[Dixielandjazz] Oh Dem Bones

Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis larrys.bands at charter.net
Thu Mar 8 12:23:14 PST 2007


 Does
it sound like I am sick and tired of hearing  one shrill, honking tenor sax
solo after another?  Yes I  am. ---

Honk Honk!
Larry
St. Louis

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <LRG4003 at aol.com>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 08, 2007 12:27 PM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Oh Dem Bones


>
> WARNING.  A LONG POST WITH A LOT OF  OPINIONS ABOUT TROMBONISTS..  DELETE 
> NOW
> OR DON'T BLAME ME  LATER....
>
> Yesterday, i passed along some Trombone  comments from a trombone playing
> non-list member and saw a number of interesting  responses on DJML which I 
> passed
> back to him.  I am, again sending you more  of his thoughts (since I can't
> get him to suck up and join DJM himself).  I  think he has some 
> interesting
> things to say and would like to hear from any of  you who have the same 
> passion
> for the instrument and the people who play  it.   (Obviously his tenor sax
> comment is completely out of  line).     K. C.  Clarinet
>
>
>
> First of all, there are two completely  different issues that need to be
> explicitly separated.  The first issue is  the one I addressed (and will 
> comment
> on again below) and has to do with what  standards should be held up as 
> the
> very best in jazz trombone playing and the  realization that such 
> standards are
> attainable, even if they are not actually  attained by all professional 
> jazz
> trombonists.  The second issue is  the enjoyment factor of any and all 
> that love
> playing the trombone.  You  don't have to be a Christian Lindberg to get
> enjoyment from playing, thank  heavens!!!  These two issues should NEVER 
> be
> confused or mixed.
>
> As far as the whole jazz trombone standard  of excellence issue goes, it
> really boils down to the definition people use  as to what really great 
> playing
> is.  I have heard of most of the players  mentioned below in the notes 
> that you
> forwarded to me, and some of them are part  of what I previously referred 
> to
> as the "some players that most people have not  heard of". For instance, I 
> have
> some of Andy Martin's recordings, and his is a  fine player with a mature
> technique and solid improvising ability.
>
> There are some others also.  I  mentioned Herb Bruce.  I noticed that no 
> one
> else mentioned him.  They  should have!  Herb can hold court with the best 
> of
> them.  Every  trombonist should have copies of his last two CD's 
> "Herbicide"
> and "Heaven  and Earth".  For goodness sake, go to _www.herbbruce.com_
> (http://www.herbbruce.com/)  and buy them!  (No,  I do not get a cut!) 
> There are
> other unknown great players.  One  fellow who lives in a small town in 
> Arkansas
> and has cut at least one CD of jazz  versions of Christian hymns (I have 
> it) is
> also a monster, but I would bet money  that the total number of people in
> this country that have heard of him would not  even populate a typical 
> small U.S.
> town.  And yes, Ron Wilkins is a good  player too.
>
> So, you see, I have heard of these  players.  Also, back in the mid to 
> late
> 1990's a wonderful trombone group  "Spiritual To The Bone" cut about five 
> CD's
> that are just great.  Herb  Bruce was one of the featured soloists on 
> these
> CD's.  So, yes there are  some great players out there, and some of them 
> are
> great jazz players as  well.  But, what I was referring to in my earlier 
> note was
> great JAZZ  players as opposed to great studio players (not always the 
> same
> thing by  any stretch of the imagination).  There are some fantastic 
> studio
> trombonists in the L.A. area who have banded together over the last  40 
> years in
> an informal organization called "Bohanan's Garage"  (The reason  for that
> name takes too long to explain).  Some of the members of  that 
> organization have
> put together a great CD called "All My  Concertos".  This is a large 
> trombone
> ensemble that recorded all the  written compositions of the late studio
> trombonist/composer Tommy  Pederson.  While this is excellent playing and 
> wonderful
> compositions,  it is for the most part not jazz in the truest sense of the
> word.  This is  not a devaluation of the work by any means, simply a 
> statement
> that not all  great playing is jazz.
>
> The Tommy Pederson works are a very  interesting and VERY musically
> satisfying blend of what I would call jazz  and neo-impressionist/romantic 
> classical
> music.  The trombonists  playing in this CD are excellent players who have
> developed a very high level of  competency on their instrument. (For the 
> person who
> mentioned Alan Kaplan,  he is one of these trombonists. Alan also has a
> relatively new solo CD out  that is mostly ballad stuff and very well 
> played.)
> And there are  players like that in all the really big U.S. cities. 
> However,
> most of  these people are not great jazz players of the category of an 'in 
> their
> prime"  Rosolino or Fontana.  And that is what I meant in my earlier 
> note.
> If you really want to know what the trombone is capable of these  days, 
> please
> listen to recordings of Joseph Alessi (principal with NY Phil),  Ian
> Bousfield (principal with Vienna Phil), Nick Hudson (a true poet of the 
> trombone and
> principal with William Fairey Brass Band in England), and of course 
> Christian
> Lindberg (with more than 50 CD's to his name now!).  The point of  my 
> first
> soap box was that the standard for technical excellence in  jazz MUST keep 
> up
> with what exists in the classical world.   Again, I am not saying that the
> LEVEL of jazz trombone playing must for all  players keep up with the 
> highest
> level of playing in the classical world, only  that the STANDARD needs to 
> keep up.
>
>
> Frankly, I am tired of people explicitly or  (what is more common) 
> implicitly
> trying to either dumb down  the technical standard of jazz trombone 
> playing
> or justifying  its lower standard (relative to today's classical playing). 
> I
> guess my standards for jazz playing are annoyingly high.  They certainly 
> have
> gone up over the last 30 years.  For instance, I first heard  Watrous on a
> late 1960's promotional LP called "The Straight Life"   (pretty ironic 
> title for
> Bill during that period of time!).  He  also did an almost unknown solo
> ballad LP called "William Russell Watrous" that  had nothing but sweet 
> ballads
> backed by strings.  Watrous was an  unknown quantity back then, and did 
> not really
> become well known until the  mid 70's with his Manhattan Wildlife Refuge
> recordings.  I admit that I was  blown over by his playing on his Straight 
> Life LP
> and even more so in the  mid 70's with his Refuge recordings and his set 
> of
> small ensemble LP's that  followed that.  Today, I still listen to 
> Watrous, and
> I still buy his  recordings when they come out.  However, I am not 
> completely
> blown over by his playing any more.  After listening to today's  top
> symphonic players, I have raised my standards for jazz playing.  My 
> standard for
> jazz players is that they have a full, harmonics-rich,  well-centered tone 
> that
> does not thin out even a little when going up to high  F's!  It can be 
> done.
> (I really cannot stand hearing the term  "velvety tone" which is just a 
> nice
> way of saying the tone is not full and rich,  especially when you get 
> above high
> C.)  Listen to Alessi's recording of a  Carmen Suite on his 
> "Trombonastics"
> CD to understand what upper register  trombone tone should sound like. 
> And
> please do not give me that tired old  saw about there being different 
> tones for
> trombone.  Rubbish!  The  same tone that makes for a top classical 
> trombonist
> should be the tone for  a jazz trombonist.  There can be minor tonal 
> shadings
> used for both  classical and jazz trombone playing, depending on what you 
> are
> doing.   However, the same basic tone should be accomplished.   My 
> standard
> for jazz players includes fast technical playing that is up  to the level 
> of a
> Christian Lindberg when playing the Winter Concerto from  Vivaldi's Fours
> Seasons.  (Yes, I know that he recorded that on alto  trombone, but we are 
> talking
> fast technique now!)  My standard for  jazz trombone playing now includes 
> lip
> flexibility that allows for perfectly  controlled and clean lip trilling 
> (not
> shakes!!!) at the same level as those  classical players that I listed. 
> And
> by the way, Jack Teagarden proved  that this was do-able in his 1944 
> beautiful
> solo version of Sophisticated  Lady.  (After all, the standard of lip
> flexibility in jazz set by Jack more  than 60 years ago still stands, or 
> at least it
> should.)  Don't  misunderstand me.  I do not want jazz transmutated into a
> classical wannabe style.  (Ugh, that would be worse than all  those 
> horrible
> recordings by opera divas singing pop ballads!)  I just want  the same 
> standard of
> playing in jazz to be commonly held up that now  exists in the classical
> arena.  There are some that are doing it, but  not as many as some might 
> imagine
> if they would take the time to really,  really listen to the great 
> classical
> players.  For instance, how  many jazz trombone enthusiasts today have 
> actually
> heard Ian  Bousfield's CD "The Versatile Virtuoso"?  It should be required
> listening  for ANYONE who wants to claim to be knowledgeable in trombone 
> playing,
> whether  jazz, classical, or otherwise.  Bousfield's recording of 
> "Rhapsody
> For  Trombone and Brass Band" is one of the finest and emotionally 
> satisfying
> trombone recordings of any genre that I have ever heard.  (It also is a
> heavily jazz-tinged piece with an extended improvised section.)  Now, to 
> another
> issue raised by someone.  Is it necessary for all professional (or
> non-professional) jazz trombonists to play with this level of technical 
> accomplishment?
> OF COURSE NOT!!!   To even insinuate that is  just plain stupid.  However,
> this IS the level of accomplishment that  should unswervingly be held up 
> as the
> standard by which trombone playing should  be measured.  And I do not 
> think
> that is being done in the jazz trombone  community today, at least to the 
> extent
> that it should be.  If a jazz  trombonist does not play at the highest 
> level
> of performance possible, should  people no longer enjoy his playing?  Of
> course not.  As I mentioned, I  still listen to Watrous (and many, many 
> others) and
> I still enjoy his playing  even if I am no longer knocked over with 
> scorched
> eyebrows.  But we need to  always hold up the very highest standards as 
> the
> target for everyone to shoot  at.  And if we do not know what that target 
> is,
> how can we hold it  up?  How many jazz trombone enthusiasts actually buy 
> and
> listen to  recordings by the really great non-jazz trombonists that I 
> mentioned
> earlier in  this note? (And those names I gave were only a partial list. 
> I did
> not  mention Ronald Barron, Ralph Sauer, Jay Freidman, etc, etc.) 
> Certainly
> some do, but my experience tells me that it is not a large percentage. 
> The
> condensation of what I am saying is simple:  I am absolutely convinced 
> that
> one of the reasons that the trombone is becoming less and less used in 
> jazz
> groups as anything other than back up sound, is the continued idiotic 
> notion
> that the trombone is a clumsy instrument that cannot do what tenor saxes 
> can
> do.  There is absolutely no reason for that notion, and all those who 
> continue
> to think that way should be strapped to a chair and required to  listen to 
> all
> 50+ of Christian Lindberg's CDs, going back to his first one  cut in about
> 1982!  And if they still don't get the message, then move on  to the CD's 
> of
> other great trombonists.  And if they start to cry and beg  you to stop 
> force
> feeding them classical trombone music, then put on Herb  Bruce's "Heaven 
> and
> Earth" CD and play his cut of the Tommy Dorsey masterpiece 
> "Trombonology".  Does
> it sound like I am sick and tired of hearing  one shrill, honking tenor 
> sax
> solo after another?  Yes I  am.
>
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