The Trombonist - Winter 2015

#BTS30

winter 2015 ÂŁ5.00

Bournemouth Symphony Trombones

Life on the south coast of England

The Bass Bone Files Frank Mathison looks back at his career

Wedge mouthpiece The latest design of mouthpiece reviewed

winning streak Michael Buchanan wins the ARD International Music Competition

WIN AP BONE

contents Regulars 6

24

Trombonist’s Handbook

President’s Column

Top tips in Liverpool from travelling trombonists

7

G&T

Liam Kirkman’s first Presidential column

News & event Reviews

BTS News and reviews of the 30th Anniversary National Events

23

Jazz by Jeremy

Top tips about starting a band

Matt and Mark’s highlights for the next three months

profiles 15

Obituaries

Winter-warming concerts for the next three months

25

Section Spotlight

The Bournemouth Symphony trombones

4

features 16

cover story

Michael Buchanan tells all

Sad goodbyes to two trombone heroes

Resources 12

A minute with…

Chris Fidler

32

33

What’s On

34

FAST TALk

Brass Band Focus Trombonists moving from band to orchestra

26

The Bass Bone Files Christian Jones profiles Frank Mathison

22

Rising Stars

This Winter issue’s Star of the Future

29

Gear Review

Wallace mutes & wedge mouthpiece reviewed

30

Reviews

CD: ‘Volume II’ Septura CD: ‘Incoming’ Riot Jazz CD: ‘Symbiosis’ Velocity Trio

Welcome to the winter ISSUE OF THE BTS magazine

What an incredible 30th year it has been for the BTS. As 2015 comes to a close, we see a new era beginning, with a new President, and changes amongst the ranks. Read more about these changes in the next few pages.

Congratulations to Jon Stokes, who is the winner of the Autumn magazine listening competition. We hope you find your new custom ear plugs with special decibel filters really useful.

This issue, we have even more to give away. Last Winter we had a competition to win a pBone… now there are TWO pBones up for grabs!

Turn to page 19 to find out more.

Sadly, this is my last magazine issue (Carol), as I’m finding it too difficult to fit in with everything else I do. I’m so glad that the magazine is now going from strength to strength though, and would like to thank all involved in our superb magazine team. I wish Simon, and his new team all the best for the future… maybe I’ll enter some of the competitions now I’m allowed to!

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and prosperous New Year.

With best wishes, Carol & Simon drop us a line: editor@britishtrombonesociety.org

The Trombonist Magazine Editors: Carol Jarvis & Simon Minshall editor@britishtrombonesociety.org Sub-Editor: Peter Chester Publishing and Distribution: HMCA Reviews Editor: Ross Learmonth reviews@britishtrombonesociety.org Advertising: Andy Thomas advertising@britishtrombonesociety.org Design: Sian Nowley sian@hmca.co.uk The Trombonist is published quarterly

Contributors in this issue: Joe Arnold Peter Chester Chris Fidler Matt Gee Richard Henry Dan Jenkins Christian Jones Matthew Jones Ross Learmonth

John Miller Derrick Parker Jeremy Price Darren Smith Attila Sztán Mark Templeton Robb Tooley Ryan Watkins Rupert Whitehead

page 16

page 26

page 34

page 30

5

winter 2015 the trombonist

president’s column Well, it’s all change here at BTS HQ! With a sense of pride and trepidation I take the reins from Christian. Thanks, Christian, for holding my hand so far - and hopefully during the coming months - and please find a little gift from the BTS to your right ...!

In the last two years the BTS has gone from strength to strength with even more benefits including discounted insurance, instrument repairs, magazine subscriptions, medical plans, etc., etc. ...each covering the cost of membership alone. We are now a registered charity, have a shiny new website and the magazine has more competition prizes than you can shake a stick at. It’s therefore no surprise then at the recent National Day in Leeds I was reminded just how large the shoes are I’m stepping into.

There is more shuffling in the committee as Geoff moves to librarian and Alison and Chris share the secretarial responsibilities.

Also a big welcome to Jane Salmon who joins the magazine team as News and Reviews Co-ordinator.

Congratulations also go to our annual award winners: Mike Buchanan - Player of the Year Bob Hughes - Teacher of the Year Hannah Stell - Student of the Year Sue Addison - Sheila Tracy award Unfortunately there’s some sad news to report as well. In September we lost two very special trombonists, Rico Rodriguez and Adrian “Benny” Morris. Although recognised in different fields, each served as hugely influential musicians inspiring countless players to follow in their footsteps.

The BTS would also like to bestow the annual award for outstanding contribution posthumously upon Benny in recognition of all he achieved as player and teacher.

As the Presidency moves from player to player we often see some slight changes in direction and it is my aim to see all styles equally represented and also add a little humour to the mix.... I don’t always take this tromboning malarkey turtley seriously. See Right!

6

A society is nothing without its members and I’d love to hear any suggestions on how we can improve or if there is anything we’ve been neglecting. Please email me at president@britishtrombonesociety.org.

On the subject of working in different fields, we often find ourselves labelled as: Straighty - orchestral player often referred to as mumper and usually can’t swing.

Bander - brass band player. Usually from the North and likes pies and vibrato.

Jazzers - likes to self indulge in endless scalic waffle. When excited can sound like a wasp in a bottle.

Hey-nonny-noer - sackbut player.£50,000 instrument has been glued together using twigs and bees snot. Likes to wear tights.

Squeaky-gater - uses the instrument to make sounds in every possible way apart from buzzing into the mouthpiece. Lives in a tent and relies upon Arts Council grants.

Show-player - Sold their soul to the Devil to play the same mediocre pseudo-big band middle of the road musac every night. Has a second home in Florida and new car every three months.

The beauty of the trombone is that we can all drift in and out of these categories if we like and for me that’s what keeps it fresh. I don’t pretend to be any good at any of them, mind you, and over the next two years I look forward to learning a lot from the members I shall meet along the way !

Finally, could those attending the annual “trombone and tuba drinks” in London this year make sure I leave early as my wife says she’s not driving to Cambridge at 3 am to collect me again.

British Trombone Society www.britishtrombonesociety.org

The British Trombone Society is a Registered Charity. Reg No. 1158011 Honorary Patron: Gordon Campbell committee/Board of Trustees (please note that not all Trustees are members of the BTS Committee) President: Liam Kirkman president@britishtrombonesociety.org Vice-President: Vacant vicepresident@britishtrombonesociety.org Immediate Past-President: Christian Jones pastpresident@britishtrombonesociety.org Chair: Matt Gee chair@britishtrombonesociety.org Vice Chair: Alison Keep alisonkeep@britishtrombonesociety.org Treasurer: Christian Jones treasurer@britishtrombonesociety.org John Barber johnbarber@britishtrombonesociety.org Becca Pope beccapope@britishtrombonesociety.org Dávur Juul Magnussen davurmagnussen@britishtrombonesociety.org Administrator: Chris Sowerby 01924 437359 administrator@britishtrombonesociety.org 1 Ullswater Road, Dewsbury, WF12 7PH Membership Enquiries: membership@britishtrombonesociety.org Please submit news and events items for the website to: Jane Salmon news@britishtrombonesociety.org Representatives Scotland: Chris Stearn 01360 860220 scotland@britishtrombonesociety.org Wales: Jo Hirst 07729 144690 wales@britishtrombonesociety.org North East: Peter Chester & David Thornber northeast@britishtrombonesociety.org North West: Kerry Baldwin 07920 022395 northwest@britishtrombonesociety.org Yorkshire: Jonathan Beatty yorkshire@britishtrombonesociety.org Midlands: Martha-Ann Brookes 07966 416198 midlands@britishtrombonesociety.org Northern Ireland: Stephen Cairns 02892 602646 northernireland@britishtrombonesociety.org South: Matthew Lewis 07849 774777 south@britishtrombonesociety.org South West: Vacant southwest@britishtrombonesociety.org East Anglia: Ben Bouzan 07970 502509 eastanglia@britishtrombonesociety.org Wessex: Robb Tooley wessex@britishtrombonesociety.org Yorkshire: Jonathan Beatty jbeatty70@icloud.com Brass Band: Ryan Watkins brassband@britishtrombonesociety.org

Have a Merry Christmas!

Jazz: Jeremy Price jazz@britishtrombonesociety.org

Liam :-)

Young People: Vacant youngrep@britishtrombonesociety.org

president@britishtrombonesociety.org

Military Bands: James Howard military@britishtrombonesociety.org

s new

BTS news Ed Solomon – BTS website founder

One of the pleasures of working for the BTS is meeting other trombone aficionados who have what we full-time musicians call “a real job”! Ed and Lisa Solomon are such people, as directors of successful web developers PennInk Productions. While Ed is a familiar and friendly bass/contrabass-playing presence at many trombone days, what readers may not realize is the huge amount of work both he and Lisa have done for the BTS behind the scenes: Ed as our inaugural webmaster and Lisa as BTS Membership Manager and book-keeper.

A BTS member since 1989, IT specialist Ed was providing end-user support for Netscape Navigator (a search engine known to those over a certain age!) by the mid 1990s. In typically pioneering fashion, Ed took the initiative to mock up a website for the BTS and presented this to an approving Executive Committee. Consequently, the BTS website was born in the basement of the Valve, Warren St. (those over a certain age, again!) in 1997. This early website hosted articles of particular interest from back issues of the BTS magazine – while several pages of our late 1990s magazines were given over to printing, verbatim, trombone-related discussions from the fledgling internet!

The gradual shift towards interactivity we take for granted today saw the news blog and forum launched in 2007, while many disparate functions of the evolving website were brought together in a complete rebuild two years later.

The fact that this version of the site worked so well for six years – a lifetime in technological terms - before the recent upgrade, is testament to Ed’s continual and diligent support.

We have today’s website thanks mainly to a remarkable couple, who always went the extra mile for the BTS. Thank you both so much.

Geoff Wolmark, BTS Secretary 2005-2015

spent several weeks filling in the minutely detailed Registered Charity application form.

The BTS simply wouldn’t be where it is today without Geoff’s incessant hard work. Our past three years of almost daily contact have been a real pleasure Geoff, but don’t take just my word for it…

Bob Hughes (President 2006-2010) “Geoff’s dedication has been extraordinary, spending hours each week keeping the dayto-day administration of the BTS ticking over. His enthusiasm is driven by a love of music and his bass trombone, and by socializing with trombonists from all over the world.”

Geoff Wolmark

Bass trombonist and retired Schools’ Support Service Manager for East Yorkshire, Geoff Wolmark joined the BTS in 2003.

The then President, Chris Houlding, asked a typically helpful Geoff to take notes at an AGM, after which the Executive Committee appointed him as Secretary in 2005, following on from Steven Greenall of Warwick Music. The main duty of Secretary is to organise and minute the monthly telephone conferences of the Committee…but Geoff has done so much more than that! With characteristic modesty and good humour, he has hauled BTS banners around the country, dealt with (literally) dozens of emails daily and

Brett Baker (President 2010-12) “Geoff will be embarrassed no doubt by all the fuss being made as he steps down.

I tried to get a picture and a biography several times for the magazine but failed due to his modesty and lack of interest in taking credit for his hard work. Thanks for everything over the past decade Geoff.”

Carol Jarvis (President 2012-13) “I felt thoroughly supported by Geoff during my time as BTS President, and would like to express my huge thanks to him for all his hard work over the years. Geoff, you’re a complete and utter star!”

7

event review

t evevniew re

winter 2015 the trombonist

national trombone day (north)

Compiled by Peter Chester, Chris Sowerby & Simon Minshall techniques, with lots of audience participation and general hilarity!

Christian Jones leads the massed blow

The sun shone on the National Trombone Day (North) held on October 4th in the impressive Clothworkers’ Centenary Concert Hall housed in the University of Leeds. A warm up led by Christian Jones began the day before the first massed blow through of Derrick Parker’s lovely arrangement of Bruckner’s Aequale, and 12th Street Rag. As we were in Leeds, it was very fitting to hear the section of Opera North: Blair Sinclair, Robert Burtenshaw and Christian Jones. The section performed two new works commissioned by the BTS: Stow Sketches by Ben Ellin, depicting three scenes from his home area of Walthamstow, East London and RedBlueYellow by Dan Jenkins; the latter dedicated to the late Adrian “Benny” Morris of the Hallé.

Introducing his piece, Dan, subprincipal of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, explained: “The bedrock of the music is its motif, a six note sequence derived from the letters BTS, and the numbers 30 and 2015.

There were all sorts of criteria to be filled, derived from BTS requests, and my own compositional expectations.

There are three sections, one for each of the primary colours, and each featuring a different member of the trombone section as soloist.”

8

As with all trombone days, it is nice to have a choice and attendees were treated to either a clinic on “breathing and efficiency in playing” by Richard Ashmore, or a pBone workshop led by Becca Pope, generously sponsored by Warwick Music.

Dávur Juul Magnussen and Richard Ashmore

Courtois kindly provided the solo services of Dávur Juul Magnussen (RSNO principal trombone) and Richard Ashmore (Ulster Orchestra bass trombone). Their recital included a stunning rendition of Mike Davis’s duet Trombone Institute of Technology and Folke Rabe’s Basta that reminded us that making music is what we are all about. Richard played Conflictions, penned by his Ulster Orchestra predecessor, Adrian Morris, to end his section.

During lunch delegates were tempted by the goodies on offer from the Rath and Band Supplies trade stands, after which it was time for Dávur to wow us with his multiphonics and extended

Jiggs Whigham has always been an avid supporter of the BTS and thanks to the generous support of Conn-Selmer, he was on hand to gift his knowledge to everyone with a fascinating question and answer session. Following this he took to the stage, his effortlessly inventive set brilliantly accompanied

by Mark Francis (Piano), Dan Preston (Bass) and Dan Ward (Drums).

Jiggs Whigham

Before the final “Massed Blow” the participants were treated to a couple of pieces performed by an All-Star ensemble of the day’s performers: Opera North trombone section, Dávur Juul Magnussen, Richard Ashmore and Dan Jenkins.

The first was Nielsen’s Folk Melody arranged by David Rahbee. The ranks were then swelled with the addition of Joe Sharples and Rob Collinson to perform Frankie and Johnny by Stephen Roberts with its fiendish bass trombone line – bravo Richard!

After the raffle of prizes generously donated by Warwick Music, Carol Jarvis and All Brass and Woodwind, the day finished with all the participants performing Derrick Parker’s arrangement of Sousa’s Washington Post followed by the Tutti Camerata arrangement of 12th Street Rag with rhythm section - and a memorable Jiggs solo on top! Thanks go to Conn-Selmer and The Buffet Group for their support of this event.

event review

t evevniew re

national trombone day (south)

By Joe Arnold & peter chester

changes or high notes, were smoothly executed. His impeccable performance of a challenging programme of Rachmaninov songs, Scelsi’s Three Pieces and Arrows of Time by Richard Peaslee simply underlined the effectiveness of the advice given.

Massed blow

The 120 trombonists attending the National BTS Day in June at the Royal Academy of Music were warmly welcomed by Christian Jones, who started the day’s programme in the Duke’s Hall with the ever-popular massed blow. Recitals, workshops and competitions were the fare for much of the packed and highly enjoyable day that followed. “How low can you go?”, an opening workshop challenge to bass trombonists from Roger Argente, focused on relaxed breathing and consistency in the valve and pedal register, and the importance of keeping control in performance. The day’s first recital was given by Mark Templeton and included masterly performances of Serocki’s Concerto and Martin’s Ballade.

Mark Templeton

From Ian Bousfield we were treated to both workshop and recital.

His insightful and illustrated talk about preparing for solo performance was most valuable, stressing the need, for example, to think about sound before playing, and to work closely with the accompanist to ensure tricky “corners” such as tempo

Following Ian’s recital he was invited to announce the winner of the inaugural BTS Ian Bousfield Competition for young tenor trombonists. This had been judged by Amos Miller, Helen Vollam and Blair Sinclair and Ian was no doubt very pleased to be awarding the splendid prize of a Getzen 4147IB Ian Bousfield model trombone to his own student, Michael Buchanan.

Ian Bousfield & Michael Buchanan

Ensemble playing is always very much part of BTS days and the 18-strong RAM Trombone Choir, directed by Bob Hughes, gave an exemplary performance, with a gloriously unified sound and some wonderful playing all round. They gave the première of an epic arrangement by Rob Holliday of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, notable for soloing every player at some

The Budapest Trombone Quartet

point during the piece. On a smaller scale, the Budapest Trombone Quartet, comprising Attila Sztán, Tibor Ujj, Márk Tóth and Barnabás Brindás, won the BTS Trombone Quartet Competition. The prize of 16 Wallace Collection mutes was very well received indeed. Fans of small ensemble work were also treated to a masterclass by Matt Gee, working with four quartets from London Colleges.

Clear articulation and projection of musical ideas were his main themes.

Eric Crees is no stranger to BTS events and his arrangements from the classic CALA London Trombone Sound CD, played under his direction, gave a wonderful climax in the formal evening concert. Eric conducted a large ensemble, which included five players from the original 2006 recording, with soloist Richard Edwards once again featuring in the Pink Panther Theme and Someone to Watch Over Me. Geoffrey Simon changed the mood with a 20-strong team playing Barber’s famous Adagio, before 49 players finished the concert with Eric’s fantastic arrangement of 76 Trombones – the one with all those fragments of trombone solos: Bolero, Tuba Mirum, Getting Sentimental and so on...

Predictably Pat’s Bar hosted the final music of the day: some phenomenal playing from Gordon Campbell and the RAM Jazz Trombone Ensemble, followed by Soul Tubes.

A massive thanks to all for a wonderful day: our RAM hosts, accompanists Steven Neugarten and Jennifer Hughes.

Also to Cala Records, June Emerson, Matt Gee, Warwick Music, Denis Wick, Prozone, Parkers and Wallace Brass.

Matthew Lewis, and finally his fiancée Lois for the 25 varieties of homemade cakes that kept us going throughout the day! Great!

9

hot winter 2015 the trombonist

PRESS

OFF THE

a sad goodbye to “rico” rodriguez

Emmanuel “Rico” Rodriguez

The BTS is saddened to hear of the passing of Emmanuel “Rico” Rodriguez, who sadly passed away in September following a short illness.

Rico was born in Havana, Cuba, and moved with his family to Jamaica at an early age, where he started to learn the trombone. He moved to the UK in 1961 and began playing in reggae bands and later played with ska revival bands such as the Specials. He played with Jools Holland’s Rhythm and Blues Orchestra from 1996 until he retired in 2012.

Rico was awarded an MBE in 2007 for his services to music. For a full obituary please turn to page 15.

a watery adventure

a win in munich

The BTS is delighted to announce that Michael Buchanan won First Prize and the Audience Prize in the 2015 ARD Music Competition for trombone in Munich in September. Inaugurated in the 1950s in Germany, the ARD Music Competition is one of the most prestigious competitions in the world and only comes around once every six to nine years for each instrument. Michael is the first ever British winner of this Award, joining a host of other well-known trombonists such as Michel Becquet and Branimir Slokar. A fantastic achievement! For a full interview with Michael turn to page 16.

A musical holiday!

Fancy an alternative kind of summer holiday? Why not jet off to the south of France and join Big Band legend Gordon Campbell for a week-long residential Big Band course. The course offers artistic excellence and peerless high quality orchestral training for professional, amateur and student musicians, with the primary focus on playing in a swing ensemble. It provides students with the unique opportunity to learn with Gordon, as well as other giants of swing Ryan Quigley, Colin Skinner and Tom Gordon. Course participants require Grade 8 or above. For more information visit http://www.labalie.com/the-course/

A postcard from Valencia, July 2015 New website for BTS

by Peter Chester

The BTS has had a little shake up recently as we await the arrival of our new “El Presidente” and in order to refresh ourselves a bit we have had a redesign of The International Trombone Festival (ITF) our website. We now are delighted to be 2015 was superbly organised and held at working with DevMac. We feel (and we the Conservatorio Superior de Música in hope you agree!) that they have done a Valencia in July 2015. There were the fantastic job with our little site. predictable big-name fireworks – from Have no fear, the address stays the same Zoltan Kiss to the New Trombone www.britishtrombonesociety.org so Collective and the final concert was a real there’s no confusion there! Turn to page show stopper with Michel Becquet and 19 for a sneaky preview of it.

Jorgen van Rijen.

There was a good deal of appreciation for the Festival’s hosts, Spanish Brass and Inda Bonet. For me the highlights included a beautiful recital by Brand Attema and Astrid Haring, playing music for Harp and Bass Trombone and Elgar’s Cello Concerto, transcribed and played by Norwegian trombonist Line Johannesen, while an audience listening to Mark Nightingale and Carol Jarvis playing ballads and gentle jazz was treated to something very special indeed.

Neill Hadden is embarking on an adventure that, as far as this writer is aware, has never been undertaken.

He is leaving on a voyage, intending to sail around the world for a year on a yacht, with his blue Pbone on board as, in Predictably the final jazz night was great his words, “after all, every racing yacht fun, particularly as UK’s own Soul Tubes needs a trombone player!” were the headline performers. Their This is in aid of raising funds for infectious party style was given a good UNICEF. You can donate to this cause airing. On that same bill was Dutch by visiting www.justgiving.com/Neilljazzmaster Bart van Lier, and a young Hadden. Bon voyage Neill. We look Rita Payés Roma, some 50 years his forward to hearing how it went! junior – a real star for the future.

10

t he ho t offess pr

Another great loss It is with great sadness we report that Adrian (Benny) Morris has passed away.

Benny was Principal Bass Trombone with the Hallé Orchestra, Manchester since 1999, Professor of Bass Trombone at The Royal Northern College of Music and previously Bass Trombone at the Ulster Orchestra, Belfast, and committee member of the BTS. Benny had been battling cancer for some time, and passed away peacefully during the evening of 21 September with his wife Carole, and friend and orchestra neighbour Ewan Easton by his side.

Our thoughts and condolences go out to Carole. RIP Benny.

For a full obituary please turn to page 15.

winter 2015 the trombonist

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Section ProfilE by Robb Tooley

If life as a trombonist in a symphony orchestra based on the south coast of England sounds idyllic that’s probably because, in lots of ways, it is! The stability the BSO section has seen over the years bears testament to that.

Of course the musical plus side to this is we get a decent amount of time to work on a programme, although still very little by continental orchestral standards.

This gives you a real chance to get to know the repertoire. In the case of a piece with a second trombone solo in it (disclaimer - my colleagues tell me there are pieces in the repertoire without a second trombone solo, but I’ll believe it when I see it), by Wednesday’s concert I’ve normally found most of the ways to muck it up and can then use my artistic experience to select the one that will most amuse my section colleagues.

Having only been here six years, I’m still the newcomer to the section, but the two Kevins to my left and right have between them fifty years service!

I’m sure they’d both tell you that the last half dozen have been the hardest though…

The BSO serves a huge geographic area across the south west of Britain – about 10,000 square miles. On a main season week, after we’ve performed in Poole on a Wednesday, we’ll repeat the concert elsewhere across the region. This means coach travel - lots of it. With journeys to venues such as Portsmouth, Bristol, Exeter, and sometimes even further afield to our less regular appearances in Cheltenham or Truro, we can spend long hours travelling. Therefore it is vital for players in the orchestra to have something to occupy their minds during

During the main season of October to May we generally rehearse in the daytime on Mondays and Tuesdays.

An advantage of this format is that the early part of the week sees us able to spend evenings at home with our families, like people with “normal jobs”.

12

a period that could otherwise descend into hours of mindless conversation.

Actually, you’d expect there to be at least some talk at the back of the bus, but soon after I joined the orchestra there seemed to be a real trend for iPads with the new noise-cancelling headphones amongst the players.

All well and good: I like technology as much as the next trombonist (although not for me the so-called “tuning apps” you see bandied about these days - I haven’t found one that can cope with my nuanced pitch yet - probably something to do with overtones), but when high quality chat is cancelled out along with all other extraneous sound, I think you’re losing more than you’re gaining.

I certainly detect some frustration from my colleagues with this technological censorship as they respond to my tapping them on their shoulders to get their attention.

So what are the BSO section’s particular interests?

Principal Trombone Kevin Morgan, I have to inform readers, is a masochist, although this perhaps isn’t news for those who have attempted the last few

fiendish pages of his tutor book Zen and the Art of Trombone Playing.

He may dress this up (actually I don’t think outfits are his thing or that would be an excellent double-entendre) as an interest in DIY (use of a Screwfix catalogue as light reading is a nice touch but didn’t fool me), but in his case this acronym is subtly modified to “Damage It Yourself”. You’ve heard of the irresistible force meeting the immovable object? Well, here it’s a case of the breakable man meeting the period building. Mind you, the skills he has honed in this pursuit of building excellence have stood him in good stead on the concert platform, with his “hot air gun” breath control and “hand saw vs four-by-two” slide technique.

On the other hand, the conversations we had following the arrival of his new valve section from Mick Rath suggest that plumbing has been a neglected part of his repertoire. Not content with significantly enriching the chiropractic community of Dorset he has now branched out over the Channel and started pitting himself against a French rural property as well. I imagine the vagaries of early 20th century continental building standards will soon have him “practising his French” quite enthusiastically!

Bass trombonist Kevin Smith’s hidden talent (or is it dirty little secret?) is conducting. He regularly takes the helm at the BSO’s Rusty & Not So Rusty Musicians projects, where amateur players in our region have coaching and get to perform alongside the players of the BSO. These are great projects and Kev directs them with great skill, nurturing and encouraging the “Rusties” with the gentle hand of a beloved teacher whilst cruelly mocking and trying to catch out his professional colleagues in the manner of, well, a conductor. He has also spent the last few years forging a fantastic operation as Musical Director of Verwood Concert Brass. Indeed they’ve just been promoted to the Championship section following a period of consistently strong results.

it doesn’t take Sigmund Freud to see the motivation for a bass trombonist to pick up a baton.

Smithy’s excellent work crafting the band’s sound and musicality are all very admirable. However, let’s face it, it doesn’t take Sigmund Freud to see the motivation for a bass trombonist to pick up a baton. That awesome sense of power, being at the musical forefront of the orchestra, dictating the sound world, feeling the rest of the orchestra cowering at your feet in awe… although sometimes you just need to have a break and have a go at conducting instead.

As for my own extracurricular activities, I have recently reacquainted myself with a childhood love of cycling, and therefore become a “MAMIL” (middleaged man in lycra). Whilst out cycling I’ve found

I may encounter two other types of “MAMIL”: Those who overtake me “monstrously arrogant men in lycra” and those far rarer types that I overtake “moderately angry men in lycra”. Of course a second trombonist’s real forte (apart from a well-crafted and amusing solo each week) is making his section mates feel comfortable. Some find the best way to achieve this is by developing a beautiful, chameleon-like sound that can blend with anyone, although that is possibly a myth; others try to be faultlessly in tune, although see my previous comment on tuning apps. I’ve found that when surrounded by the sort of moral delinquents you may encounter when sitting in the “hot seat” that is the second trombone, the best course of action is to feign an interest in beer.

by Richard Henry

Rico, a message to you 1979 Margaret Thatcher is in power, I was in the 5th form (year 11) and months away from taking my O level exams. But that didn’t stop me venturing to my local youth club and strutting my funky stuff to the chart sounds of Chic or the Jam. One song from this time that stands out was a cover by The Specials, A message to You Rudy. That was my first memory of trombonist “Rico” Rodriguez who sadly died last month.

Whispy beard, woolly hat and King trombone, his trademark look.

Emmanuel “Rico” Rodriguez MBE, 17 October 1934 - 4 September 2015 was born in Havana, Cuba, to a Cuban father and Jamaican mother, and brought up in Kingston, Jamaica. Aged 6 he attended the famous Alpha boys School, a Catholic charitable institution whose main aim was to house and educate “wayward” boys mostly from extremely poor backgrounds. He followed in the musical footsteps of many Alpha alumni (Don Drummond trombone, Tommy McCook Tenor sax, Lester Sterling Alto, Jonny “Dizzy” Moore trumpet) the founders of the Skatalites.

He recorded on the Folkes Brothers’ landmark Oh Carolina later covered by Shaggy 1993, Shufflin jug for Clement Dodd; anyone familiar with trombonist Glenn Miller will recognise this. Both songs are available on YouTube.

In 1961 Rico settled in Britain, recording Wash Wash which interestingly featured Georgie Fame on keyboards and in 1967 recorded on Dandy Livingstone’s original Rudy a message to you.

His influences during the 50s were jazz and RnB, his conversion to Rastafarianism and his work with fellow Rasta drummer Count Ossie. These times were the inspiration for his 1970’s solo album Man from Wareika which is the only roots reggae album released on Blue Note Records.

With Ska music (a mix of carribean mento, calypso, American jazz and rhythm n blues) on the rise, Rico soon became the go to trombonist, recording for every Jamaican record producer of note: Theophilus Beckford, Clement Dodd and Prince Buster for example.

For me Rico brought a piece of Jamaican musical history to Britain.

He said “people who don’t suffer like us can’t play this sound. It’s a real ghetto suffering sound.” Jerry Dammers, founder of the Specials said ‘his sound is an incredible mixture of joy and sadness at the same time, which gives it its power’. He was never afraid to use space whilst soloing.

Please use the QR code or visit the BTS website for full content of this story.

by John Miller

The Great Benny On 1st October in Manchester a large gathering of family, friends and colleagues past and present bid farewell to an exceptional personality of the brass world at the funeral service of Adrian “Benny” Morris. Benny was a remarkable man, a wonderful orchestral and brass band bass trombonist, a motivational tutor and mentor.

He peacefully and graciously surrendered to a five-year battle with cancer at the untimely age of 50, but has left an uncommon legacy behind him.

His funeral service was characterised by this spirit and legacy, featuring a personal eulogy from his friend and fellow musician Ewan Easton, spoken very much from the heart. The funeral music had a sense of what the ancient philosophers referred to as the “Music of the Spheres”, and included versions

of Nimrod (Roger Webster) and Panis Angelicus (Simon Cowen), accompanied by a brass band composed entirely of his close friends, whether students, amateurs or professionals, directed by a friend of thirty years, Richard Evans.

The make-up of this band reflected Benny’s own passions: Benny became and remained something of a colossus, one foot in the brass band world and the other in the symphony orchestra.

His musical background was nurtured in his native Shropshire where he was attracted to the brass bands and local orchestras, which were soon enriched by his unusual talent and infectious gregarious nature. This led to study at the RNCM from 1983 -1987. A moment of appropriate “stardom” came to Benny early on in 1984, when a televised prize-winning performance of Lee Marvin’s Wand’rin’ Star with the Leyland Band and Richard Evans showed musicality and personality in equal measure.

15

winter 2015 the trombonist

by peter chester

The Buchanan success story Since Michael Buchanan won the ARD prize in September he has been understandably busy but he was able to give the BTS some time to let us know more about his background and his experience. Peter Chester interviewed him recently: Peter: Who have been your teachers?

Michael: I feel I’ve been really lucky with my teachers from the start, though there are definitely two people I owe nearly everything to. I went to Wells Cathedral School, the music school in Somerset, and there I studied with Alan Hutt.

Those lessons were awesome and remain some of my most treasured experiences. Not only was Alan a great trombone teacher, he was also one of the best life coaches and mentors a teenager could have. He could read me like a book. At 13 he told me not to drop school subjects for practice time because he knew I would end up wanting to go to Cambridge, something I constantly denied, although I did smile thinking about him when I matriculated into that university five years later.

Since then I have studied with Ian Bousfield, first privately, then moving to the Hochschule der Künste in Bern where he teaches. Ian’s undoubted brilliance as a player, alongside his remarkably precise ability to analyse students’ techniques and psychologies, made him exactly what I’ve needed to take my playing further. He was fantastic in the preparation for the ARD and I really feel I managed to win because of him.

Peter: Do you think you have been influenced by any other musicians, perhaps away from the trombone?

Michael: Certainly, other than my teachers, my influences have always had little to do with the trombone. I love spending 16

my time listening to classical music, especially opera, but never listen to trombone music. I don’t even own any trombone CDs. Maybe some will think that’s mistaken, but growing up I’m glad I did it. I know the recordings and people I’ve obsessed about over time have influenced the way I play and think about music, but at the same time, as a trombonist, I really have no idea which mould of playing I would fit.

At various points I’ve tried to figure out how to use David Oistrakh’s way of phrasing and using vibrato, for example, or Maria Callas’s way of pacing drama in sound. Who knows if it’s worked, but I’m pleased that’s what I’ve tried to copy, rather than some particular trombone player’s sound or style.

It can get rather narrow once you start treading that path.

Peter: What led you to the ARD competition? How did you prepare for it?

Michael: The ARD had been on my horizons for a while.

I was driven towards it partly by Ian mentioning it, but also by tremendous motivation coming from the idea of being able perform with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, which seemed just about the most awesome thing I could imagine. I prepared for it by staying at home for five weeks before the competition, just scrubbing away at it all.

It was a bizarre challenge in a way, because ironically I knew a lot of the set repertoire too well. Pieces like the Grøndahl Concerto and the David Concertino, which I’d known from my first lessons with Alan Hutt, needed totally relearning with an adult brain and set of lungs, and every stupid and habitual 13 year-old breath trained out. Weirdly, that took far more effort than learning all the new repertoire.

Peter: Can you talk me through what you had to do and your recollections of the competition process and performance itself?

Michael: The competition had five rounds. There was first a CD round, which I recorded earlier in the year, and then the other four came in the space of eight days. We had to play all sorts of stuff, from standards like the Martin Ballade and the Grøndahl, to more obscure pieces like Xenakis’s Keren and a commissioned work for the competition. The newest and most interesting experiences were the concerto performances: the Albrechtsberger with the Munich Chamber Orchestra (directed from the instrument - so cool!) and the David Concertino, in two concerts, with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.

My memories of the competition itself are actually a touch bipolar. On one hand, it was great to be surrounded by so many fantastic and friendly staff and performers, on and off the stage. Every performer and orchestra I worked with was unfailingly fun, kind and incredibly supportive. At the same time, I’ve never been more stressed in my life. The pace of trying to assimilate repertoire before each round, of juggling practice, rehearsals, and resting your face, all in one or two days, is crazy. Mixed together with the mental challenges as the competition progresses, of large audiences and high media coverage, of repertoire you haven’t touched for at least ten

days, all on no sleep, makes for quite a tricky challenge!

That said, once the performances began there was always a sense of finally being able to relax and enjoy being there.

I think it would be impossible to walk into a rehearsal or performance with an orchestra like the Bavarian Radio Symphony and not be totally inspired by them into just having fun.

Peter: How do you think your success in the competition will help you?

Michael: It’s always difficult to tell, and I don’t think I’m naïve about what it might mean. It’s been the kick-start of many great careers, from Jesse Norman to Maurice André and Mitsuko Uchida, but then again you can’t claim that every prize winner has had a career like that. I guess it’s about trying to ride the wave and convert this single event into something more solid and permanent. It’s been done and can be done again. How to go about that is something I’m still figuring out.

Peter: What does the future hold? Are you ambitious?

Michael: The ARD has definitely given me some really cool things to look forward to. I’ve got some exciting concerto dates coming up, including with the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin in the Berlin Philharmonie; some recital appearances, including the Schwartzwald Musik Festspiele and the Beethovenfest Bonn (all three to be broadcast on German radio), and I’m currently in discussions about producing a CD with the label BR Klassik, to include the David Concertino with the Bavarian Radio Symphony. Plus, happily, it’s not just all solo stuff - the Vienna Philharmonic trombone section all watched the final live-streamed and now I’m spending some time playing in the Orchestra there this autumn.

Regarding ambitions, honestly, I’m not great at making hard and fast career goals because I don’t want to feel like I’ve failed if I don’t manage them. Maybe it sounds daft, but the dream I try to focus on is just one day to be able to make music in a manner totally unhampered by any sort of boring brass tube related considerations. I think that’s probably hard enough, right?!

Peter: Yes I’d agree. Congratulations again and thanks for your time.

17

crossword competition Enter our Christmas Crossword Competition for a chance to start the New Year with a fabulous red or green pBone!

That’s right, we have TWO prizes up for grabs, thanks to the lovely folk at pBone.

Turn to page 21 for the Christmas crossword - back by popular demand! The first person to send us a photo or scan of the crossword correctly filled in will be the winner of either a red or green pBone (your choice), and then the tenth person to send us a photo or scan of the crossword correctly filled in, wins the other pBone. So, do you try and complete it really quickly, or try and time your submission to be the tenth entry?! Good luck!

Email your crossword to editor@britishtrombonesociety.org. Closing date 1st February. The winners will be notified shortly after 1st February. Open to BTS members only.

new web presence for BTS The British Trombone Society has had a make-over, with its brand-new website: www.britishtrombonesociety.org.

You can still get involved with the BTS on Facebook and Twitter, so why not follow and like the pages to make sure you don’t miss out on what’s going on, dates for your diary and general updates?

Let us know about your gigs too, and get a share/retweet from the BTS! You can also now follow the BTS on BandsInTown, so you will never miss out on BTS events happening near you.

How to join in: On the web: www.britishtrombonesociety.org On Facebook: www.facebook.com/britishtrombonesociety On Twitter: www.twitter.com/britishtrombone On YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/BritishTrombone On Instagram: www.instagram.com/britishtrombonesociety On BandsInTown: www.bandsintown.com BritishTromboneSociety 19

crossword competition

ACROSS

2 Back to back kitty closed in so (8) 5 Meet moron (anag) (9) 8 Chronological autograph (4,9) 9 Not round the apartment (4) 10 Find the lid in the southeast (5) 12 It’s stopped lightening (9) 13 I go after mixed fruit (8) 14 A queue at the pub (3,4 ) 20 Minute communication (10) 21 Untied laces (5) 23 Famous horse (7) 24 Between two acts (8) 27 Unchanged (7) 28 The reason behind alcohol (6)

DOWN

1 Two bears (5,3,5) 3 Weighty vowel (4) 4 Wet lock (5,3) 6 Plumbing tool (7) 7 Fused (4) 11 Doctor’s surgery (8) 15 Accounts on track (5,4) 16 It’s good to finish (4) 17 On the edge (3) 18 Qualification not returned (5) 19 Play at building smoothly (6) 22 No talking without a saucer (3,4) 25 Truncated British saint (5) 26 The answer to a problem (3)

21

winter 2015 the trombonist

g risin s star

Rising stars: Harry Raffaitin Harry Raffaitin is 13 and attends Whitgift School in South Croydon. He is currently working towards his grade 8, which he hopes to take in 2016.

How old were you when you started playing the trombone, and why did you choose it?

I was eight years old and was inspired by my older cousin who is a brilliant jazz trombonist, although I prefer now to play classical.

Who is your teacher?

Roger Willey What music do you like to play and listen to?

I like to play and listen to Mahler and love the Third Symphony best.

What make of instrument to you play?

A Rath, but I’m really hoping to change to a Conn soon.

Would you like a career in music?

At the moment I am not sure but it is definitely an option for the future.

What are your other hobbies?

I am a keen track cyclist and I also like swimming and video games.

What is the single best thing for you about playing the trombone?

Playing in ensembles and meeting like-minded people.

Which orchestras or bands do you play with at the moment?

I play in my local music hub with Sutton Youth Symphony Orchestra. I am also a member of the South London Youth Orchestra. At school, I play in a brass quintet, the Brass Sinfonia and the Whitgift Symphony Orchestra. I am auditioning for the National Children’s Orchestra very soon.

22

jazz by jeremy

band Studi es

Starting a band By Jeremy Price

In this article I’ll try to give some advice on getting a band going, so that you can start implementing all that improvisation practice you’ve been doing. Again I’m addressing the article to the novice improviser, and perhaps the seasoned instrumentalist who wants to get into jazz.

Stage one, I’d say, is finding a front line buddy. If you are starting out, it’s a tall order to begin with just you and a rhythm section, so finding another horn will make a good start. For now, keep the band small, as your objective of putting the band together is to create the opportunity for blowing space, so any more than two in the front line could lead to a lower percentage of the time for your improvising, so keep it tight Once you’ve established a side-kick or sparring partner as it were, there will already be lots to do. You can work on repertoire and do some listening together. Find out what you both like and what inspires you and fire off each other’s ideas. Check out recordings with the same band line up as yourselves.

Good trombone and sax combinations to listen to are JJ Johnson and Stan Getz, or JJ does some nice arrangements for himself and tenor sax player Bobby Jasper that are well worth a listen.

Other trombone and tenor sax combinations include Frank Rosolino and Richie Kamucha or try Curtis Fuller with Johnny Griffin, or for something more funky try Wayne Henderson with Wilton Felder from the Jazz Crusaders records. For trombone and alto sax try Frank Rosolino with Charlie Mariano, and for trombone and baritone try 22

Jimmy Knepper with Pepper Adams (all the Knepper Pepper records).

There are some quite complicated and virtuoso aspects going on with these recordings but also some fairly straightforward material. Try getting the arrangements down by ear or roughing out some basic two-part transcriptions.

Rehearse the heads together, concentrating on phrasing and keeping the vibe of the records.

Once you have about two to three charts in the pipeline, it is time to call a rehearsal for the full band. You need to find some good rhythm section players.

Good rhythm section players are hard to come by and you’ll want the best you can find to make all your efforts worthwhile.

Such is the ecology of species in jazz I’m afraid. Good bass players are notoriously hard to find. Getting them to rehearse is very difficult as they are generally in demand for everybody else’s band. As for drummers, remember that Chet Baker said that a drummer has got to be really good to be better than no drummer at all. Drums is a very special chair in any band so again, the good ones are in high demand. Then find a pianist or guitarist. These chordalcomping instruments in jazz tend to be a little bit more common so you may be able to be a bit more choosey with these, but still a good listener and interactive player is rare. Choose guitar over piano if you think that the venues of your future gigs might not have a decent piano. For now, avoid having both guitar and piano in the band together, as that requires a whole other level of playing, to not sound cluttered, or at least have

special arrangements for them.

This leads me to my next point, which is essentially about making your rehearsal interesting for everybody involved.

If you call the best rhythm section you can find, make the rehearsal worthwhile for them. If you have assembled everyone at a certain time and place, you’ll need to have ideas at the ready to make for a productive rehearsal, which means some prior thought into how you want to rehearse the band. Have some intros and endings in mind and bring some recordings for the others to listen to. As a leader, be prepared to be clear about what you have in mind, but be open to creative input from your band mates. Basically, you’ll want the band to be inspired enough to make room in their diaries for the next rehearsal!

Next, book a gig. That will give the band some momentum. Many young players start out in the local youth Big Band so why not ask the director to give you a spot in the next gig. Or if you’re at school, ask your Head of Music to give your band a feature in the next school concert.

So, enjoy your first forays as a band leader. For further ideas on repertoire see my previous article (The Trombonist, Summer 2014) called Learn some tunes. Good luck, and send me your first recording!

23

winter 2015 the trombonist

TROMBONIST’S HANDBOOK Top tips from travelling trombonists.

City/Town: LIVERPOOL introduction:

Places to park:

A borough from 1207 and a city from 1880, in 2014 the city local government district had a population of 470,537 and the wider Liverpool/Birkenhead metropolitan area had a population of 2,241,000.

RCT - Apcoa Parking, Lime Street, Liverpool, L3 5QB ET - Queen Street Car Park, 4 Queen Square, Liverpool, L1 1RH

Gig venues:

Liverpool, L1 7AZ

PH - Liverpool Cathedral, Upper Duke Street,

(The roads that the stage doors are on.)

Royal Court Theatre (RCT) 1 Roe St, Liverpool L1 1HL Empire Theatre (ET) Lime St, Liverpool, L1 1JE Philharmonic Hall (PH) Hope St, Liverpool, L1 9BP

Restaurants: RCT - (Indian) Sultans Place, 75-77 Victoria Street, Liverpool, L1 6DE

ET - Lots of restaurants in the vicinity to choose from PH - Sapporo Teppanyaki, 134 Duke Street, East Village, Liverpool, L1 5AG

Good pubs: RCT - The Crown Hotel, 43 Lime Street, Liverpool, L1 1JQ ET - Ship & Mitre, 133 Dale Street, Liverpool, L2 2JH PH - Fly in the Loaf, 13 Hardman Street, Liverpool, L1 9AS Little known fact: Recommended pub: Ship & Mitre

Philharmonic Hall

24

The city is within the historic county of Lancashire.

Its urbanisation and expansion were largely brought about by its status as a major port, which included its participation in the Atlantic slave trade. Liverpool was the port of registry of the ocean liner RMS Titanic, and many other Cunard and White Star ocean liners such as the RMS Lusitania, Queen Mary, and Olympic.

The city is also home to the oldest Black African community in the country and the oldest Chinese community in Europe.

Natives of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians (from a long-standing jocular alteration of “Liverpool” to “Liverpuddle”) and colloquially as “Scousers”, a reference to “scouse”, a form of stew. The word “Scouse” has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect.

s bransd ba cus fo

by Ryan Watkins

“Orchestral” trombone writing in the brass band

by Ercole Nisini (Translation Henry Howey)

Despite having only been in brass bands for 10 years now, I have noticed a significant change in the sound of the trombone sections in the top brass bands. I look back to my first championship contest in 2008 and remember listening to a certain band on Eric Ball’s Festival Music. The trombones were rhythmically tight and powerful on tricky passages yet, with hindsight, were edgy and overpowering.

Flash forward to 2011 and I sat listening to a winning performance of Paganini Variations. The trombone section was simply musically outstanding, with a tone so wide and dark, yet never feeling uncomfortably loud. The ending theme was simply magical.

This is the approach that brass band trombone players are starting to head towards and I’ve begun to wonder how and why.

The brass band movement is lucky to have many talented composers writing new test pieces each year. From Britain’s own Simon Dobson to the European Oliver Waespi, the new catalogue of test pieces has certainly hit listeners square in the face with highly-fuelled, energetic compositions. These flashy test pieces have seen players pushed to the limits with their technique and musicality more than ever and this increased level of difficulty has required players to achieve a different standard of playing.

I’m not going to go as far as saying it’s “better” than the past. Remember, for example, the band Faireys had in

1993, but the depth of some of these pieces has certainly changed my way of executing a test piece.

Let us look back to October this year, when 20 bands performed Thomas Doss’s masterpiece Spiriti at the National Finals. A true test, this piece broke down Bruckner’s Fifth Symphony, although the first direct quotation doesn’t happen until seven bars before the end, and Bach’s Fur deinen Thron tret’ich hiermit. The piece saw several conductors struggle to pull the music out from its deep score. The ones that did succeed, however, truly brought magic to the hall. The trombone writing presented multiple choral passages for the section and required the solo trombone to be on best form with solos that wailed up to the top of the Royal Albert Hall. From the fourth bar, the solo trombone brought out the echoes and cries from spirits. Nothing edgy was displayed on this, as I listened to some fantastic weeping sounds from the likes of Chris Thomas at Cory, Rebecca Lundberg and Jonathan Pippen, to name a few of the many fantastic players. The sound towards the end requires the forward facing bells of the trombones and cornets to grandly sing out the final chorale one more time.

Brightness and harsh sounds, heard in some performances, completely ruined

the attempted orchestral texture of the score.

This “orchestral” take on brass band compositions has been a trend of late. Look at Stephen Roberts’s two pieces of the past three years that have created a new take on Swan Lake and Scheherazade, and each bringing large, broad passages for trombonists to play.

Peter Graham also brought us On the Shoulders of Giants, which featured the trombones in the opening of the finale for Bruckner’s Eighth Symphony.

Titan’s Progress and Red Priest are also pieces that have featured extracts of orchestral writing.

I feel it’s no coincidence that more and more of our younger trombone players in brass bands are now moving on to conservatoires and inevitably orchestras. Look at the likes of Simon Cowen, Peter Moore, Richard Brown, and Gary Macphee - all trombone players who played in brass bands at this period of change and who now play professionally full time. The brass band movement is alive and burning brightly at the minute. Young players are being brought in and learning the different styles of playing thanks to the vast variety of music genres in our catalogue.

We’re embracing change and our trombonists couldn’t sound any more fantastic right now.

25

winter 2015 the trombonist

by Christian Jones

Frank Mild mannered, matter of fact and modest, playing career Mathison is a legend by any measure. His g! It was spans nine decades - and he’s still going stron this year er earli ge Brid den Heb my privilege to travel to . to speak to him for the BTS tly Frank, our readers may be pleasan still are surprised to learn that, at 87, you played I nce, playing! Oh, yes, last Saturday for insta the with the bass trombone solo King of the Road the evening I in then ge]; Brid erby Friendly Band [Sow , so I didn’t was working with a Bavarian Oompah Band I telephoned get home until midnight! On the Sunday to see what ifax] [Hal el the Orchestra of Square Chap said that there they but time their rehearsal was that day, Symphony, th were no trombones in Niels Gade’s Four the concert! in so I was very relieved to find out I wasn’t as, “I’ve Is it fair to sum up your approach y stop?” always loved performing, so wh Well, I know OK. ing play I’m As long as people think the high on good so myself if I am or not. I’m not Symphony fax Hali the notes now, but I still play with r’s First Elga g doin Orchestra on First trombone. We’re ing pitch find Symphony in the next concert and I do a have I . anything too high a little tricky these days a with , bass King 2B, but I use my stalwart Holton 185 Vernon 1½. smaller mouthpiece than my usual Mount In the late How did you get started in music?

Lindley the ide outs ing 1930s a friend and I were play be told to t abou were we bandroom in Huddersfield; as ent, mom the of off for trespassing I said, on the spur my gave they “We have come to join the band.” So, and I found friend a trombone, but I got a flugel horn tually, we it very difficult to get a sound out of it. Even n the bell! discovered an india rubber eraser stuck dow Bass, then So, I moved on to the tenor horn, then Eb bit! a quite nd baritone. I moved arou

e, my …and on the trombone? After a whil gigs in paid g doin ed friend with the trombone start a trumpet ht boug I so , Huddersfield with a dance band . work lar with the idea that I would aim for simi band the d joine However, I was called up aged 18 and on d], hfiel of the South Staffordshire Regiment [Lic a long row second Cornet. I soon got sick of sitting in

26

Frank Mathison

Thatcher (no playing out of tune, so asked Bandmaster d change relation to Margaret I don’t think!) if I coul G bass or oon, bass a have instrument. He said, “We Langey Otto an with off elf trombone.” So, I took mys tions, posi the ring mbe tutor, but needed help with reme saw hack a with so I made marks on the inner slide ltant holes blade! The armourers tried to solder the resu taken to was I back together but it soon fell apart, so and never Yardley’s in Birmingham for a replacement looked back.

had an But by this point you’d still never travel to ed start I but No, individual lesson? ic to Mus of ol Scho am from Lichfield to Birmingh ’s Wick is Den ith, nsm have lessons with Harold Gree and ip larsh scho a ed predecessor at the CBSO. I gain against the attended a two-year course there. This was my letters” “get to wishes of my father who wanted me itted that adm as an apprentice electrician, but he later I’d done the right thing.

The Bass Bone Files : TOP SECRET

Bass Bone Files

As you moved from the G to the Bb/F, did you get any different reactions from the orchestra? We had some great conductors in the Birmingham Orchestra, including Nicolai Malko, who had studied with Rimsky-Korsakov(!) and Eduard van Beinum. I don’t remember getting any different reacti on from anyone. You know, I think you make the same “sound”, whatever instrument you’re on. The G bass trombone could be a bit raspy because of its smaller bore size and the Reynolds did have a warmer sound .

I suppose I found it a bit difficult to remember the “new” trombone positions, but I soon got used to it.

Since the Reynolds, have you always used a Holton 185? Not quite, latterly in the LSO I used the Holton bell and a Bach slide, but now I’ve gone back to the Holton slide.

The Bass Bone Files : TOP SECRET

How did you make the changeover from G to Bb/F bass trombone? After leaving Birmingham School of Music I worked in the Wolverhampton Hippodrome pit band and the Carl Rosa Orchestra, before joining the CBSO, where I made the change.

I ordered a Reynolds Bb/F bass trombone as I had heard that was the one to get. It wasn’t easy as you had to pay both purchase tax from the USA and transport costs from the airport! The instrument was supposed to land in the Midlands, but because of fog it was divert ed to Prestwick, so I had to pay a train fare for it to Birmingham! Actually I think I managed to talk my way out of that, somehow…

What music do you enjoy listening to these days?

I like Mahler symphonies, but before I went into the business I didn’t really have a taste for music; over the years I acquired it. I love hearing the quality of the LSO at the annual reunions and there are some wonderful musicians in the local amateur orchestras up here, like the Huddersfield Philharmonic. By the way, I’m playin g the 1812 Overture and Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony with them next month!

Relaxation away from playing? I love watch ing All Creatures Great and Small, that’s a TV series about a vet in 1940s Yorkshire. I think I’ve kind of lost my Yorkshire accent, but after seeing an episode it come s back! [Note to readers: Frank has not lost his wonderful Yorkshire accent!]

Do you have any advice for aspiring players, young and old? I wish I had learned to play the piano better and to be able to do jazz improvisation.

Finally, given your remarkable career and equally remarkable current schedule, do you still get a buzz every time you perform?

Yes I do; I always want to do my best. I suppose it’s the fact that people think, “Well, he was in the LSO so he must be good” so I’ve got to make sure that I am!

That’s where the tension is. Once I can’t keep up to that expectation I’ll just have to give up playing, but at the moment I’m still playing well.

You’re an inspiration Frank. On behalf of the BTS, thank you.

Bass trombonists who influenced your development? Before I joined the CBSO, the BBC Symphony played a concert in Birmingham and I really admired Bill Coleman’s playing.

Your 30 years at the LSO is well documented, but can you pick out any artistic highs?

I’d heard Alban Berg’s Three Orchestral Pieces and thought it was absolute rubbish, but then we did it with Claudio Abbado and it made my hair stand on end!

Benjamin Britten was a miserable bugger, but of cours e he was ill with a heart problem. Previn was lovely to work with and he did such a lot for the orchestra, and vice-versa.

27

gear reviews Wallace Mutes

By Attila Sztán

(Member of the Budapest Trombone Quartet) Last July we visited London with my trombone quartet, to take part in the competition organised by the British Trombone Society and we managed to obtain the first place. Our prize was a set of 16 Wallace mutes, and this including the brand-new wha-wha model. We were very excited to try them out one by one as well as together.

Very often nowadays, we have to use several different types of mutes, so we are delighted with this magnificent prize. I am particularly pleased with the Wallace practice mute, which is very

Wedge mouthpiece review by Darren Smith I have tried many mouthpieces throughout my career but for the last 12 years, I have always gone back to my Stork 1.5S for work and for guaranteed results. I played a Bach 1.5G for the preceding 15 years.

However, I’m a bit of a gear head and like to keep abreast of what’s out there …. within reason.

compact. I always keep it with me and it occupies no space within the case, as it lies completely inside the bell. All the mutes sound very clear and are very easy to play with. Plenty of good mutes are being produced these days, but in my view Wallace is the first manufacturer to pay real attention to every detail.

I’d recommend these mutes to anyone - they won’t be disappointed. Currently we are learning new, contemporary pieces, where the mutes are an indispensable tool for creating lots of different tones.

On behalf of the Budapest Trombone Quartet I wish to express our gratitude to the British Trombone Society for their hospitality and to Mr. Wallace for the generous prize.

My first impression was “it’s not the prettiest but blimey is it comfortable.” The plastic version is very grippy, warm to the touch and responsive but felt like it lacked depth of tone and projection.

Liking it enough, I took the plunge and ordered the gold plated S59. It facilitates a big,

compact and centred sound with lots of “core”, for me at least.

High notes feel more “slotted” and the lower and mid-register felt solid and consistent in response and colour. It is good. Actually, it’s really good.

Check out the spec. and blurb on the link below. There is a useful and quite in-depth questionnaire, which attempts to find the best “piece” for you. www.wedgemouthpiece.com

I was quite intrigued to try this Wedge mouthpiece with its unusually contoured rim which the inventor, Dave Harrison, claims will improve one’s sound, range, endurance, flexibility and comfort!

I had tried a silver plated 1.5G but found it a little smaller than a standard Bach 1.5G so I ordered the S59 which is based on a scan of a Schilke 59.

Initially I ordered the plastic version as it is markedly cheaper than the brass version, at $70 as opposed to $210 for the brass silver plated version and $280 for the gold plated version (non-returnable).

29

winter 2015 the trombonist

reviews volume ii - septura Reviewed by Rupert Whitehead

chamber music played by a group of the highest order; no refund required.

Septura’s next album focuses on music by the Russian composers Shostakovich, Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and Scriabin.

It is released on November 30th 2015.

symbiosis dennis rollins’ velocity trio Reviewed by Matthew Jones

ews i v e r

Stanley with a fiery organ solo. It is not only Rollins’ skill at flying around the instrument on show in this album however. His soft, beautiful tone is shown at its best in Bette Midler’s The Rose which, simply put, is stunning!

This is a fantastic album and would be a welcome addition to anybody’s collection.

incoming riot jazz Reviewed by Ross Learmonth

Septura’s second release sees the group focus on the music of Baroque opera, with works from the composers Rameau, Blow, Purcell and Handel.

Once again Septura’s playing is exquisite and their music-making exceptional. The album includes four suites, each taken from from an opera (or semi-opera). The arrangements are first-rate and perfectly capture the drama of the music. This is especially effective in John Blow’s Venus and Adonis: A Mournful Masque. The Purcell offers a contrast to the darkness of the Blow.

It was written as incidental music to a farce called The Curious Impertinent and is noticeably lighter in style, especially in the dances which follow the Overture. The album is book-ended by two longer suites, opening majestically with selections from Rameau’s Dardanus, and ending with music from Rinaldo by Handel. The arias in this suite are played with adroitness and artistry by Matthew Gee, Alan Thomas and Huw Morgan. In the liner notes, Matthew Knight mentions the Baroque tradition of playing “first music” and “second music” as tasters for an audience before the performance of the opera. If the audience didn’t like what they heard they were entitled to a full refund. From the very first bars of this album it is evident that this is 30

Symbiosis is the latest release by Dennis Rollins’ Velocity Trio, featuring Dennis Rollins on trombone, Pedro Segundo on Kit and Percussion and Ross Stanley on Hammond Organ. Rollins, one of Britain’s favourite and most skilled funk trombonists, launched the trio in 2011 and this is their second album.

The album features a fantastic mixture of tracks, ranging from the lyrical and expressive originals by the band to covers such as Pink Floyd’s Money, alongside many tracks that just make you want to get up and dance!

Rollins writes, “Here, we’ve tried to represent the state of utopia we experience every time we have the pleasure of performing together.

It’s always serious, but fun” and I feel the album perfectly encapsulates this feeling. The title track “Symbiosis” is an incredibly playful, riffy track showing off Rollins’ incredibly light-footed acrobatics before unleashing Ross

Riot Jazz Brass Band are a quasiNew Orleans style ensemble formed in Manchester in 2008. In their own words they “navigate a minefield of original peace-lovin’ aggro jazz, hiphop samples, funked-up favourites and re-interpreted dubstep, drum’n’bass and dancefloor bangers that never fail to send limbs flying!” and it is hard to disagree with them based on their second album Incoming. The album begins as it means to go on with a heavy groove which instantly gets the feet tapping. Riot Jazz have achieved an excellent, tight ensemble throughout the album and we are frequently treated to outstanding solos. As a listener, you are gripped from the very beginning and there is very little let up as the album proceeds with each track bringing its own energy, making you want to listen on!

London Symphony Orchestra Brass Ensemble, Thursday 26th November 2015 Appearing in the ten-part line-up that was pioneered by the legendary Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, the London Symphony Orchestra brass section returned to the Barbican Hall following a successful concert as part of their recent tour to Japan. The evening’s programme highlighted the seemingly natural talent of trombone players as arrangers alongside the UK premiere of the effective Where Clouds Meet the Sea, by Ayanna Witter-Johnson.

The concert opened with James Maynard’s virtuosic arrangement of Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in G Major, a striking start to the evening. Next, Two Intermezzi, a skilful piece of work from former LSO Principal Trombone, Eric Crees. This pair of arrangements draws from Johannes Brahm’s Klavierstücke, a farewell to his favourite instrument, the piano.

Continuing the theme of keyboard music, we heard another original arrangement by James Maynard: four of Edvard Grieg’s Lyric Pieces which showing off the group’s skilled ensemble playing very nicely. The first half concluded with a charming new work by LSO’s Panufnik and Soundhub composer Ayanna WitterJohnson’s Where Clouds Meet the Sea, a beautifully written piece that superbly highlighted the lyrical qualities of each brass instrument.

We began the second half with nine of Bach’s original 30 Goldberg Variations, stylishly arranged by the LSO’s Principal Trombone, Dudley Bright. From here, we moved onto some of the lighter repertoire for the ensemble, starting with Jim Parker’s fantastic Londoner in New York, a jazzinfluenced suite written for the players that made this ensemble size so popular, the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble. Mark Nightingale’s selections from Porgy and Bess provided a final display of wonderful arrangements (by trombone players!) and showed off another side to the ensemble’s playing.

It was wonderful to see the LSO brass players feature for the evening, particularly with such classy ensemble playing. It was enough to inspire any ensemble, brass or otherwise. Patrick Harrild also added to the experience with his humorous tales of working with the players. However, it was the programme that really made it for me this evening, putting the well-known next to the brand-new was very effective, and this collection of pieces introduced us all to the huge variety brass playing has to offer. The evening finished with an encore by the famous bass trombone player, Raymond Premru, Blues March from his Divertimento, the final track of Philip Jones Brass Ensemble’s album The Lighter Side.

A fitting end to this very thoughtful programme.

Jane Salmon

31

Photography courtesy of Betina Skovbro

winter 2015 the trombonist

G&T

by Matthew Gee & Mark Templeton

Brrrr. It’s either getting cold out or I need a mouthpiece. Ah that’s better. Enjoy a little G&T this season and try and check out one of our recommended orchestral highlights.

Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London Catch Puccini’s gut-wrenching Tosca this season at the Royal Opera House.

You’ll be drawn into the tragic story so much, you’ll forget about some of the best notes in the bass trombone rep until they ping out. I will be taking my wife to see Tosca this year but she doesn’t read the BTS magazine so it will be a surprise. Tosca runs from 9th January to 5th February 2016.

St David’s Hall, Cardiff Thomas Søndergård was a brilliant percussionist when I first played with him. Now he conducts the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. I imagine his performances of Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet and Prokofiev’s ballet music to Romeo and Juliet will be very exciting and will give ample opportunity for the NOW to turn up the volume. (I know we plugged the ballet at the ROH last issue, but it still rocks.)

14th February 2016. 3 pm 32

Matthew Gee from the RPO and Mark Templeton from the LPO share with us their selection of orchestral highlights for the trombone this winter.

Barbican, London My favourite violin concerto to hear and play is by Alban Berg. The London Symphony Orchestra will play this perfect piece of music alongside Strauss’s epic Ein Heldenleben.

Sunday 24th January. 7 pm Royal Festival Hall, London If you missed Helen Vollam’s Mahler 3, which inexplicably slipped through the net last issue (sorry Helen - I heard it was great), then try and catch Byron Fulcher and the Philharmonia playing it in February. Trombone writing at its best portraying the voice of humanity.

11th February 2016. 7.30 pm Over to you Matt for the rest of the UK. Thanks Tempo. The RPO also seems to have slipped through the net, and we will be performing Shostakovich’s 5th Symphony under Ilan Volkov at the Royal Festival Hall 2nd February 2016. 7.30pm.

Symphony Hall, Birmingham and The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester The Russian theme continues with the CBSO tackling Shostakovich’s 15th Symphony with young conductor Alpesh Chauhan. One of my favourite symphonies, it continues to surprise me upon every listening.

Paired with Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances it is sure to tick all your boxes.

The Hallé also perform this work but with Rachmaninov’s Isle of the Dead under the watchful eye of their principal

conductor Sir Mark Elder.

9th March 2016. 7.30 pm (Birmingham) 11th February 2016. 7.30 pm (Manchester) Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool Armed only with a baton, Christian Lindberg will be taking the RLPO through Bernstein’s marvellous On the Waterfront Suite, and the premiere of his own work Concerto for Wind and Brass.

I think it is safe to assume the trombones will have a prominent role in this new work, so check it out and let us know.

3rd March, 2016, 7.30 pm

Star Pick

Usher Hall, Edinburgh City Halls, Glasgow Under Robin Ticciati, The Scottish Chamber Orchestra play Brahms’ epic masterwork, Ein deutsches Requiem.

Sumptuous trombone writing and the wonderful voices of Matthias Goerne and Kate Royal will make this a truly memorable evening as Brahms bares his soul for all.

17th March 2016. 7.30 pm (Edinburgh) 18th March 2016. 7.30 pm (Glasgow) Follow Matt by visiting www.matthewgee.info or on Twitter @Geetrombone Follow Mark on Twitter @mbonetempleton

MT

MG

t’s a h w on

what’s on 12 December 2015

pm 9 December 2015 7:30

Old Dirty Brassards Brixton Blues Kitchen www.olddirtybrasstards.co.uk

Matt Ford RNCM Big Band with nchester RNCM, Oxford Road, Ma www.rncm.ac.uk

15 December 2015 7:45

7:30 pm 13 December 2015 Fodens Band ndbach Christmas Concert, Sa School, CW11 3NS www.fodensband.co.uk

16 December 2015 Septura Kings Place, London www.septura.org

18 December 2015 7:30 pm Grimethorpe Colliery Band Emmanuel Church, Barnsley www.grimethorpeband.com

16 January 2016 Soul Tubes Butlins, Skegness www.soultubes.com

23 January 2016 Fodens Band Bedworth Civic Hall www.fodensband.co.uk

pm

Grimethorpe Collier y Band with “The Opera Babes” Sheffield City Hall www.grimethorpeband.co m

24 January 2016 Grimethorpe Colliery Band St David’s Hall, Cardiff www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk

6 7:30 pm 11 February 201

Mahler Orchestra play Philharmonia l, London Royal Festival Hal tre.co.uk www.southbankcen

3

30 January 2016

RNCM Festival of Brass RNCM, Oxford Road, Manchester www.rncm.ac.uk

13 February 2016

Grimethorpe Colliery Band Royal Spa Centre, Leamington Spa www.royal-spa-centre.co.uk

5 March 2016

29 Feb - 3 March 2016 Christian Lindberg cond ucts Royal Liverpool Philharmonic www.liverpoolphil.com

Fodens Band Staffordshire Codsall Festival, South www.fodensband.co.uk Follow the BTS on Twitter: @britishtrombone and Like us on Facebook to receive regular dates for your diary.

Submit your own events on the BTS website www.britishtrombonesociety.org and they will be included on social media, the BTS website and right here in the magazine.

33

winter 2015 the trombonist

fast talk...

60cond seterview in

What’s your name?

Chris Fidler.

What’s your current job?

Just finished an eight-year theatre job at the Operettenhaus Hamburg - Germany. Currently returning to freelancing in the UK. What model of trombone(s) do you play?

Custom Rath R1, R3, R4/F & Conn 62H. What mouthpiece(s) do you play on?

Rath S11, Greg Black 6.5AL, Greg Black (CF) Model, Greg Black 5GD, Denis Wick 2AL.

How old were you when you started playing?

13 years old.

What is the best technical advice you could give a student?

Technique is primarily how you do something, not just how fast you do something. Music is a language. Scales and chords are its vocabulary. Melodies are its sentences. Great pieces of music are prose and literature.

What was the most amazing gig you’ve ever been involved in?

The ones I leave feeling elated, fulfilled and appreciated. Just one doesn’t cover it.

What was the last record you bought?

Bob Mintzer Big Band - Get up.

What is the best advice you could give someone who is just starting out freelancing?

Be open to all styles of music. Play from the heart and not the head. Never stop practising OR warming up!!!!!

What was your first pro gig and when?

Every Tuesday residency with the Doncaster Dance Orchestra at the Danum Hotel. Probably around 1978....ish.

Where has been your most favourite place to perform?

The world premiere of Rocky the musical in Hamburg; Bone Kill by Michael Davies; Bozza’s 13 Caprices.

What are you currently working on work-wise/ repertoire-wise?

Constantly working on bettering myself in all areas and styles of music and the usual, sound, technique, range etc!!!

What’s your favourite colour?

Blue.

What’s your favourite food?

Indian and Italian.

Give us an interesting fact that people might not know about you…

I always put my left sock on before my right!!!!!

34