[Trombone-l] Why no bands?

Wed Nov 30 09:44:31 CST 2005

If you think about it, with VERY high quality audio having been readily 
available for decades now. . .and with many, many very good albums availble 
from large numbers of very good artists. . . .we've become JADED. That is, 
perhaps, a statement loaded with negatives, but it CAN have a sort of 
postitive effect as you may see below.

Let me explain, that like so many theories, this one applies to the 
statistical central tendency of the entire populace and not to each 
individual randomly picked out of that populace.  What I'm saying is that as 
a group the world is affected by what they have in possessions and by what 
they do with them. We have been a world which has access to good quality 
recorded music and good variety of radio broadcast and TV broadcast for a 
long long time now.  This has influenced public opinion in a special way as 
regards musical styles.   One way of looking at it is that the world is 
moving toward more electronic music.  That is at least partly true.  But 
there are other effects noticeable regarding acoustic instrumental music.

We should note that anyone who has a stereo, likely has a collection of 
recordings and those recordings have very good examples of playing by very 
good players.  We could go around and sample and sample and we'd find that 
lots of persons have good examples in their collections of guitar playing, 
and drumming. . .and trumpet and sax. . .but how many have examples of great 
trombone section playing (e.g. good copies of some of the exciting Kenton 
bone section stuff like Intermission Riff, Interlude or Artistry in Rhythm. 
. .in GOOD versions)?.

ANSWER: very few.

Anyone with any interest in jazz-oriented sounds has likely heard very many 
excellent jazz performances.  So, for the jazz great we're talking about 
here, this means that, despite his beautiful playing, many will consider it 
high-level "mood music". . .or "ambient sound".  That's true if the sound is 
familiar. . .like with Sax. . .or trumpet. . .

That is the downside. .

Now the upside:

There is room for groups made up of "different sounding" sets of 
instruments.  For a trombone section player, this means that music that 
features the trombone can "take off" sometimes. We'd all have to admit that 
this sound is not that common on the radio or on TV.  It has an important 
place in Latin Jazz music, however.  So we have an accepted norm of Latin 
Jazz being somewhat "underutilized" as a "sound".  The time is ripe for 
Latin Jazz bone section stuff to be more prominent.  The time is ripe for 
the TROMBONE SECTION to be heard!

NEWS FLASH [sort of. . ]
My former trombone student, Denis Jiron, has a group here in LA called 
"Rumbankete".  This group is doing remarkeably well in the Salsa Band 
circuit around Hollywood, LA and the San Fernando Valley.  His band is 
gathering a devoted following at least in part because the SOUND of the 
group is unique.  This sound emphasizes the three trombone section with the 
addition of a couple of other horns and, of course, an excellent rhythm 
section.  I look forward to hearing more from this group.  Denis is 
justifiably proud of his group.  I'm proud of Denis.  He's a deserving guy, 
with good playing and a business-like, yet truly artistic approach to music. 
I'm hoping his success holds and expands.   And I'm thrilled that the bones 
are getting featured.

Chris Tune

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <richard.bartkus at cox.net>
To: <Trombone-l at server5.samford.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2005 4:13 PM
Subject: Re: Re: [Trombone-l] Why no bands?

> I'll second that !
>
> A couple weeks ago a very good friend and "outstanding" sax player was 
> performing at a local rest/lounge.  It was a simple gig wit just Greg and 
> sequenced rhythm tracks.  When I arrived he was blowing some serious 
> choruses to Summertime. While I could not find a place to sit, I stood as 
> close as possible to hear him.  Looking around the room, not a soul was 
> paying any attention to the music and maybe 3-4 people politely applauded, 
> but that was it.
>
> He is an "A" player by any standards and has recorded and performed with 
> Top grammy winning acts.  So, I DO NOT buy into the feeling that we just 
> need one good show.  There are many good shows with outstanding musical 
> performance that fold up all the time.  There is no simple answer.  My 
> personal opinion is that it is a matter of education of the masses.  There 
> are are exceptions, but in general, most are culturally illiterate when it 
> comes to music and the fine arts in general.
>
> Excuse my mini-rant please,
>
> Richard
>
>>
>> From: dslide13 at aol.com
>> Date: 2005/11/29 Tue PM 06:44:12 EST
>> To: Dansatt at aol.com,  TexasTbone at gt.rr.com,  BJMCHAFFIE at aol.com
>> CC: Trombone-l at server5.samford.edu
>> Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] Why no bands?
>>
>> I'm going to puke.
>>
>> David Gibson
>> trombonist/educator
>> www.jazzbone.org
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Dansatt at aol.com
>> To: TexasTbone at gt.rr.com; BJMCHAFFIE at aol.com
>> Cc: Trombone-l at server5.samford.edu
>> Sent: Tue, 29 Nov 2005 16:59:36 EST
>> Subject: Re: [Trombone-l] Why no bands?
>>
>>
>>
>> In a message dated 11/29/2005 4:10:56 PM Eastern Standard Time,
>> TexasTbone at gt.rr.com writes:
>>
>> All it  will take is one GREAT show with live musicians to do well, and
>> Vegas  won't have enough musicians to fill all the needed  bands.
>> --WD
>>
>>
>> I wish that were true...but too many times in the past few years,  acts
>> that
>> started out with a great band are reduced to nothing, because the
>> majority of
>> the listening public could care less if there are alot of live  bodies
>> onstage or not.  Broadway shows start out in New York with "decent"
>> sized
>> orchestras (even smaller to begin with these days after the last
>> theater
>> negotiation
>> there) and as soon as possible are reduced both in New York, and
>> invariably,
>> on the road.  It's all about corporate bottom line, and many  companies
>> are
>> taking the Michael Eisner/Disney approach... cut, cut, cut as much  as
>> possible
>> until it starts to affect ticket sales.  It doesn't matter if  you end
>> up
>> cutting exactly what makes your product special, because there's
>> always enough
>> ignorant public that will buy tickets.
>>
>> I played an orchestra pops show a couple of years ago with Broadway
>> star
>> Linda Eder that was alot of fun to play.  Great charts... big band and
>> strings.
>>
>> A few months later, I saw that she was doing the same program on
>> Valentine's
>> Day in Ft. Lauderdale at the Broward Center, a beautiful 2500+ seat
>> concert
>> hall.  Assuming it would be the same show, I got tickets, and was
>> dismayed
>> when we arrived and saw that she was looking very lonely on a  large
>> stage with
>> three horns, rhythm, and a string synth.  And the hall was  packed.
>>
>>
>> Dan
>>
>>
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