disc and we recorded it in the lovely old National Opera House. But as for recording, a couple of years ago, Eric and I were in Prague to record his Double Concerto for Trumpet and Trombone, with Niklas Eklund on trumpet, and the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. We didn’t get any time to rehearse with the orchestra; all I knew was the piano accompaniment and I’d never heard their fantastic Eastern European string sound before. When they started I was so blown away, in such a different world, I forgot to come in! I remember, though, when I first started making recordings, talking to a friend of mine from Toronto, a flautist called Susan Hoeppner.

I asked her how do you do it, and she said: “You have to learn the music so that when you’re in the studio you don’t just hope to get it right eventually, because that’s not going to happen; you have to play your heart out; every phrase has got to be there,” and she was right.

Juilliard back in the 1980s. Eric and I played the whole piece at the 2012 ITF in Paris as well - the European première.

PC: I remember hearing the Brazilians at the ITF event in Birmingham in 2006 - their style was unique.

JL: You know there was one guy down there who had a great feeling for that Brazilian style but he came to me wanting to change it and “learn how to be a classical soloist”, as he said.

I tried to dissuade him - I told him to just keep doing what you’re good at - that’s pretty much my philosophy - go with your own voice. One of the things I carried with me from my teacher Per Brevig was “just keep doing what you’re doing” - that’s what I’ve tried to do, keep being persistent and never giving up, even in times when I was out of work. Per Brevig certainly influenced my life and I’m really pleased to be back in touch with him these days. He’s doing a lot of conducting now, and actually did the première of Songs of the Sun with me in Brazil.

We’re hoping to record it in 2013 in New York.

PC: So you enjoy recording?

JL: Certainly, but its hard work! After the Paris event Eric and I went on to Zagreb to record with Simply Brass, a brass quintet from Zagreb

PC: At the University you’re obviously involved with students but I also saw you take part in the CAMMAC(2) programme - what’s that?

JL: I love that - I’ve been going there for at least 15 years. It’s basically a course reserved for guys who are adult amateurs and I’ve had some of my most musically rewarding experiences there.

I’ve made lots of friends; people there play in lots of amateur groups; the players are not that advanced but they have a great time. They keep up with all the technical gear and latest recordings, that’s something I can’t always do. In my first year there I had maybe two players but now it’s around a dozen and you know they’re all playing just for the love of it. It’s different from younger student camps, which can be very competitive. CAMMAC regulars teach me things as they have the time and real interest - you can see the light in their eyes! Sometimes I get so focused on my next slice of work I don’t get to keep up in that way. You know, in October 2012, I was in Mexico for two weeks and I had 56 pages of solo trombone music to memorise.

I know that sounds like a lot of memory, but it’s something I’ve always tried to do and, if you’ve practised a piece as you should, it will all be there anyway. Per Brevig always told me to practice music as though I were memorising it and just keep the music on the stand as a sort of

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road map in performances.

PC: Is memorising something you try to get your students to do?

JL: Sure, but I also always insist they get familiar with all the music around the trombone parts.

Trombonists often get too focused on their own ‘hard part’ and miss the rest. So if they’re learning the solo from Bolero, for example, I have them play it with that rhythm pounding in their ears - the first time they do that, the results can be quite surprising. The answer to learning a piece is to study the score or the piano accompaniment, to see how it all fits together.

Don’t just dive into listening to recordings. Learn it for yourself, as much as possible, so you know what is going on. It’s actually very practical as well because it saves so much time in rehearsals and for a recital, preparation also means going out on the stage, checking the music stand, even practicing a bow. You’ve got to look your happiest on stage, that’s where you want to be, that’s where you can enjoy yourself.

PC: Away from playing do you have time for relaxation?

JL: After four or five hours trombone playing I can tell you the last thing I want to do is put on a CD! But I’ve always been a big sports fan. I play golf and I also sponsor a baseball team here in Quebec. We’re called the ‘Brassmen’, but being the oldest member and the sponsor means I get to play! I was asked recently “Where in the world would you like to go”? I had to say “right here in Quebec”. I’ve done a lot of travelling and I enjoy it when I’m there but it’s nice to just be at home. I enjoyed Paris and there was some great music there, but I will admit to being a bit intimidated by that recital I gave with Eric.

There I was, backstage with two minutes to go, getting myself mentally prepared, about to give two premières, when up comes Eric, full of enthusiasm, saying “Jim, you won’t believe who’s in the audience out there, there’s Michel Becquet, Jacques Mauger, Per Brevig, Ron Barron…” I had to tell him: “ERIC, I DON’T NEED TO KNOW THIS!” So I was just a little flustered. We were fine when we started to play and I know my dear friend Radegundis would have loved my faux pas, when I announced he had died in a trombone accident!

PC: Faux pas or not, your playing in Paris was a pleasure to listen to and thank you for taking the time to talk to me about your music-making.

Footnotes: (1) CD Ewazen, Lebens, Eklund play Ewazen was reviewed in the ITA Journal Volume 41 no.1, p.71, January 2013.

(2) CAMMAC is at the Lake MacDonald Music Centre in Canada. It is a non-profit cultural organisation dedicated to amateur musicians wishing to make music together.

(3) More information about Jim Lebens’ work and career can be found at: http://jamesclebens.ca/bio.php

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Winter 2013 The Trombonist

COVER STORY

Callum Au Interview by Chris Mackey

With the release of his big band’s debut CD, trombonist and arranger Callum Au took time out of his busy day to talk to Chris Mackey about everything from studying the classics at Oxford to writing for Jamie Cullum and everything in between!

CM: Callum, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk to us here at The Trombonist. Before we get on to the release of your new CD, perhaps you can tell us how you came to play our wonderful instrument and who you studied with?

CA: Hi Chris, thanks for having me. Honestly, I came to playing the trombone more or less by chance. I was given the school instrument by my primary school music teacher when I was about nine, because she thought it would be a good fit for me (whatever that means!). I had a really great teacher all the way through school though. His name is Terry Reaney and he used to be the solo trumpet player with the Syd Lawrence Orchestra before he retired. He actually ran a big band on Monday nights for his students, where we played a whole assortment of repertoire from the various American bands - Count Basie, Woody Herman, Duke Ellington, and so on - that’s what got me into jazz music in the first instance.

At the age of 15, I got a call from the National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO)’s Musical Director Bill Ashton. He told me that he was a trombone down for a gig that weekend, and that he’d like me to go and play at it. I still don’t really know how he knew who I was! I played a good few more deps with NYJO for a couple of years, joining the band permanently in late 2007, and I held a chair with the band until its Ronnie Scott’s outing in January 2012. The experience that NYJO gave me was invaluable. It taught me how to sight-read and improvise, and it allowed me to write a new big band chart more or less every week, which would be rehearsed and then played on the band’s gigs that month. It also introduced me to a huge network of great musicians who I now work with all the time. Of particular benefit to me was sitting next to some of the great older trombonists who played in the band when I was younger - especially Jon Stokes and Robbie Harvey. Without NYJO’s slightly unorthodox, but hugely effective training methods, I wouldn’t be a professional musician today.

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I didn’t go to music college. I never really considered it as an option, because I wanted the flexibility to be able to do other things if I had to. But while I was at university I had some private lessons with two of the country’s finest jazz trombone players - Mark Nightingale and Gordon Campbell. These were an incredible experience, due both to what I learned from the lessons in terms of technique and improvisation, and to simply hearing trombonists of that calibre in close proximity.

CM: It’s unusual for a player of your age not to go through music college in today’s society; was it a conscious decision to work on a plan B in case the music didn’t work out? Where and what did you study?

CA: I didn’t know that I definitely wanted to be a musician when I was at the age to make the decision about music college, so I decided that going to university would be the best option. I grew up near Preston, Lancashire and another trombonist from that area, Alistair White, had done much the same thing before me, so I had a good precedent to inform my decision. I’m glad I did. An accident or medical condition can end a career in music suddenly and unexpectedly at any point, and it’s very nice to have a bit of insurance against that.

I ended up studying Classics at Balliol College, Oxford, with a major focus on Philosophy. I picked this because it’s a degree that a lot of people hold in high regard. And I thought that because of the course length and structure it wouldn’t be too difficult to do more or less in my spare time!

CM: So how did you go from studying the Classics at Oxford, to not only running your own band and releasing your own big band CD, but writing for Jamie Cullum, the BBC Big Band and the RTE Orchestra to name but a few?

CA: The first big band gigs I ran under my own name were at Oxford. The University Jazz Society helped to fund gigs in two successive years where we brought Mark Nightingale and Nigel Hitchcock to play with the first incarnations of my own band. I also ran the Oxford University Big Band for a year while I was there, taking it on tour to China and fixing a lot of functions and concerts - that was a great experience for getting to know the logistics of running a big band.

en I was still a As for writing, as I said before, when regular member of Bill Ashton’s NYJO, I used to write a new big band chart nearly every week for the band, as Bill would ask for them. We would then rehearse this on the Saturday morning workshop, and then play it on all the gigs that month. Some of those early charts are terrible, but I was writing for a calibre of player who would be able to tell me what worked and what didn’t. Through a process of trial and error, aided by a couple of really great books (notably Nelson Riddle’s arranging method and Sammy Nestico’s The Complete Arranger) I gradually improved.

Almost all the writing work I do now has come about through the connections I made at NYJO. For example, I now write a lot for Pete Long and the Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Orchestra through having first met him when he was a guest MD at a NYJO workshop; I ended up writing a couple of charts for the BBC Big Band through meeting its sometimes MD Jay Craig while working with NYJO contemporary Henry Armburg Jennings’ band.

CM: The writing and arranging must take up a large part of your time. As a trombonist how do you keep your chops in shape?

CA: I usually don’t have to worry about that too much as I’m playing a lot on gigs most of the time. I keep all my horns (tenor trombone, bass trombone, euphonium) set up in the corner of my office room where I do most of my writing and when I need a break during the day I’ll play something on one of them for a bit. Anything from Arban studies to Bach Cello Suites or Aebersold playalongs, whatever takes my fancy at the time really. I actually find that keeping up the bass trombone takes the most work as I don’t play this nearly as regularly on gigs. It’s a pretty disorganised way of practising but it works for me!

That said, if I’ve got a quiet period without any gigs, I do need to play substantially more at home. I’ll often do much the same as the above but for substantially longer time periods and more consciously.

CM: That brings us on to your new CD, how did you go about choosing the material?

CA: There are two main focal points on my album in terms of the repertoire. The first is a suite of music based on Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story that I’ve arranged for contemporary

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COVER STORY

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were obvious choices for me.

CM: The obvious question is - what next for Callum Au and his big band?

CA: With the big band, I’d like to do a few gigs across the country later this year. I’m currently in very early negotiations with both Ronnie Scott’s and the 2013 London Jazz Festival for gigs later in 2013, so we’ll see what happens on those fronts, and hopefully I can tie in a few other gigs around about the same time and make a bit of a tour out of it. It’s obviously difficult to finance something on this scale, but I hope that the combination of something as well-known and well-liked as West Side Story alongside a lot of new and original commissions from younger band members might appeal to venues and promoters.

jazz orchestra. The year after I left Oxford, I was commissioned to write some music based on West Side Story for a project that the Oxford University Big Band was doing to feature tenor saxophonist Mornington Lockett. After I’d done that I was asked to play the launch gig for the Cadogan Hall’s Out To Lunch festival with my own big band, for which I reworked the West Side Story charts into a single continuous suite to feature a hand-picked team of musicians, who now form the core members of the big band.

Having done all this work it seemed silly not to record it! West Side Story provides incredible source material for an arranger, and the suite allowed me to explore a lot of different avenues with big band writing, which I hadn’t done before.

The other main focal point of the album is original music written by British big band writers. When we play live, whenever possible I like to feature music written by those band’s members who write for large jazz ensemble, of which there are quite a few, notably Tommy Laurence, Simon Marsh and Freddie Gavita. For the album, I commissioned both Freddie and guest artist Gareth Lockrane to write new pieces for big band, as well as writing one myself. I feel that this helps to keep the gigs and the album interesting. Having multiple creative sources will always produce a different sound world and this can only be a good thing!

There is one other track on the album, that’s my arrangement of September in the Rain. This is my tribute to the great swinging big bands that are some of my greatest influences, in particular the bands of Count Basie and Thad Jones/Mel Lewis.

CM: Looking at the line-up of players, it reads like a who’s who of the finest young jazz players in London. How did you go about assembling the talent?

CA: All the guys in the band, with the

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honourable exception of Ed Richardson (drums), held chairs in NYJO during my time with the band. My lead players, Tom Walsh (trumpet 1) and Lucas Dodd (alto 1) were my contemporaries as the lead players of NYJO and are both really good, so they were the natural choices. Beyond that, I picked a bunch of musicians who I like to work with, who are good jazz soloists and who also appreciate the importance of working as a team. The trombone section on the album is a pretty good example of this: other than playing myself, I use Robbie Harvey - an incredible jazz soloist and the winner of just about every single trombone competition in the world in the last four years; Ross Anderson, who is a great classical trombonist and lead trombonist, who plays all the lyrical unison melodies and holds the section together as the ‘glue’; and Barry Clements, one of the best bass trombonists I’ve ever heard. He’s recently started a trial with the Philharmonia Orchestra in London.

I also like to pick players who have a contrasting range of sounds and styles, so that they can be written for individually. You won’t get two jazz tenor sax soloists more different than Simon Marsh and Tommy Laurence, for example, but both add a huge amount to the ensemble due to this contrast. Likewise, the trumpet soloists Freddie Gavita and Henry Armburg Jennings.

I always think it’s important to have a range of different soloists, as listening to the same soloist for the whole show can get dull after a while.

In addition to the regular line-up I feature four guest soloists on the album - flautist Gareth Lockrane, saxophonist Nigel Hitchcock, and vocalists Emma Smith and Iain Mackenzie.

Gareth and Nigel are in my opinion two of the finest jazz musicians in the world. They both do something with their respective instruments that no-one else has ever done. Emma and Iain are two of the most musical, most swinging singers I’ve ever worked with, and so they too

My upcoming personal projects include a dectet based on the Marty Paich/Mel Torme sessions, which I’m doing with Iain Mackenzie, and a project with drummer Matt Skelton and the Tippett String Quartet based on Frank Sinatra’s album ‘Close to You’. I’ve just finished all the charts for both of these projects so I should be launching them fairly soon I hope.

CM: Well Callum, at this point we usually ask for a ‘tip from the top’ so what advice would you offer to a young trombonist or arranger?

CA: There’s no secret really other than to listen, play and write a lot. Take every opportunity you can get, and always say yes wherever possible.

Listen to as much music from as many varied backgrounds as you can. If you want to be a writer, try and work out how it all fits together, either by studying scores or by transcribing regularly.

It’s not enough just to sit at home and practise for hours, either with writing or with playing.

You’ll never realise you’re making technical mistakes in orchestration without musicians actually playing the music and telling you. And it always helps to have a lot of like-minded musicians who you can play with and learn from.

You can only get this by actively seeking out playing and writing opportunities external to the practice room. Get together with a bunch of friends to play music as often as you can ultimately music is a team sport and you’re not going to get very far without others’ input.

I was really lucky in that Bill Ashton and NYJO were very encouraging in both these areas; although Bill has now retired, NYJO continues, and it is still a great place for a young musician to get to know some other like-minded individuals. Likewise, the regional youth jazz groups around the country - if you can’t find anything that suits what you want to do, set it up yourself! Chances are, other people will be interested.

For more information about Callum’s debut CD check out www.callumaumusic.com

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STAR OF THE FUTURE

Winter 2013 The Trombonist

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THOMAS WIGGINS s Name: Thomas Wiggin Age: 8 ony, Germany Location: Lower Sax one and piano mb Instruments: Tro local German fire s: Trombonist with his on Current positi brigade band.

New Orleans!

Busker on the streets of . Thomas is now playing g: Aged 8, alto trombone Started playin an Edwards jazz trombone gins n Watkins, Jonathan Wig Teachers: Stephe es Favourite piec Whoopin’ Blues Hurricane Season Backatown Bourbon Street Parade h his own band. jazz/funk trombonist wit bitions: To be a

Am

y Playing histor his parents work for , living in Germany where Thomas is an English boy ided that he wanted to age of seven, Thomas dec , the British Army. At the Watkins, as well as his dad h tuition from Stephen 1 de learn the trombone. Wit terms he passed Gra alto trombone. Within two the Thomas started on the of dad’s CD collections , Thomas listened to his with distinction. Initially were usually spent with rne repertoire. Car jou ys more traditional trombone ances of the Ferdinand ough repeated perform Thomas commenting thr tino.

David Trombone Concer es s trombone performanc

. After looking at variou He then discovered jazz y ‘Trombone Shorty’ ountered the work of Tro on YouTube, Thomas enc rted. When he thought sta sic t his love for jazz mu Andrews. It was then tha of practising his re not listening, instead that his mum and dad we h the various jazz/funk wit ng mas would play alo of examination pieces, Tho dered by the inhibition album, Backatown. Unhin tracks on Troy Andrews’ right. play whatever sounded being observed, he would mas filmed himself one else was awake, Tho One morning, before any Watkins had written for n phe jazz pieces that Ste playing one of the initial , “It’s show time!” before Thomas started by saying him. Still in his pyjamas, parents posted it on orded performance. His commencing his first rec mbone Shorty.” sen title: “I want to be Tro YouTube with his own cho n the video and invited Shorty’ himself had see Within a week, ‘Trombone visited Germany a few and his band when they Thomas to play with him d a firm friendship and them have now establishe weeks later. The two of s as his little brother.

Troy now refers to Thoma minations to one side, Grade 4 but has put exa Thomas has now passed hnique. He has been his jazz repertoire and tec while he concentrates on e newer material, all of standards as well as som learning a variety of jazz Tube. which he uploads to You

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s, Thomas was unable ily holiday to New Orlean This Easter, during a fam e he had forgotten his in his hotel room, becaus g to practise the trombone make up for this by playin decided that he would practice mute. He then his h wit ces e audien every day, attracting larg on the streets. He played , he was spotted by two or day a hin classics. Wit renditions of various jazz him into their band. He kson Square, who invited the local musicians in Jac hin the band. as part of the family wit has now been accepted ever!” : “This was the best day In Thomas’s own words band, playing with the g in the local fire brigade Current activities: Playin ire for his planned ing new Christmas reperto local music centre, prepar s in December. return visit to New Orlean mbone Sho Favourite players: Troy ‘Tro Betters

, Harold rty’ Andrews, Chris Barber

y Andrews katown and For True - Tro Favourite recordings: Bac Hot 8 Brass Band Rock with the Hot 8 - The Barber’s Jazz Band Chris Barber 1956 - Chris Ray - Ray Charles es Orphans, from recordings with The Blu What’s next: Working on Philadelphia.

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FEATURE

Winter 2013 The Trombonist

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Ed Jones

by Becky Rumens-Syratt Ed Jones has established himself as one the brightest young professionals in the trombone world today. Starting out at Chetham’s School of Music, before studying at Kings College London and the Royal Academy of Music, it wasn’t long before he was in demand in orchestras across the country. Now in his fifth year as principal trombone of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, he takes time out of his busy schedule (he is also a tutor at Birmingham Conservatoire and plays regularly with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group) to chat to Becky Rumens-Syratt about his favourite music, the teachers that helped him on his musical journey and his love for Everton FC… BR-S: What’s your favourite orchestral piece that you’ve performed with the CBSO? EJ: It’s been good to do some of the big excerpts, but for the overall experience I’d probably say Mahler’s 2nd Symphony or Strauss’ Alpine Symphony. Both of those are just such amazing pieces to be a part of. They have interesting trombone parts, but the whole thing is so exciting - you can’t beat being sat in the middle of the stage during something like that.

BR-S: And your favourite solo piece?

EJ: When I was younger I always enjoyed playing the first movement of Arrows of Time. It was a piece I played a lot that seemed to work for me and I had a lot of success playing it, but I still can’t play the last two movements like I wish I could!

BR-S: Which trombonists have had the biggest impact on you and your career?

EJ: I would say Chris Houlding, who was my teacher from the age of 13. Kevin Price also, who was a teacher of mine when I was at Chet’s - he’s absolutely fantastic. Dudley Bright and Denis Wick were both great, and Ian Bousfield as well.

They all had a big influence. I feel lucky to have been taught by those five and you couldn’t really ask for better tuition than that. I learnt things from all of them.

BR-S: Last year the CBSO ran a Mahler cycle and this year they looked at Beethoven. Can you tell us a bit about the differences in the trombone parts and how you and the team went about preparing them?

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EJ: For starters, we use different instruments.

So when we play the Mahler symphonies, we use the standard modern orchestral large bore trombones, whereas when we play Beethoven Symphonies we always use smaller instruments.

I always play alto trombone, Tony Howe on second a medium bore tenor and Dave Vines on bass plays the kind of large bore tenor trombone that I would use to play Mahler.

There isn’t much of a chance to make your mark with Beethoven symphonies, whereas in Mahler you’re much more involved the whole time, so in some ways that’s easier. Of course, in several of the Mahler symphonies you might have little solo things which are nice to play, whereas in Beethoven you’re just part of the main texture in the tutti passages. The type of sound that you’re looking to make is also quite different.

In something like Beethoven, where the section are all playing on ‘foreign’ instruments, we’ll often run through a few passages after rehearsal or in a break. Because we’re not on our home instruments, it can take a while for things to settle down in terms of tuning and so on.

BR-S: Which of these symphonies did you enjoy the most?

Ed: After Mahler’s 2nd, I’ll say Mahler’s 3rd! My teacher first told me about that piece when I was 11, and I had this great recording of Denis Wick playing it. From that point on it was something that I always wanted to play. It’s inevitably a bit nerve-wracking. You’ve played it in so many auditions and practised so much that when you actually finally get to do it, it’s easy for the whole thing to be blown out of proportion. It was great to have the opportunity though. I’m aware of how many trombonists practise that piece and never get the chance to play it in somewhere like Symphony Hall, with a first rate orchestra, so I’m very lucky.

BR-S: When you’re not playing trombone, what do you do to kick back and unwind?

EJ: I watch more football than your average male is probably allowed to by their fiancée! I’m a big fan of Everton Football Club, so I go and see it whenever I can. Football is my big passion outside of music really, so to unwind I watch football and drink beer!

BR-S: If you could be in a section with anyone in the world dead or alive, who would it be?

EJ: Of course, my CBSO colleagues Tony Howe, David Vines and Graham Sibley (tuba), who are

the perfect combination of good musicians and also they get the beers in! I’m lucky because we all get on very well, both professionally and socially. If I had to pick someone else, I’d have loved to have played with Denis Wick; I think that would have been good fun, and I may have had to play louder than I’m used to judging by some of my lessons with him!

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Winter 2013 The Trombonist

ORCHESTRAL FEATURE

Max Isley: Understat

by Amos Miller November 2013 marks the 40th anniversary of Max Isley’s appointment to the Royal Ballet Sinfonia (formerly Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet), making him, I believe, the joint longest serving tenor trombone player to work for a single orchestra in the UK, alongside John Hendy of the Welsh National Opera Orchestra, whose appointment was also in 1973. To commemorate this astonishing achievement, I thought it would be appropriate to feature this exceptionally modest and unassuming man in our illustrious journal, and to see if I could winkle out some of the secrets of his longevity (and his remarkable lack of grey hair!)

It also seemed to be serendipitous timing as the wonderful bass trombonist of the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, David Gordon, has been in the orchestra for 36 years; as all trombone aficionados know, 40 + 36 leads to a magic number. Da-Vinci-code-esque, I think you’ll agree…

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AM: When and with whom did you start playing the trombone?

MI: I started playing at the age of eight in the local Salvation Army Band (in Peterborough), where my dad also played the trombone (see photograph). My first proper teacher was my great uncle who was principal trombone in the Birmingham Police Force band. A nice symmetry, as my professional life is now frequently in Brum!

AM: How did you come to play professionally?

MI: When I was studying for my A levels, my school music master came around to the family house to persuade my dad to let me do it as a career. My dad would have preferred me to go into banking or accountancy like him, but once he’d been persuaded he supported me completely. He rang Don Lusher (also from the Peterborough Salvation Army band) who put me straight onto having lessons with Arthur Wilson in London. Arthur then encouraged me to go to the Royal College of Music where I had a very

happy time studying with him. He was a very caring teacher, as well as keeping things simple: he taught you how to play the trombone and how to buy a drink! The highlights for me were his trombone sectional rehearsals, where we really learned what the profession was about.

He was much stricter in these sectionals than in lessons, and rightly so, as these were what prepared you for professional life: what college is for, in other words! If we were playing a chord and it wasn’t in tune, he’d yell “Somebody move!”

We had to learn to listen. Towards the end of college I auditioned unsuccessfully for the CBSO and then successfully for what was then the orchestra of Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet, and is now the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.

AM: What was your first date in the orchestra?

MI: There were no trial periods in those days in the band, so I went straight into a rolling six-week contract; it was like a permanent trial for everyone in the orchestra at that stage, as contracts were only issued for that short period

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ORCHESTRAL FEATURE

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ted trombone hero! each time. My first rehearsal was for Les Sylphides and then straight into a performance (with no rehearsal at all!) of Stravinsky’s Card Game and Prokofiev’s Prodigal Son (a notorious stinker for the trombones) with the conductor beating only karate-chop style downbeats throughout!

breach and lending me his instrument.

AM: What have been your highlights and low points of the job so far?

MI: Between 25,000 and 30,000! I live in Cardiff, and tend to commute when I can. The allotment needs tending and I love to bake bread [I am working on Max to enter the Great British Bake Off. His bread is sensational.] The digital radio in the car is a luxury I really love.

MI: Meeting my wife Val is definitely the highlight! [Val Aldrich-Smith, ex-RBS, now principal harpist of BBC National Orchestra of Wales]. Also, assembling the current low brass section, and walking the Great Wall of China on a day off on tour! Musically, the last C major chord of Romeo and Juliet (Prokofiev again) is up there and the A major chords in Dvorak’s Carnival Overture are things that I love to play. I love being in the middle of a chord! Low points are very hard to find, but perhaps turning up to the theatre in Liverpool without my trombone would be up there! I’m still grateful to Blyth Lindsay from the RLPO for stepping into the

And, to be honest, Giselle…

AM: It’s a touring orchestra, how many miles do you do a year?

AM: Which ballet do you think you have played most times?

MI: Tough one! Nutcracker, Swan Lake or Giselle.

At least 600 times each, although I’m not counting!

AM: What do you like most and least about the music profession?

MI: I love music, and it’s an enormous privilege

to do for a living what you really enjoy. I can’t really think of what I like least, perhaps rehearsing things that I have played hundreds of times. It’s my choice to do that, however, so it’s not that bad!

AM: What advice do you have for young players?

MI: Use your ears! Make sure that your sound, note length, attack and tuning all match the rest of the section. LISTEN! There are lots of people who can fly around the instrument but can’t listen. This is especially important on 2nd trombone as you’re often in the middle of a chord. Your eyes can also help, lock onto the slide of the first and bass trombones.

Max - a personal tribute I have been sitting next to Max for ten years now, and it has been an honour and an education. As a player, he is one of the most professional people I have ever met. He always arrives at a venue in time for a comprehensive warm-up; being the modest man he is, this is always with his very well worn practice mute. Quite often when one arrives at a theatre it is possible to hear the very faint sound of muted flexibilities in the distance: Max will have found the most discreet corner of the building! In performance, he is bullet proof: in my ten years he has missed only one entry, and that was because I distracted him by asking where we were! He knows all of our repertoire in incredible depth, as well as all of the symphonic and opera repertoire: one only has to mention an upcoming, probably obscure, piece, and he will come in to work the next day with the score, a selection of recordings, and an erudite remark on which is preferable. This is something it took me a while to discover, as his diffidence and tendency to hide his light under a bushel means that he would never dream of foisting an unsolicited opinion on anybody! The trumpeter Kenny Wheeler once remarked: “I don’t say very much, but when I do, I don’t say very much.” This reminds me partially of Max in that even when he does say something he doesn’t say much, but what he does say is always germane and insightful.

As a person, Max is very special. He is incredibly supportive and loyal, both in terms of playing, and as a colleague and friend. He is thoughtful and generous to a fault; even just in terms of buying a coffee or a drink, I have to be very ridiculously assertive to get him to let me do it occasionally! In the end, though, I think what I find most inspiring about Max is his love and passion for music. In a profession where complaining is rife (I am as guilty as anyone in that regard) he is only too aware of how lucky we are, not just that we are not being bombed or starving, but that what we do provides us with nourishment for the ears, and thence the soul.

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Winter 2013 The Trombonist

COMPOSER’S CORNER

MICHAEL

PILLEY

Interview by Peter Chester

Michael Pilley is one of the BTS’s non-British members, having arrived in Britain from Australia early in 2012. Based in South Wales, he found himself at the BTS two-day event in Cardiff in 2012, and then in Rotterdam for the Slide Factory 2013, where one of his compositions reached the final stages of the Composer’s Competition. Peter Chester caught up with him soon after that.

PC: How did you get started on the trombone?

MP: I started trombone in high school, after my trumpet teacher heard me play in the first lesson and said: “How about we try you on trombone?” My teacher there was Shannon Pittaway, bass trombone of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, who had studied in Chicago with Charlie Vernon and Michael Mulcahy and emphasised the importance of air in trombone playing. My school was Blackburn High School, a public school in Melbourne with a rich history of excellent music education and winners of multiple competitions over decades. The advantage of this was constantly being in rehearsal sitting next to very talented musicians and learning from them as well as the teachers.

PC: You obviously had some formal training?

MP: Yes, after school I took a Bachelor of Music at Melbourne University, and there I had lessons with two trombonists from the Melbourne Symphony, Ian Perry and Ken McClimont. At that time I was also playing with the Melbourne Salvation Army Staff Band and contributing in many ways to the band, including music publishing and concert promotion. At University, I also had great fun playing with the Super Sax ensemble among others where I spent entire rehearsals just listening to the most amazing arrangements of Charlie Parker transcriptions for five saxes and rhythm. I was the token brass player who soloed when the saxes had played through 12 choruses of fast bebop.

Although I didn’t make it into the Composition stream, the university course also gave me a good grounding in compositional techniques. It started with counterpoint and fugue and moved through pretty much any genre you may need to write for, from 20th century techniques to jazz harmony, so it served me well.

PC: So what brought you to Britain?

MP: Actually it was my wife, Vicky. She decided to study for her Master’s degree in Choral Conducting at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2012, so we made the move to the UK and we ended up in South Wales. After University, I was lucky enough to get a job transcribing and typesetting with All Music Publishing, the biggest Australian print music publisher at the time. After a trial, I was with them for three years and gained lots of experience in that specialised field. Their catalogues were mainly pop, so after my first month of writing piano, vocal and guitar arrangements of ABBA songs, I continued to create over 1,000 arrangements of a varied range of pop, from rap and R’n’B, to light rock and even some ukulele.

It was all good experience, but after a few bad breaks, the company was bought by Hal Leonard and I was made redundant. I took two part-time jobs in 2011 - one job involved planning, marketing and coordinating a new Music Academy at the Camberwell Salvation Army for children in Melbourne (they have an excellent brass band there) and the other, teaching brass and conducting bands at Oxley College. All through this time I was playing in

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COMPOSER’S CORNER big bands, brass bands and wind bands whilst conducting some bands as well. Since arriving here, I have been building my networks and creating my own opportunities.

PC: So you’ve managed to find a lot of playing since you arrived?

MP: Yes, certainly in jazz and brass bands. I’ve set up two jazz groups, SuperBone and MP4. I’m particularly pleased with SuperBone. We’re a jazz trombone quartet based in Cardiff, consisting of four trombones (Stephen Sykes, Lloyd Pearce, Terry Kelly and me) and a rhythm section. We play a wide range of styles from swing to the more recent jazz fusion tunes, and we have new arrangements of jazz trombone classics from such artists as JJ Johnson and Bill Watrous.

We’ve even harmonised some of JJ’s solos, and we play them in the style of the great Supersax ensemble from LA. The MP4 quartet is a bit more fluid, and we play classic jazz songs for weddings, parties or anything. They’re made up with regulars from the Cardiff jazz scene and former Royal Welsh College graduates, and the mix of vocals, trombone, piano, bass and drums means we can perform favourite jazz tunes just the way they have been recorded.

PC: What about your arranging skills?

MP: I started arranging during high school, but it was mainly for the brass bands I played for in specific circumstances. I’ve expanded my range of skills in that area to choir, wind band and big band, as well as the arranging I was doing for AMPD. That job I had in Australia was very useful in gaining experience in the publishing industry and I’ve been able to do freelance transcribing, typesetting, arranging and composing here in Britain for a few different clients. I’m generally too busy to work consistently on my compositions, but enjoy it when I get the time.

PC: In composing a piece, are you conscious of one element, such as the rhythm, coming first?

MP: I think the concept of the piece is the most important and generally I won’t start writing it until that concept has formed fully. Sometimes the concept is all I have to start, then I throughcompose until I need to re-evaluate what I have written. On a basic level, the melody comes first, then the bass and lastly filling out the middle parts. I don’t think I have a particular style, as the concept is really the main element in my mind. Having said this, my harmony is definitely a product of my experiences in jazz and contemporary music and I do consciously write melodies that are both playable, but unique.

PC: What types of compositions and arrangements have you done?

MP: I’ve written for jazz ensemble, brass band, wind band and chamber ensembles over my composition career. I think some of the best arrangements I’ve done were for the Melbourne Staff Band, which were used with their vocalist.

But I do have fun writing for small ensembles such as barbershop quartet or trombone quartet. At the moment I am working on my jazz trombone quartet charts. I take the best

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jazz trombone recordings I can find and reharmonise them for four trombones and rhythm section. With Vicky studying at the RWCMD, I’ve also been looking into choral arrangements, and I am working on writing for specific professional ensembles. That will be a challenge - to get the best out of unique musicians at the highest possible standard.

PC: Surely you’ve already achieved that with your success at the Slide Factory?

MP: That certainly was a lucky break and to hear what the New Trombone Collective did with my music was just wonderful - and to have it recorded and published by them as well - that was great. It’s on their website now!

PC: That was a very interesting winners’ concert and it was a shame that one piece had to be declared a winner. How did your piece come about? Yours was certainly innovative, mixing the voices of eight trombones with the recorded sounds of the stars.

MP: I called the piece Luminosity and it started as a concept to write a piece exploring the brightness in trombone tone, especially in the higher registers - you’ll remember I used two altos and six tenors. I wanted to explore how a relatively low frequency instrument such as the trombone would produce bright sounds through range, style and harmony and then I moved on to including programmatic movement titles, and using recorded star sounds.

I included the elements of recorded star sounds as I was trying to achieve what I call an aleatoric effect, and by that I mean I wanted to create a general structure within the music, but allow for some chance developments as it unfolded. The star sounds came from Asteroseismology, that is, the detected frequencies at which stars vibrate, artificially boosted to frequencies within the human hearing range. The sounds were actually quite specific, coming from stars HR3881, Xi and Keplar 12268220.

I was actually pleasantly surprised when it was performed, as the star sounds blended so well with the trombones and created an amazing phased effect in the last unison note, which was unexpected.

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composing for a wide variety of musicians.

Maybe teaching as well but I’m not sure how I would fit it in to my schedule!

PC: So, you appear to be very happy in the UK at the moment?

MP: Yes, it is turning out to be one big adventure for my wife and myself. We’re spending time sightseeing around the UK and Europe, and I can still keep in touch with Australia by watching Aussie rules football - sport is another of my passions!

Playing in the UK has been interesting, as I am mainly doing jazz at the moment and the style differences from Australia are noticeable. The repertoire can vary but there are a lot more bands playing the old style arrangements and the swing does tend to get more articulated than I’m used to. Having said this, there are bigger audiences here and way more opportunities than I had in Melbourne so I’m enjoying playing a lot here.

But what I really love are the opportunities musicians get in Europe, as there are many great musicians giving their time to festivals which you can attend. The BTS event in Cardiff last year was great and even though I don’t study, I’ve managed to make it to masterclasses by Christian Lindberg and Oystein Baadsvik.

At Easter 2013, I had that most incredible weekend at Slide Factory with Bill Watrous and Ian Bousfield, to name a few. There is also a great attitude professionals have in the UK, one of sharing their knowledge and giving opportunities to young musicians, so it’s great to be part of that.

PC: Where is this all leading at the moment?

MP: Well, there are, of course, other requests from other ensembles and my own thoughts on what I’d like to write, but there are only so many hours in the day for a multi-skilled musician.

Having so many things to concentrate on at the moment, conducting, playing, writing, I am taking each opportunity as it comes and I really have no idea where it will all lead. I’m certainly enjoying all I’m doing at the moment - that has got to be central to making music - and I try to find time to listen to lots of music as well - mostly jazz, but I do have a not-so-secret passion for Earth, Wind and Fire! All I know is that I love doing what I do because every day is a different challenge and experience. Perhaps in five years or so I could see myself playing some more jazz and session gigs, perhaps conducting a professional ensemble and arranging and

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TROMBONIST’S ISLAND DISCS

David Pearce I have enjoyed a varied career since graduating from the Royal Northern College of Music. I can often be seen playing with various big bands around the country, and was principal bass trombone for the Orchestre OstinatO under the direction of Jean-Luc Tingaud in Paris for three years from 2007 until 2009. In fact, I entered the RNCM as a tenor trombonist and was later asked to switch to bass trombone by Chris Houlding. Nowadays, I play both tenor and bass but I suppose most of my work is on bass.

As well as working with some wonderful musicians in the big band business, I also teach trombone privately - something I enjoy a lot and find very rewarding. I also often coach amateur big bands in my local area and also direct my own big band, the Dave Pearce Orchestra.

I was delighted, as someone from the big band world, to be asked to choose my favourite Trombonist Island Discs, and I hope you find my choice both enlightening and interesting!

Believe it or not, my inspiration to take up the trombone was after hearing the music of Glenn Miller on the radio.

I used always to be round at my grandmother’s house and she always had big band music on. Thanks to her, I was exposed to some great big band music and Glenn Miller’s Band was (and still is) my favourite. This track doesn’t expose the trombones really, but I felt I had to have it as my first choice because if it wasn’t for my gran

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TROMBONIST’S ISLAND DISCS

and Glenn Miller, I wouldn’t be playing today.

Some of Glenn’s rarer recordings really show off how good he actually was on trombone.

I think he was a very underrated player. Disc number 1: Glenn Miller and His Orchestra: In the Mood from the album The Essential Glenn Miller - Featuring the Very Best of the Army and Civilian Bands.

If I may stay with the Glenn Miller band for a moment, it was from 1975 to 1981 that trombonist Jimmy Henderson took over the leadership. I find this period of recordings made by him and the band to be some of the most exciting and electrifying recordings ever made by the ‘post-Miller’ band. I am lucky to have a live recording of the band made in the 1970s and on it Jimmy Henderson takes a breath-taking trombone solo in Little Brown Jug. In the opening bar I think he covers a three-octave range from low F to super F with such ease! You can even hear the excitement and roar in the audience as he plays it - another phenomenal trombone player who you don’t hear much about nowadays. Disc number 2: The Glenn Miller Orchestra Directed by Jimmy Henderson: Little Brown Jug with the trombone solo played by Jimmy Henderson, from the album Tuxedo Junction - the Glenn Miller Orchestra Live in Europe.

As a musician you are lucky (or unlucky!) to be able to get the opportunity to travel. I have lost count of the number of lifts I’ve had off people to and from gigs, and with it I have often discovered new recordings and new artists.

Travelling back one night, I was played the last recording that trombonist Frank Rosolino ever made. Released in 2010, it demonstrates just how clever and passionate he was, and how he was completely in control of the trombone. His technique is flawless, his lines are so fluid and I often wonder if at times he throws the rhythm section with his knowledge and where he’s going musically. My favourite track is without a doubt Waltz for Diane. He makes it sound so easy. Pianist Thomas Clausen also takes a pretty hot solo. Every time I listen to the CD I can’t help but feel what a sad loss it was that his life ended so short. Without doubt he’s inspired many trombonists! Disc number 3: Frank Rosolino Waltz for Diane, from the album Frank Talks.

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A trombonist from the Ted Heath Band, Ric Kennedy, once gave me an old cassette tape of Urbie Green. For many years, I mistook his name to be pronounced ‘Herbie’ and was always confused when I could never find any recordings of him. I remember listening to the recording he gave me and sat astounded at his sound.

I wanted to hear more, and eventually got my hands on the recordings of The Persuasive Trombone of Urbie Green. It opened my eyes to more Urbie Green recordings, and soon I fell in love with his 21 Trombones. My favourite track off The Persuasive Trombone album has to be the opening track, At Last. You’ve been so used to hearing the Miller version so long, that it’s refreshing to hear Urbie come in and take a new stance on it. The opening really is a tour-deforce and he has such a pure sound throughout his entire range. Disc number 4: Urbie Green At Last, from the album The Persuasive Trombone of Urbie Green - Volume 1 and 2.

Listening to Urbie Green, I soon came across the name Carl Fontana. As you may know, Carl Fontana was trombonist for the wonderful Stan Kenton Orchestra for many years and is well known for his solo on Kenton’s Intermission Riff. I found, on the same cassette tape of Urbie Green, an album called Bobby Knight and His Great American Trombone Company. That recording really is a trombonist’s dream, as I feel all the legendary players were at the top of their game at the time. Carl Fontana was the total master of the doodle-tongue technique, and he demonstrates this in Strike Up the Band with a break that seems to last forever! It feels like he doesn’t breathe for about five minutes! This CD is a MUST for all trombonists! Disc number 5: Carl Fontana Strike Up the Band, from the album Bobby Knight and his Great American Trombone Company - Cream of the Crop.

For my 18th birthday, I was fortunate to be able to spend it with Don Lusher. I couldn’t leave him out as he was so encouraging to me while I was studying at the RNCM, and many times I would call on him for advice. He was the lead trombonist for Ted Heath for many years and took over the leadership of the band after Ted had died. He went to America on the infamous Ted Heath Band tour, and although Don is renowned for his ballad style playing, one of my favourite solos from him is The Carioca, live

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at Carnegie Hall with the Ted Heath Band in 1956. It’s fast, but at the same time, it’s played so accurately. Disc number 6: Don Lusher The Carioca from the album Ted Heath at Carnegie Hall.

As I said earlier, most of my work nowadays is on bass trombone, and I can’t do a Trombonist Island Discs without including one of my idols of the bass trombone. He was Nelson Riddle’s bass trombonist and is featured on many Frank Sinatra recordings. I am, of course, talking about the legendary George Roberts. I actually first heard the name George Roberts in a book written by Nelson Riddle called Arranged by Nelson Riddle. I was then able to put a name to all the bass trombone passages I would hear on the Frank Sinatra recordings, notably I’ve Got You Under My Skin. I purchased an album called Love Is a Game of Poker as I was getting more and more into the Nelson Riddle sound, and the first track happened to be a feature for George Roberts. I’m lucky in that whenever I deputise in the John Miller Orchestra on bass trombone, he always gets me to play it. Arranged by Nelson Riddle, I think it showcases the bass trombone’s ability to sound sweet in the lower register. This is something that George Roberts had off to a fine art. Disc number 7: George Roberts Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries, from the album Love Is a Game of Poker.

I have to admit that I found this article quite difficult to write. I could easily write about another 50 or 60 discs and still have left out many favourite artists and discs. As well as the wonderful recordings that the great artists have left us, I am continually inspired by the trombonists I sit next to and work with in various big bands around the country. I have been fortunate to have recorded my own solo Splanky on the current Nick Ross Orchestra CD Jeepers Creepers and I hope one day that I may be someone’s Trombonist Island Discs. I like meeting new fans, and if ever the Nick Ross Orchestra is in town, or you happen to be a keen dancer(!) dancing to the wonderful sounds of the Empress Orchestra, do come up and say hello! Also, be sure to check out Steel City Bones (organised by Lee Hallam) when we’re in your area – another MUST for all trombonists. In the meantime, if you would like to know more about me, please visit: www.david-pearce.co.uk

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BOURGEOIS - TROMBONE CONCERTO Available from R.Smith & Company

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Brett Baker and Friends review by Andrew Justice

Double CD in aid of Trombones for Teens - a special project of the British Trombone Society.

White River Evocations - WR13-08. A vailable from www.brettbaker.co.uk Brett Baker (trombone) John Wilson and Ruth Webb (piano) Black Dyke Trombone Quartets, White River Brass, Black Dyke Soloists, Salford Brass Quintet and other friends To be honest, this double CD is a music festival and trombone convention in a box! It is unusual in as much as is multi-layered. In fact, it has three distinct aims: firstly, to showcase the playing of Brett Baker, secondly to involve his many friends and colleagues from a range of musical groups with whom he is associated as teacher, performer and encourager, and finally to give an opportunity to some seriously-talented young trombonists to perform solos and ensembles on a high-profile CD, which will no doubt be invaluable experience for them all.

The range of styles of music selected on the 34 tracks included on the double CD format is wide, from trombone ‘standards’ to specially commissioned contemporary works, encompassing arrangements of brass band marches for trombone quartet, and all points in between.

I was particularly impressed with the multi-tracking demonstrating the prowess of James Stretton playing all the instruments on his track Gallipoli March, and also the moving Immanuel’s Tide, played by the Black Dyke Junior Quartet, an old Salvation Army choral number arranged by Ian Jones.

I am particularly taken with the educational value of this project, but in no way does that reduce its musical value. Rather, this production is an example to all of what can and is being achieved by committed students and

teachers at the grass roots level of musicmaking, notably through the brass band movement in its purest form, that of giving young people a musical voice in a very tough modern world.

The accompanists deserve medals, and

Brass Taps

Superbrass review by Kevin Morgan An ensemble that adopts the name Superbrass is obviously promising excellence and you certainly get that with its recently released second album Brass Taps. Based around the theme of water, the music, which is all original and written predominantly by brass players, is well crafted and engaging throughout. The incredible musicianship of the performers repeatedly makes you smile and their efforts are enhanced by a wellengineered and produced recording. The addition of percussion to the standard ten-brass piece line up of four trumpets, horn, four trombones and tuba opens up the sound world as does the tasteful use of mutes and alternative instruments in many of the works.

The opening number, Icebreaker, by Tom Harold, is imaginative, modern, aggressive and hard hitting and is perhaps the most challenging listen of the album. It is followed by Firewater (Jim Rattigan), which begins

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we can all look out for the young soloists featured being at the top of their field in the near future. This CD should be on every student and teacher’s must-have list, and every trombonist of all levels of ability should buy it to support such a worthy cause dear to all our hearts.

with a comfortable swing that hints at the jazz flavours that pervade the album. Soaring horn and trumpet melodies, muted textures, a simple but rhythmically ambiguous riff and driving percussion complete the musical picture.

Terry Johns has a rich background as a composer and horn player and his wonderfully impressionistic writing in Inchcolm is attractive and engaging. Clearly scored by someone with a great knowledge of brass, it is lovely to hear these instruments pushed to their limits in a musically effective way. Chris Parkes’ effortless range on French horn is inspiring as is the fluidity of Phil Cobb’s trumpet playing. I would love to hear this piece played by brass band.

Mark Bassey takes the impressionist approach to an extreme in his Enormous Pink Jellyfish - trombones were invented to play this piece! Mark’s music here is influenced by his jazz background and this group really can swing. The ever-rising return of the trombone theme is pure genius!

Mike Lovatt and Andy Wood flex their improvising muscles in Mark Lockheart’s Highforce, before Andy goes on to create a uniquely sounding

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solo on euphonium in Mark Bassey’s arrangement of Wade in the Water.

This bluesy spiritual arrangement also features Roger Argente on bass trombone. Roger then goes on to arm himself with a contrabass trombone in Andy Baker’s Underground Plumbing Blues. Not to be outdone, Andy Wood picks up a bass trombone and solos on that too!

Roger also features at the start of Dave Powell’s The Healing Stream. Reflections of world music drift out of this wonderfully rhythmic and lyrical work. The fanfare-like motif from Roger preludes a couple of beautifully simple trumpet motifs and the rest of the piece evolves from there, taking in along the way an imaginative tuba solo from Kevin Morgan, before reaching a radiant climax.

Slide Projections

Mark Nightingale’s Flood Warning begins with a groove that has you swaying along immediately and the next few minutes include some of the most exciting brass playing you will hear anywhere. If you remember the first time you discovered Stan Kenton, or Maynard Ferguson, or Frank Rosolino then you will know what I mean! Andy Wood and Mike Lovatt really strut their stuff above Mark’s energetic writing. Keep an ear out for the lovely percussion lines from Frank Ricotti. Tuned percussion also adds to the texture in Mark Bassey’s arrangement of Deep River, which features the mellow sound of the flugel.

Review by Andrew Justice

The album finishes with The Raft of Medusa from the pen of Gareth Wood who, although a double bass player, is no stranger to brass (Tombstone, Arizona for brass band and, more importantly of course artistically, Four Pieces for Four Trombones!) Using un-pitched percussion to supplement the brass textures we again get flavours of distant places with Matt Gee on trombone and Phil Cobb on trumpet stridently calling out, almost competing to be heard, contrasted by quiet, reflective music with an undercurrent of disquiet. The music then builds in a way that leaves the listener continually guessing as to how it will all end.

The more I listen to this album the more I find to enjoy and the more impressed I am. The wealth of talent on display in terms of composing, performing, recording and producing is fantastic, particularly when you consider that everyone involved is a busy performing musician. Buy a copy and let it inspire you too!

Brett Baker (trombone)

Maidstone Wind Symphony (Jonathan Crowhurst)

Wind ensembles are a growing phenomenon that started originally in the Royal Courts of Europe in the 18th century, but in their modern form in the US in the 1950s (Frederick Fennell’s Eastman Wind Ensemble being regarded as the forerunner of the contemporary US model). They have spread across the world from Japan to Norway, Australia to Canada. Now often formed from school, military, brass band or orchestral wind players, all with different styles and approaches, the standard of performance and blend of sounds being achieved is unrecognisable from the earliest days of the court ensembles. They now regularly attract leading composers to write for the genre, as well as adapting orchestral or brass-only compositions for the expanded wind format.

It is against this background that the Maidstone Wind Symphony (formerly Maidstone Winds) was founded by Brendon le Page in 1998. The orchestra originally and primarily consisted of former members of Maidstone Youth Music Society and Kent Youth Wind Orchestra. Jonathan Crowhurst was appointed as the orchestra’s third musical director in 2010 following Brendon le Page and Jeremy Cooper. The orchestra changed its name to Maidstone Wind Symphony and made its first appearance at the Exchange Studio in June 2010. Since that time it has performed regularly with leading brass, woodwind and percussion soloists, and has now produced its first CD featuring Brett Baker, the renowned trombonist who is among the most recorded brass artists in the world.

Brett himself has performed and recorded with wind ensembles before, his first such recording Mask in 2004 with the Band of The Light Division. He has toured extensively around the world and performed on over 100 CDs as a soloist or ensemble performer with many of the world’s leading brass and wind bands. He is currently principal trombone with the world famous Black Dyke Band in Yorkshire.

The repertoire for this CD includes three major works for trombone and wind ensemble, all being in concerto format of three movements in varying degrees of complexity and designed to fully explore and exploit the range, moods and sensitivity of the trombone. Although in similar format, each concerto is richly varied, which means we are really listening to nine individual pieces linked within three concerto ‘envelopes’, and as such the CD offers a great listening experience for anyone interested in brass and wind playing of the highest calibre.

Rob Wiffin is a former Director of Music with the RAF, a trombonist himself and currently writing, arranging and teaching at Kneller Hall Military School of Music. His Concerto for Trombone (written in 2010) includes a particularly moving slow movement, which pays tribute to the memory of the renowned Arthur Wilson, orchestral trombonist and teacher. I also particularly enjoyed the references to established works such as Ray Steadman-Allen’s The Eternal Quest and Gordon Jacob’s own Trombone Concerto; two other composers who know well the possibilities of the trombone.

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The second work is the T-Bone Concerto, completed in 1996. This slightly tongue-in-cheek (in more ways than one!) title belies the extraordinary level of skill and stamina required to perform this work, written by Dutch composer and trombonist Johan de Meij. It is true to say that Brett displays a RARE skill and level of musicianship in this particular MEDIUM, and deserves a loud WELL DONE for his dedication to the art and technique of trombone performance!

The third concerto is by Philip Sparke, written in 2006 and first performed by Olaf Ott, principal trombone of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. I particularly enjoyed the samba idiom of the final movement, underlining the variety of musical ideas on display in this CD. The Maidstone Wind Symphony adds a track of its own to those accompanying Brett Baker, and chose to feature Canterbury Chorale, a piece written by Belgian composer Jan Van der Roost as a musical response to their own county landmark of Canterbury Cathedral. Its soaring architecture is well reflected in this sonorous piece which is a popular brass and wind composition around the world as a result of its representation of an inspired and inspiring cultural pinnacle.

These words also come to mind in summarising MWS’ landmark first recording and their achievement in showcasing one of the world’s great trombone recording artists, an inspiring recording with a musician at the pinnacle of his career.

The World of the Contrabass Trombone

by Javier Colomer and Heinrich Thein Review by Alwyn Green

If only this book had been around when I first found myself required to play a contrabass trombone! This is a well constructed book, far more than a text book, although it deals thoroughly and interestingly with the history, usage and development of these monster instruments and has plenty of photographs and illustrations. The fact that it is published in English and German, as well as Spanish, makes it very widely available.

I have had experience of playing contras and cimbassos in F, E flat and BB flat (with double slide) and this book offers really good and helpful studies for all types of Contra. There are numerous useful orchestral excerpts, which will be invaluable in preparation, both for gigs and student development.

More importantly, there are comprehensive exercises for developing the technique needed to make these monsters work properly. Obviously, bass trombonists are well aware of the additional support required in breathing and diaphragm control required to make the most of the modern bass trombone. Well, as the newcomer will quickly discover, even more support is needed on the Contra and the exercises and advice on doing this is very well presented. The writers are to be congratulated on the production of an excellent manual. Javier Colomer is a distinguished player with years of experience at the highest level and he has given a new generation of students the benefit of his knowledge and skill.

As to Herr Thein, I have played one of his contras and it is by far the best contra I’ve ever played (no, I’m not being paid for saying that).

All you need to do is read the book, take the advice and work jolly hard.

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DIARY

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DIARY OF EVENTS 2014 Items in black are organised by the BTS. Please send in details of upcoming trombone concerts or workshops and we will add them to the Diary (in red).

Thursday 23 January 2014 7.30pm LSO Brass Ensemble Barbican Hall Contact: Barbican Box Office: 0207 638 8891 Sunday 9 February 2014: BTS West Midlands Event Registration at 9.45am for 10.00am start; evening concert at 5.00pm Kindly hosted by Solihull School.

Warwick Road, Solihull, West Midlands, B91 3DJ Contact: Martha Ann philmarthabrookes@tiscali.co.uk or Phil philbrookes65@talktalk.net MA Brooks 07966416198 Philip 07870643748 0121 444 5655 Solihull School is 25 minutes drive from the centre of Birmingham; close to M42 J5 or a five-minute taxi ride from Solihull Train Station (from Euston and Marylebone).

Sunday 30 March 2014: National Trombone Day 2014 Chetham’s School of Music Long Millgate, Manchester, M3 1SB Registration 9.30am close 5.30pm Varied day for all trombone players, hosted in the incredible new Chetham’s School of Music. Specialist classes, ensemble playing and performances from some elite orchestral musicians.

Also the final of the inaugural BTS Collegiate Trombone Choir Competition. Your chance to hear and play with musicians of all standards!

Jazz session at the famous Band on the Wall Club with special guests ‘round the corner’ to conclude the day (admission for the evening event TBA).

Confirmed Artists: Blair Sinclair, Katy Jones, Christian Jones, Jiggs Whigham and many more!

Admission: £15.00 Non BTS Members; £10.00 BTS Members; £5.00 Students

Everyone at the BTS wishes you Merry Christmas and a Happy and Musical 2014

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