TromboneChat

Ok,

What are some of the tunes that influenced you as a young musician?

For me:

Stan Kenton, Prologue
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubyTA-qzrTE
Frank Rosolino changed my world, Bob Burgess tone....Maynard at his peak, simply one of the greatest brass players of all time. Range, tone, power, SWING!!!!!

Quincy Jones, Ai No Corrida
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXmmWBzS-_o
Jerry Hey playing and arranging, Chuck Findley, Bill Reichenbach, Ernie Watts
Almost 40 years old and still the standard of tight section playing. Wow.

Tower of Power, Only So Much Oil In the Ground
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrxRJ9HlfZk
The ultimate horn section....

Bruckner 4, Chicago Symphony
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHJtTO_Hp1k
The greatest orchestral brass section of all time????

What influenced you?

For jazz improvisation:
The first I listened to was Kay Winding and his quartet. It was what inspired me for jazz trombone. Later I discovered Urbie Green, Frank Rosolini, Bill Watrous and Carl Fontana. Any music where those players are soloists inspire me.

For classical trombone:
The first who inspired me was Branimir Slokar on alto. The music he played on those first records he made have keep me busy listening for many hours. I bought all his early records on vinyl where he plays alto. Later when Christian Lindbergh came on the scene I turned to him and after that Josef Alessi. I have a lot of records with Cristian Lindbergh.

For lead trombone big band playing:
I have great admiration for Aake Persson, especially with the Harry Arnold Big Band in the late 50ies and The Francis Boland/Kenny Clarke band. Aake had a glorious big warm lead sound on those records. Anything where Aake is on lead is inspiring to hear.

Big Band:
Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Nelson Riddle, Stan Kenton, Bill Evan's, Toshiko Akioshi/Lew Tababackin Big Band and many many more. Any note is an inspiration.

/Tom

When I was a young high school tuba-player (wishing & hoping to be a bass trombone player some day in the future) back in 1959 or 1960, when I wandered into the local music store/record store and laid down $4.98 for my stereo vinyl version on Columbia of..........."Meet Mr. Roberts!" That was George in his prime. All of those tracks were very important to me. In that time, I had never seen a live player playing a real "bass trombone."

Somewhere around these dates, I went to our local roller rink/dance hall and heard the spectacular, Harry James road-band, from Vegas. He did have a bass bone player, who played on the first two-valve horn I had ever seen, and, it was a Reynolds. I also heard the Kenton Band over at Ohio Northern Univ. in Ada OH. It would just happen to be Bobby Knight's first night with the Kenton Band. Both on 72H's. Almost any music Kenton played, especially the great Lennie Niehaus ballads from the "mellophonium" Kenton era have been, forever, etched in the musical part of my brain.

Like Tom, I also had my favorite Kai Winding vinyl called "Swingin The States." That was when Kai went from 3 tenors and 1 bass, to, 2 tenors and 2 basses. Thomas "Tommy" Mitchell and Dick Hixon on bass bones on that album.

How could I forget a great commercial use of the bass trombone, that being Les and Larry Elgart. In the late 1950's and into the 1960's their band/bands got a lot of air-time, on radio. When I actually started to play trombone in 1962 and then bass trombone about 10 years later, I actually did some Les Elgart gigs, here in SW OH, probably in the late 1970's.

Nice topic, btw!

ddsbstrb wrote: ↑Fri May 10, 2019 4:55 pm When I was a young high school tuba-player (wishing & hoping to be a bass trombone some day in the future) back in 1959 or 1960, when I wandered into the local music store/record store and laid down $4.98 for my stereo vinyl version on Columbia of..........."Meet Mr. Roberts!" That was George in his prime. All of those tracks were very important to me. In that time, I had never seen a live player playing a real "bass trombone."

Somewhere around these dates, I went to our local roller rink/dance hall and heard the spectacular, Harry James road-band, from Vegas. He did have a bass bone player, who played on the first two-valve horn I had ever seen, and, it was a Reynolds. I also heard the Kenton Band over at Ohio Northern Univ. in Ada OH. It would just happen to be Bobby Knight's first night with the Kenton Band. Both on 72H's. Almost any music Kenton played, especially the great Lennie Niehaus ballads from the "mellophonium" Kenton era have been, forever, etched in the musical part of my brain.

Like Tom, I also had my favorite Kai Winding vinyl called "Swingin The States." That was when Kai went from 3 tenors and 1 bass, to, 2 tenors and 2 basses. Thomas "Tommy" Mitchell and Dick Hixon on bass bones on that album.

How could I forget a great commercial use of the bass trombone, that being Les and Larry Elgart. In the late 1950's and into the 1960's their band/bands got a lot of air-time, on radio. When I actually started to play trombone in 1962 and then bass trombone about 10 years later, I actually did some Les Elgart gigs, here in SW OH, probably in the late 1970's.

Nice topic, btw!

So nice to read that post! Thanks!

I grow up with my brother playing Elvis, my father was a truck driver and listen country music, my mother listen gospel like Aretha Franklin and Mahalia Jackson. I did listen all but didn't tell anyone I also listen the Mozart Symphonies. Strange isn't it for a young kid? I loved the pure sound of strings, Later when i picked up the trombone, the music in a supermarket changed my life. I was about 18 in 1980 and that music was Nelson Riddle with George Roberts on bass trombone. I did go there day after day to listen it. Asked to buy that LP but they say no. Later in life I listen almost everything, but I notice I still like Elvis, Aretha Franklin, Country and blues, almost everything. From Pink Floyd, Uriah Heep, Bruce Springsteen, Beatles, Michael Jackson........The trombone side of it besides George Roberts was Christian Lindbergh. Who whas the first to make the impossible into possible on the trombone. We are lucky today because in that time it was hard to get access to music.

Anyway so nice to read that post above!

Leif

Denis Wick and the LSO trombone and tuba section, Star Wars, the first movie
Frank Rosolino, Waltz for Roma and the rest of the Jazz à Confronto album
James Pankow, Chicago 9
James (or “Jim” as he was known in his Thundering Herd days) Pugh
Curtis Fuller and Paul Faulise on Quincy Jones’ album The Quintessence

CSO, NYPO, etc., came later once I started to get serious about music and turned to classical

I always think of this:

What hooked me?

I got tickets to see the Brooklyn Philharmonia Orchestra at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. They did Borodin's 2nd Symphony. And the bass trombone solo made me realize that the trombone could be an important part of a symphony.

Of course I listened to the local orchestra (NY Philharmonic with Pulis/Van Haney/Ostrander), and all the TV shows had "house bands". Back then you could really earn your keep as a professional trombone player. Tommy Dorsey had recently passed away, but his recordings were all over the place. And I had a friend who was into Original Dixieland Jazz Band and New Orleans Rhythm Kings. Lots of trombones.

Female vocalists from the 30's, 40's, 50's.

Buddy Rich "Swingin' New Big Band" album with West Side Story Medley and the "Somewhere" trombone solo by Jim Trimble.

Stan Getz and J. J. Johnson at the Opera House (1957)

Especially "Yesterdays"

Another vote here for "At the Opera House." It was one of the first trombone albums that I owned. Before that I was listening to a lot of Chuck Mangione, Spyro Gyra, that kind of thing. And Beethoven symphonies.

As a young trombonist: Ralph Sauer's album released through Summit Records. Tutti's Trombones.

I grew up musically in the late 1970s and early 80's, so a lot of this was specific to that time. I drew a lot of inspiration from some of Elvis' later stuff, particularly Aloha from Hawaii that had a lot of bass bone in it.

Embarrassingly, the smooth sound of the Carpenters has had a real influence. I can't get that flugel sound out of my head.

Speaking of flugel, of course Chuck Mangione. It took me 20 years to stop thinking cracked notes were just part of music. Feels so Good, Chase the Clouds Away, Bellavia, Fun and Games, Land of Make Believe, Children of Sanchez

Canadian/Empire/Philip Jones Brass My first girlfriend's father had a great collection of brass music, and a lot of early music recordings, which really opened my eyes musically.

My dad had some Herb Alpert and Louis Armstrong recordings that I practically wore out. Loved that stuff.

Of course other pop stuff like Beatles, Helen Reddy, Neil Sedaka, Nat King Cole, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles

But I think the biggest early influence was orchestral music, Beethoven, Bruckner, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, St. Seans, Copland. The first time I heard the Philadelphia Orchestra live I was frozen in place, covered with goose bumps. I was just amazed at how a real orchestra sounded. For some reason, I grew up loving pipe organ music.

As a high school bass trombone wanna-be, 3 recordings really influenced me. First was Tutti's Trombones, Kenny Shroyer playing the Pink Panther.




After that was a Philip Jones Brass recording of dances from Terpsichore. The 2nd movement bass trombone part was simple, but Ray Premru's sound just blew me away (this is a live recording, starts at 1:22). That was followed by the Paul McCartney movie "Give My Regards to Broad Street", which has a studio scene where Ray Premru is playing. Just the fact that a bass trombone was in a movie, plus the great arrangement and that sound again!





Finally, my band director had some sheet music of trombone quartets and octets that came with a floppy plastic record. There was one chart I used to play along with the record called "Strange". I've been trying to find out for years who published it with no luck. The 2 things that I remember was that the sound of the bass trombonist was amazing, and the name "George" was printed at the top of the part. Years later I figured out it was probably Tommy Pederson arrangements, and George Roberts was the bass trombonist.

Once I got to college I discovered the Bob Mintzer Big Band and Dave Taylor, The Chicago Symphony, and a bit later, those amazing San Francisco Symphony recordings with Bloomstedt (still my favorite recordings of so many things).