Subject: TROMBONE-L Digest - 25 Oct 2003 to 26 Oct 2003 (#2003-297) Date: Monday, October 27, 2003 12:00 AM From: Automatic digest processor Reply-To: "Trombones and related issues forum." To: Recipients of TROMBONE-L digests There are 4 messages totalling 404 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Upcoming Brass Band Concerts - California Central Coast 2. Grachan Moncur III - The Perils of Living Too Long 3. The Trumpet Shall Sound for Brass Quintet 4. Matt Guilford's new website ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 09:49:47 -0800 From: James O'Briant Subject: Upcoming Brass Band Concerts - California Central Coast The Pacific Brass, a British-Style Brass Band based in Watsonville, California, announces two upcoming performances. (1) 3:00 PM Sunday, November 2, Hollister, CA Pacific Brass founder and Director Gonzalo H. "Bert" Viales will conduct the Pacific Brass in a Benefit Concert at 3:00 PM on Sunday Afternoon, November 2, at the First Presbyterian Church in Hollister, CA. Admission is $15.00 for Adults and $10.00 for Seniors and Youth under 18, and will be available at the door. Proceeds will benefit the YMCA of San Benito County. San Benito Street is the main north-south street through Downtown Hollister. Follow it south several blocks past the business district. At the High School, proceed straight, past the school and the athletic fields. The church will be on your right. (2) 7:00 PM, Saturday, November 22, Watsonville, CA The Pacific Brass and the Concord (CA) Salvation Army Band will present a joint concert at 7:00 PM Saturday, November 22, at the Henry Mello Center in Watsonville, California. This annual event is the "kick-off" for the Watsonville Salvation Army Christmas Drive. Admission to the concert is $1.00 plus a non-perishable food item. Both brass bands -- The Pacific Brass and the Concord Salvation Army Brass Band -- will be set up on stage, side-by-side. During the first half of the concert, the bands will alternate in performing their selections. At intermission, the stage will be re-set, and the second half of the program will be played by the combined bands -- about seventy brass players strong, with the two conductors alternating. The Henry Mello Center is located at 250 E. Beach Street (at the intersection of Lincoln St.) in Watsonville, California. For an interactive Yahoo map, you may use the following link: http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?ed=XrukUep_0Tr8r4yVh3JxTU2_lkXfYotOwQ- -&csz=95076&country=us Jim O'Briant Eb Bass, Pacific Brass ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 11:46:58 -0800 From: Stan Brager Subject: Grachan Moncur III - The Perils of Living Too Long Here's an interesting article about one of the great trombonists who few have heard. Stan Stan Brager Trombonist-in-Training ----- Original Message ----- > \----------------------------------------------------------/ > > The Perils of Living Too Long > > October 26, 2003 > By ADAM SHATZ > > > Jazz lives often end tragically, but not all tragic endings > are alike. Some jazz musicians (Clifford Brown, John > Coltrane, Albert Ayler) die too young, achieving instant > martyrdom. Others (Billie Holiday, Chet Baker, Bill Evans) > lead lives that are like slow-motion deaths, lives that > give their music a sweet, decadent perfume and make the > flaws in their art seem like so many needle tracks, > scattered traces of disintegration. But there is another > way of exiting the scene: living too long, passing the > years unproductively, falling silent. Less noticed and far > more common, it's the surest route to obscurity that the > music offers. > > If Grachan Moncur III had perished 40 years ago in a car > crash, or become one of jazz's junkie-poets, he might be a > legend today, rather than an all-but-forgotten trombonist. > Unless you're a serious student of free jazz, chances are > you've never heard of him. But in the 1960's and early > 1970's, Mr. Moncur was the leading trombonist on the scene. > (His only rival was Roswell Rudd, whose style was as > gregarious as Mr. Moncur's was subdued.) He dressed like a > leader, wearing black turtlenecks that defined Bohemian > hipness and sporting a goatee that hinted at intellectual > seriousness, if not militancy. His tone, attack and > sensibility embodied what the jazz critic David Rosenthal > called "badness" - an air of unshakable cool that conceals, > but just barely, an undercurrent of menacing intensity. For > the better part of a decade, the curtain rose for this > young lion, and he was resplendent. And then - darkness. > > "Whenever I have a conversation about what's wrong with the > jazz business, I always start out by saying, `Where is > Grachan Moncur?' " the alto saxophonist Jackie McLean said > recently. > > Geographically speaking, he is in Newark, where he has > raised six children (including a 32-year-old son named, > yes, Grachan IV), taught trombone lessons and served as a > composer-in-residence at the city's Community Arts Center. > As far as the jazz scene is concerned, he may have ceased > to exist altogether. As Mr. Moncur, 66, acknowledged by > phone: "I seem to have disappeared. But in a sense I wasn't > totally extinct. I just went underground." > > Mr. Moncur's great Blue Note work, much of which he made in > collaboration with Mr. McLean, was recently reissued on a > three-disc boxed set by Mosaic Records > (www.mosaicrecords.com), jazz's answer to the Library of > America. If the Mosaic box doesn't recharge his career - > Mr. Moncur has long been plagued by dental problems that > have severely worn down his chops - it will at least help > restore an extraordinary talent to his rightful place in > the history of jazz. The box contains 25 tracks, 16 of them > written by Mr. Moncur; the music is as unforgettable and > idiosyncratic as his name. Neither bop nor free but a deft > synthesis of the two; confidently rooted in the black > vernacular but elegantly urbane; often sardonic but always > serious: Mr. Moncur's Blue Note period prefigured the work > of Greg Osby, Jason Moran and other young jazz musicians > who have mined the materials of African-American music with > tart, edgy sophistication. > > Mr. Moncur was born in 1937 into a musical family in New > York City. His father, Grachan II, played bass in the Savoy > Sultans, the house band at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. > His mother, a beautician, counted Dinah Washington and > Sarah Vaughan among her clients. When Mr. Moncur was a > child, the family moved to a predominantly white > neighborhood in Newark, where his father led a swing band > called Brother Moncur and His Strollers. At age 11 he > picked up the trombone. After graduating from an elite > black private high school in North Carolina, he landed a > chair in the Nat Phipps band, a remarkable Newark youth > ensemble, thanks to the recommendation of his friend Wayne > Shorter, the group's commanding young saxophonist. While > still in his teens Mr. Moncur also sat in with Art Blakey's > Jazz Messengers and befriended Blakey's alto saxophonist, > Mr. McLean. > > When they finally began working together in February 1963, > Mr. McLean's "search for inspiration," as he wrote at the > time, "was clouded by a depression." Mr. Moncur, by then a > Juilliard composition student who had made his mark with > Ray Charles and the Art Farmer-Benny Golson Jazztet, > provided just the inspiration he needed. They recruited a > rhythm section of unknowns: a 17-year-old drummer from > Boston, Tony Williams; the vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson; > and the bassist Eddie Khan. After a few gigs at Brooklyn's > Blue Coronet, the band recorded "One Step Beyond," which > featured two tunes by Mr. McLean and two by Mr. Moncur. It > was extraordinarily supple free-bop, speeding up and down > with a lover's intuition, as attentive to dynamics as to > pulse. Mr. Moncur, Mr. McLean and Mr. Hutcherson made two > more records that year, each better than the last: the > darkly mesmerizing "Destination Out," with Roy Haynes on > drums and Larry Ridley on bass; and Mr. Moncur's > masterpiece, "Evolution," a > suite of four originals recorded under his leadership, with > Williams returning on drums, Bob Cranshaw on bass and Lee > Morgan on trumpet. > > "When Grachan and I got together it was like a marriage," > Mr. McLean recalled. Among brass-horn marriages, theirs was > as distinctive as the better-known partnerships of Ornette > Coleman and Don Cherry and Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter. > It combined the emotional urgency of free jazz with the > poise and restraint one associates with the Modern Jazz > Quartet - an achievement that's all the more remarkable > when you consider how little they apparently rehearsed. It > helped, of course, that they came with a sense of mission, > described with admirable precision by album titles like > "One Step Beyond" and "Evolution" (both 1963). > > Mr. Moncur's writing was integral to the group's success. > It was angular yet bluesy, formally adventurous but > grounded in hooks. His primary influence was Thelonious > Monk. "If Monk was a tribal leader," Mr. McLean once said, > "Grachan would be his medicine man." In bright, strutting, > tempo-shifting numbers like "Monk in Wonderland," the > medicine man paid tribute to the tribal leader. But he also > displayed an impressive talent for other genres, from > searing vamp-driven tunes "Hypnosis") to > somber, deadpan waltzes ("Frankenstein") > to ominously slow, nearly tempoless dirges ("Love and > Hate," "Ghost Town"). Some of Mr. Moncur's compositions > are programmatic in feel, connecting sound to image in the > manner of the movie scores he studied at Juilliard. The > dramatic "Ghost Town," for example, a 14-minute "musical > painting," conjures up a grandly portentous sense of > desolation, through long passages in which nothing is heard > but spare reverberations on vibes or cymbals, which echo > like footsteps on a seemingly deserted street. > > After "Evolution," Mr. Moncur and Mr. McLean went their > separate ways. Although they were briefly reunited on Mr. > McLean's 1967 albums, "Hipnosis" and " 'Bout Soul" - > portions of both appear on the Mosaic box - neither session > matched the inventiveness of their earlier collaborations. > Fortunately, Mr. Moncur was able to make one more record > under his own name for Blue Note, the 1964 session "Some > Other Stuff." His last truly great record, it features Mr. > Moncur alongside Mr. Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Tony > Williams - three-fifths of what would soon become the Miles > Davis Quintet - and the bassist Cecil McBee. > > "That whole record was inspired by the hard times I was > having in New York," Mr. Moncur recalled. "I'd just fallen > out with the first young lady I'd met in New York, and I'd > moved out of my apartment in the Diplomat Hotel opposite > Town Hall, which was the biggest mistake I ever made since > I had a room there with a private bath and telephone for > only $27 a week." The song titles "Gnostic" and "Nomadic," > he said, expressed his state of mind: "I was a nomad after > losing my room, and I was a gnostic because I had to > survive in the streets by my own wits." > > Wits he had in abundance. After Mr. Hutcherson told him the > Actors Studio was looking to cast a musician in a Broadway > production of James Baldwin's new civil rights play, "Blues > for Mr. Charlie," Mr. Moncur headed for the audition. > Though he had no acting experience, he got the part. And > because the play was more than three hours and he only had > to be onstage for an hour and 15 minutes, he spent the > other two hours in a sound-proof rehearsal room practicing > voicings for "Some Other Stuff," which he recorded three > months after Baldwin's play opened. Structurally, it's Mr. > Moncur's most daring record, a precursor to the work of > avant-garde jazz composers like Anthony Braxton and Muhal > Richard Abrams. Only one of the four tracks (the glorious, > up-tempo "Thandiwa") is a jazz tune. The others are daring > experiments in an as-yet-undefined genre, unfolding in > sections, with flashes of European dissonance, African > percussion and marching-band music. As Mr. Moncur explains > it, the range of influences on "Some Other Stuff" reflects > the music that the band was listening to when they gathered > at Mr. Hancock's Riverside Drive apartment. "Herbie had the > best stereo equipment of that period, and we'd put on > headphones and listen to Ravi Shankar and Trane and heavy > classical stuff, and in some cases with the classical stuff > we'd follow the score." > > It's hard to listen to "Some Other Stuff" without a > melancholy sense of what-might-have-been, not just because > so few jazz musicians today are taking comparable risks, > but because Mr. Moncur was dropped from Blue Note shortly > after making it. Mr. Moncur's career as a leader didn't > come to an end, exactly. From the late 1960's through the > 1970's, he made some fine records, notably "New Africa" > (1969), which has some luminous improvising by Archie Shepp > and Roscoe Mitchell and which was recently reissued on > vinyl by Actuel. But Mr. Moncur's later work never quite > delivered on the promise of his Blue Note records. One > could, of course, say the same of Blue Note artists like > Mr. Hancock and Mr. Shorter. But they grew rich and famous > failing to deliver on that promise, while Mr. Moncur simply > faded into oblivion. His Blue Note records, meanwhile, went > out of print, as if the company had no interest in > preserving his memory. > > It's not the career Mr. Moncur hoped for, but he's rueful > rather than bitter about it. "It's strange," he said. "Most > of my best friends are people I very seldom see. In recent > years I didn't even try to see them because I wasn't happy > with things. I'm the kind of guy who wears his feelings on > his sleeve, and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to snuff it > out. But everything's cool, man. I'm still composing, and > I'm finally beginning to see a little daylight." > > Adam Shatz is the literary editor of The Nation. > > > Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company > ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 13:52:32 -0800 From: Gordon Cherry Subject: The Trumpet Shall Sound for Brass Quintet MESSIAH - THE TRUMPET SHALL SOUND - BY G.F. HANDEL. Finally, a Glorious transcription for Brass Quintet of the famous Trumpet and Bass solo movement from George Frederick Handel's Messiah, published by Cherry Classics Music. THE TRUMPET SHALL SOUND, featuring solo trumpet and either Tuba/Bass Trombone or Trombone accompanied by the other 3 members of your quintet. It is a great way to feature two performers at once. This Christmas you and the quintet can perform this great work on your annual Christmas Concert and have a blast. These parts have been beautifully transcribed in the original key of D or down a 3rd in Bb by veteran Vancouver Symphony Principal Trombonist, Gordon Cherry. If your church has an annual Christmas concert, this is the music to bring the concert to a major "high"!! The music is in the original key of D. Highest note for trumpet is an "B" concert and can be played on a piccolo trumpet or trumpet in D (for the original key. The tuba/bass trombone solo part goes up to an "E" above the bass clef staff. This is a blockbuster piece of music, for an advance group. In the key of Bb the work becomes easier. Parts are for 1 solo trumpet, trumpet, horn, trombone, tuba or bass trombone, beautifully laser printed on high quality brilliant white 24 lb paper. You can be assured of the finest quality with these parts. Please check out my other eBay auctions of trombone and brass music and also, look at my feedback. It's excellent!! There is no risk involved on your part, because satisfaction is guaranteed!! Cost is $12.50 plus shipping. Parts are shipped out by airmail at a cost of $2.50 within North America, $3.50 internationally. Or, you may dispense with the mail and I will send you the music as pdf files (using free application Adobe Acrobat Reader) via email for no shipping cost whatsoever. Payment can be by personal check, money order,VISA/MasterCard or PayPal. If you really want the parts now and not wait for the end of the auction to diddle around with "lurkers" just do the "Buy IT Now" thing and get the parts you really want NOW!! For Christmas!!! For free samples, please ask about my other auctions of wonderful brass music. Best wishes, Gordon Cherry Cherry Classics Music ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 20:58:16 -0500 From: Dale Cruse Subject: Matt Guilford's new website --Apple-Mail-2-865867067 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed I am proud to announce the launch of a new website for bass trombonist Matt Guilford of the National Symphony Orchestra. The site - located at www.matthewguilford.com - features Matt's complete bio, discography, photos from throughout his playing career, pedagogical articles, his calendar, and some links. Of special note is his weblog, something quite new in the online trombone discussion world. Soon the site will feature additional articles, photos from Matt's masterclass at New England Conservatory this past Friday night and frequent updates to his weblog. ---- Dale Cruse www.dalecruse.com Setting you up for online success. --Apple-Mail-2-865867067 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/enriched; charset=US-ASCII I am proud to announce the launch of a new website for bass trombonist Matt Guilford of the National Symphony Orchestra. The site - located at www.matthewguilford.com - features Matt's complete bio, discography, photos from throughout his playing career, pedagogical articles, his calendar, and some links. Of special note is his weblog, something quite new in the online trombone discussion world. Soon the site will feature additional articles, photos from Matt's masterclass at New England Conservatory this past Friday night and frequent updates to his weblog. Lucida Grande---- Dale Cruse www.dalecruse.com Setting you up for online success. --Apple-Mail-2-865867067-- ------------------------------ End of TROMBONE-L Digest - 25 Oct 2003 to 26 Oct 2003 (#2003-297) *****************************************************************