Brassy Monkey

Monday, April 19, 2010

Youngblood Brass Band

The Youngblood Brass Band started in my college-town, Madison, WI. The group was started in 1994 by sousaphonist (and now tubist for the Sotto Voce Quartet) Nat McIntosh and MC/snare-drummer D.H. Skogen, both high school students. YBB is a New Orleans style brass band that incorporates jazz, hip-hop, and punk qualities. Youngblood's current roster includes 11 members: D.H. on snare/vocals, 3 on percussion, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, 2 saxes, and a sousaphone - Nat is no longer with the group. A popular facet to Youngblood was Nat's sousaphone extended techniques. He was able to vocalize Disc Jockey scratches and zips, among other DJ techniques.

Brass Monkey Brass Band

The Brass Monkey Brass Band is an eight-piece New Orleans style brass band located in the SF Bay area. The group consists of one trumpet, two trombones, two sax, two rhythm, and a tuba. BMBB originally formed after playing a Fat Tuesday party in 1999 - bandleaders started writing and arranging music for the band and added it to their long list of other side-music jobs. BMBB group members also play for Santana, Sly and the Family Stone, KC and the Sunshine Band, and the Glenn Miller Orchestra. They have appeared on a 2002 Coca-Cola commercial, sporting events for the San Francisco Giants, as well as with Bobby McFerrin at the SFJAZZ Festival.

Hot 8 Brass Band

The Hot 8 Brass Band consists of 8 New Orleans natives. Many of them started playing together in high school and eventually started playing professionally in 1995. While they were popular within the city, they became internationally known after Hurricane Katrina. They were featured on CNN, Nightline, the New York Times, and were showcased in Spike Lee's documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in 4 Acts. Their last tour, entitled Finding Our Folk Tour, brought their music to evacuee shelters, temporary trailer parks, and cities in the US that have provided shelter to displaced victims of Hurricane Katrina.

American Brass Quintet - UW-Madison (pt. 2)

Just like the 50+ recordings American Brass Quintet has produced or been featured on, their live concert was just as good, if not better. The trumpets are able to blend in such a way that one often loses track of who's play which part. The entire group's sound is very well balanced and on the brilliant side - I assume this could be due to the bass trombone which is able to match the more brilliant qualities of the higher instruments than a tuba.

They opened the show with three canzoni by different composers. The canzona by Anthony Troilo featured the trumpets players using flugelhorns on rapid, "note-y" passages - this seemed unusual since flugelhorns are typically employed for slow, ballad-like music. This instrumentation worked well for the group since everyone had a relatively dark, mellow sound. The recital continued with a piece by Osvaldo Lacerda (b. 1927), Fantasia e Rondo. The final piece of the first half was by Shafer Mahoney, who was a winner of the ABQ commission contest ($6000 each to 4 composers). The parameters of this commission was very peculiar. The composer had to be from either one of the five boroughs of New York City, or else Minnesota. Mahoney was one of the recipients and won writing the three movement, Brass Quintet.

The second half opened with a very popular composer for the ABQ, David Sampson. Entrance, was originally entitled Exit until ABQ contacted Sampson and told him they were using it as an opener instead of a final piece. Powell joked with the audience that when one searches through Sampson's brass quintet compositions, they'll see two published works among the many: one titled Entrance, and one Exit. ABQ continued with the Maurer Five Pieces. Most brass musicians know of this pieces as having only three movements, but Maurer actually composed twelve. Thier concert ended with a Joan Tower piece called Copperwave. Tower, a prolific composer for brass instruments, was commissioned to write this piece for the ABQ.

The American Brass Quintet then held a masterclass the following morning after a quick hang atthe bar with UW-Madison brass musicians. They talked about each quintet member's role in quintet duties. They each had duties from arranging, to website upkeep, to travel and accommodation planning. They talked about how every group needs a leader and how Ray fits that position well. I noticed when Ray was speaking both about the quintet and about specific pieces, his public speaking was very conversational and made it appear that he thoroughly knew the material he was discussing. The quintet finished by coaching a student brass quintet.

American Brass Quintet - UW-Madison Residency (pt. 1

Last week I visited my old stomping grounds, UW-Madison, to attend the American Brass Quintet 2-day residency at the school of music. The group is currently on tour, celebrating their 50th anniversary. I was very fortunate to attend two rehearsals, a masterclass, and a recital (and even get a lesson from Kevin Cobb). ABQ's mission, from their website, states:

"Founded in 1960, the American Brass Quintet seeks to promote brass chamber music as a serious chamber music medium. We continue to enlarge the repertoire for brass quintet by commissioning, performing, and recording new works for brass quintet; and unearthing earlier music and compiling pieces into viable suites. In addition, within this site, we have made available a database of original works for brass quintet - more than 1400 works written since 1950. It is our desire that the availability of this database will encourage student and professional groups alike to perform original works for brass quintet."

The American Brass Quintet resides as chamber music and brass instrumental faculty at the Juilliard School of Music. Musicians include Ray Mase and Kevin Cobb on trumpet, hornist David Wakefield, trombonist Mike Powell, and John Rojak on bass trombone. During their visit to UW-Madison, they were greeted by two former members of ABQ: Prof. John Aley (trumpet) and Prof. John Stevens (tuba).

Aside from my lesson with Kevin, the most interesting ABQ event was their rehearsal. A few members of the Wisconsin Brass Quintet and I were the only audience members (I'm still not sure if the rehearsal was open to the public). While it is always special to see great artists perform, I think it's even better to see them work and rehearse. They played very little in their rehearsal, only running predetermined sections. Some rehearsal techniques I found very interesting included a member playing his part in the style he imagines the composer intended while the others simply listen and decide whether to follow or offer a different musical approach. They were very concise with their comments and each one was directed specifically to an individual, sub-group (e.g. low brass trio, trumpets), or the whole group. I saw very little of typical chamber music critiquing - namely, "I know I've been making this mistake or playing too loud" [whether that's true or not], "but we are too loud or making a mistake here..." They were very straightforward with no sugar coating, yet also not condescending. Powell said, "Kevin, you're too loud at rehearsal E." And that was that. I also remember Powell saying he thought the composer didn't intend for the style the trumpets were employing in a section and then followed up with his evidence.

ABQ's rehearsal was efficient and highly productive. Their second rehearsal which I attended was the morning after their recital. They briefly talked about (and rehearsed) sections of works that didn't go quite well in the performance and then moved onto other works they needed to prepare for the rest of their tour. I will post next on their recital and masterclass.