[Dixielandjazz] For the Bones out there.

[LRG4003 at aol.com]

This should rile up some discussion.  I  forwarded a Teagarden YouTube 
posting to a trombone player with whom I have the  opportunity to play on occasion.  
He isn't on DJML but he responded with  these comments.  I wondered what your 
response would be.  K.C.  Clarinet
 
Thanks.  I had not seen this one  before.  Obviously, it has been kicking 
around cyberspace for a  while.  I have, in the CD reissues, the two Verve 
recordings that JT made  in the early 60's.  They are wonderful, and they show tht 
JT was still in  top form right up to the end, despite the chemical abuse to 
his body.I   also hope that Verve re-issues the third and very last of JT's 
LP's. I  think the writer is right on about the fallen state of the trombone.  The 
 level of trombone playing in the jazz world is for the most part at a 70 
year  low.  There are a few really great trombonists around, but they are people  
that few have heard of, such as Herb Bruce.  None of the current  trombonists 
mentioned in the article as examples of contemporary trombonists are  
anywhere near the level of a Frank Rosolino or a Carl Fontana, and needless  to say, 
none of them have anything approaching the emotional maturity and  
musicianship of JT.  At least none that I have heard.   This situation is all the more 
ironic in that classical  trombone playing is at an all time high.  There is a 
wealth of truly  great symphonic trombonists who are making CD after CD of 
phenomenal  recordings.  Technical excellence in trombone playing has advanced to 
the  point where the jazz world can no longer use the old "trombone is a 
clumsy,  awkward instrument that cannot be played in a way to keep up with keyed or 
 valved instruments" argument.   Actually, that tired old argument has  not 
been valid for more than 30 years, but I still hear it.  When you  listen to 
any of today's big bands cut loose on a chart with  solos, you always get a sax 
(usually tenor) solo, and frequently a  trumpet solo, but only VERY rarely do 
you get a trombone solo (and usually  then you wish you hadn't).  Even when 
you listen to CD's of today's  jazz groups, you almost never hear trombone 
solos.  The reason is very  simple:  very, very few of the competent section 
trombone men can solo  worth crap.  Part of the reason is that their level of  
technical proficiency is not high enough to be able to translate any ideas  from 
their head to the end of their bell.  And that is a  disgrace, given what has 
been going on in the classical arena.   Even when listening to the Cullum band, 
you will notice that the trombone takes  much, much fewer solos than the other 
front line horns.  As far as I  can determine, it has always been that way.  
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