The Trombonist - Summer 2020

SUMMER 2020

The Trombonist

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President’s Welcome Editor’s Welcome MATTHEW GEE

BARNEY MEDL AND

Upheaval of work, home and social life has affected everyone in the wake of Covid-19, not least those in the music profession. Stories appear daily of musicians having to take up delivery or social care jobs to pay their rent.

But just for a second let us focus on the glass half full, which sees this as a chance to take a step back, to re-evaluate our work/life balance and find happiness in unexpected places. It turns out baking is my Elysium; I have become obsessed. The fridge is full of sourdough starters, cold-proofing doughs and packets of fresh yeast. But of course this will not pay the rent, and around my obsession with a nice open crumb, I have been trying to work out what a new-look career may contain: designing online courses, writing articles for various websites and a couple of sessions of playing have all helped keep the wolf from the door. So, do we want to go back to how it was?

From January to March this year I was almost exclusively on tour. I love touring and cannot wait to explore foreign lands once more, but it is tough with a young family, and when live music does return I have decided to be more selective about what work I do and where I do it. I am incredibly fortunate that my wife is a Doctor and she was able to take extra sessions to cover the cost of my artisan flour. There are obvious downsides to her profession at the best of times, not least during a pandemic, but it does make you appreciate life in whatever form it takes.

So how about we embrace the change, and if we do need a second job in the short term, see it as an opportunity to meet new people and try new things?

You never know, you just might like it.

Welcome to the Summer edition of your magazine.

Matthew Gee president@britishtrombonesociety.org

GET IN TOUC H:

I wanted to put education at the heart of this issue.

Across the country, throughout the Spring and Summer, youth music organisations have delivered valuable education to children and young people, despite the strongest of headwinds. After nearly six months out of school, many young people have found their music lessons and music courses the most significant face-to-face education they have received. They have also provided a valuable opportunity for interaction with their peers, all in the online world. For many professional musicians, educational work has been a lifeline as they stare at otherwise empty diaries.

In our cover story (pages 12–15) we hear all about one such organisation, The National Youth and National Children’s Brass Bands of Great Britain, that has delivered an innovative and inspiring programme of online Summer courses. Other pages in this issue include a feature from Slide Action, an exciting new trombone quartet (p. 18–21), and we have an interview with jazz trombonist and composer Tom Green about his latest album (p. 22–25).

With most live performances remaining unviable, and much talk of second waves and fresh lockdowns, the future will hold grave challenges for the music industry. However, with professional musicians like those featured in these pages, with organisations like the NYBB, and with young people like the two talented young trombonists who write for us in our cover story, we are reminded that whatever the future holds, there remains reason to stay hopeful.

Barney Medland editor@britishtrombonesociety.org

British Trombone Society, Registered Charity No: 1158011, Main Telephone: +44 (0)1924 437359 1 Ullswater Road, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, WF12 7PH, UNITED KINGDOM T WITTER FACEBOOK WEBSITE

THE TROMBONIST MAGAZINE TEAM EDITOR

Barney Medland editor@britishtrombonesociety.org SUB-EDITORS

Peter Chester Alison Keep NEWS EDITOR

Barney Medland news@britishtrombonesociety.org EVENTS EDITOR

Douglas Coleman events@britishtrombonesociety.org REVIEWS EDITOR

Jane Salmon reviews@britishtrombonesociety.org ADVERTISING MANAGER

Chris Valentine advertising@britishtrombonesociety.org MAGAZINE DESIGN

Sára Mikkelsen sra.mikkelsen@gmail.com saramikkelsen.com

CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE

Abigail Ornadel Adam Warburton Alison Keep Becky Smith Ben Stratford Barney Medland Carol Jarvis David Thornber Douglas Coleman Jeremy Price John Kenny Josh Cirtina Matthew Gee Peter Chester Pete Thornton Rob Egerton Dr Sarah Crick Yusuf Narçin

CONTENTS 03

WELCOME

06 08 11 12 16 17 18 22 26 28 34 36 38

NEWS

POSTCARD: FROM THE NORTH EAST

PRESIDENT’S TOOLKIT: THE TONGUE

THE FRONT COVER: NATIONAL YOUTH AT HOME*

REVIEW: IN PURSUIT BY CL AIRE MCCUE, WORLD PREMIERE

REVIEW: QUINTET- A -TETE

SLIDE ACTION

INTERVIEW: TOM GREEN

MUSICIANS’ HEALTH: MUSCULOSKELETAL HEALTH

JAZZ BY JEREMY: AFRICAN SHUFFLE

FROM THE STAGE TO THE PIT …

PUZZLES: CROSSWORD, SUDOKU, CODEWORD

WHAT’S ON

* Cover image: members of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain, with tutor Carol Jarvis.

Photo layout by Carol Jarvis

BRITISH TROMBONE SOCIET Y :

Officers & Staff // Honorary Patrons // Committee // Officers

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BY BARNEY MEDL AND

THE NEWS Last Chance to Enter BTS Competitions The deadline to apply for the Ian Bousfield Tenor Trombone Competition passed on 3 August. However, there is still time to register to participate in the Bob Hughes Bass Trombone Competition and the BTS Trombone Composers' Competition. The deadline to apply for the Bob Hughes Competition is Monday, 7 September, while the deadline for the Composers’ Competition is 30 August. For full details see the BTS Website.

The First Prize for both the Bob Hughes Competition and the Trombone Composers’ Competition will be a Focusrite 2i2 Home Recording Studio package.

The package includes a high-quality microphone and headphones, an audio interface, cables, recording software, and more. The home recording studio package provides everything required to make high-quality recordings at home.

For information about when the competitions will be taking place, visit the What’s On section (page 38).

New Trombone Repertoire on the Horizon The winner of the BTS Trombone Composers’ Competition will have their winning composition published by Bones Apart, and will be adding to the ever-expanding trombone repertoire.

Two important new commissions are on the horizon, striking a note of hope despite the current restrictions on live performance.

On 13 September, Jörgen van Rijen will perform the word premiere of a new trombone concerto by Bryce Dessner, a Grammy Award-winning composer.

The piece is a joint commission by the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège, and Orchestre National d’Île-de-France. It will receive its world premiere in Cologne, before van Rijen takes it 6

on tour to the United States of America. The dates are subject to last minute alterations due to the ongoing pandemic.

In Britain, on 8 April 2021, Peter Moore will perform the world premiere of a Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society commission. Dani Howard, an award-winning British composer who is quickly gaining international recognition, has been commissioned to write a new trombone concerto that Moore will perform with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

Death of Hugh Fraser Hugh Fraser, the multifaceted Canadian jazz trombonist, composer, pianist, and bandleader, passed away on 17 June 2020, aged 61.

Fraser was a huge figure on the Canadian jazz scene, praised for the great breath of his talent and much loved for his positivity and the enthusiasm he brought to everything he did. As well as his work in his native Canada, Fraser worked extensively in London and lived there for several years. Fraser was a close friend and collaborator with fellow Canadian jazz great, who spent decades in London, Kenny Wheeler. He played on Wheeler’s seminal album Music For Large And Small Ensembles, and conducted many concerts of Wheeler’s at the Southbank Centre. From the early '90s, for over a decade, he taught composition on the jazz course at the Royal Academy of Music, helping to establish the UK’s first degree awarding conservatoire jazz course.

More than 100 of Fraser’s original compositions were recorded in his lifetime.

Known for his great versatility and musicianship, and his generous personality, Hugh Fraser will be greatly missed on both sides of the Atlantic. In the sleeve notes to Fraser’s Juno award-winning 1997 album In the Mean Time, Slide Hampton summed it up by simply saying of Fraser: ‘anything that he’s involved in has to be good’.

READERS UNFAMILIAR WITH THE MUSIC OF HUGH FRASER MAY BE INTERESTED TO HEAR HIS 2005 ALBUM, FEATURING JAZZ COMPOSITIONS FOR TROMBONE ENSEMBLE, BONEHENGE.

NEWS Tributes Paid to American Trailblazer Pioneering trombonist Helen Jones Woods passed away on 25 July, aged 96. Woods was one of the last surviving members of the history making band The International Sweethearts of Rhythm, the first multiracial, all-female jazz band in the United States. The band toured America and Europe throughout the 1940s, playing at leading venues and performing with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie.

The Chicago Defender described them as ‘one of the hottest stage shows that ever raised the roof of the theater! [sic.]’

HELEN JONES WOODS. CREDIT: C HICAGO BLOOM PHOTOGRAPHY

As a black woman, performing in the United States during the days of the Jim Crow laws, Woods faced racism and sexism throughout her playing career.

The International Sweethearts of Rhythm often found finding accommodation difficult, and white members of the band sometimes had to apply blackfaces in order to placate crowds opposed to racial integration.

The Sweethearts disbanded in 1949, and Jones won a seat in the Omaha Symphony Orchestra. However, after only one concert with the orchestra the racial discrimination she had faced throughout her musical career culminated with her being sacked from the orchestra after the orchestral management saw her darker complexioned father and therefore realised she wasn’t white. After this setback, Woods left her career in music and retrained as a nurse, a career that lasted 30 years.

Woods was inducted into the Omaha Black Music Hall of Fame in 2007, in recognition of her trailblazing legacy.

Whichever Colour Your pBone, it’ll be Green Warwick Music Group, the makers of the pBone and pTrumpet, have become the first UK instrument manufacturer to be independently certified as carbon neutral.

The UK's leading sustainability assessor and independent validator, Carbon Footprint, has rated Warwick Music Group and its instruments as having net zero carbon dioxide emissions.

Chris Fower, Director of Creativity and Innovation at Warwick Music Group, said, ‘our goal has always been to make the joy of music accessible and fun. We chose to produce in plastic because it offers so many advantages over conventional methods. Not all plastic is bad plastic – we chose ABS because it is widely and easily recycled, is lightweight, has high tensile strength and scratch resistance. It is also available in a multitude of bright colours – but no matter the colour of the instrument, players and teachers can now be assured that our instruments are also the “green” choice.’

BBE Study into Covid-19 Infection Risk Several studies, including this one by Brass Bands England, have been conducted to assess the additional risks associated with brass playing and the spread of Covid-19. The BBE study found that, on average, playing a brass instrument released fewer respiratory aerosol particles than breathing or singing. Importantly, it also found that the risks of spreading the virus can be significantly mitigated with the use of barriers such as the newly released Moisture Guard, designed to cover the bell of brass instruments and reduce the emissions of respiratory aerosols.

From 15 August, limited indoor performances have been permitted, provided social distancing and extra health and safety measures are put in place.

And finally…

Last issue we brought you an interview with Chris Valentine, BTS’s Advertising Manager and producer of We’ll Meet Again, the BTS Isolation Mass Blow.

At time of going to print, Chris was busily working with a handful of editing assistants to pull together the 487 individual parts into a single epic performance.

The editing has been finished and the finished performance is magnificent. You can view it here. ◆

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Postcard: from the North East The first in a regular series in which our BTS reps across the country let us know what they’ve been up to…

What impressed David were the many resources out there, of the highest order. It is difficult to produce a list of favourites, but the following web-links are definitely noteworthy: ITALIAN BRASS FESTIVAL MATTHEW GEE C HRISTIAN JONES (YOUTUBE)

PETER (LEFT) AND DAVID WITH FORMER BTS PRESIDENT CHRISTIAN JONES, AT THE DURHAM TROMBONE DAY JULY 2019.

Dear All, We just thought we’d drop you a line to keep in touch in these strange times. We had hoped to see many of you at our trombone day in Durham in May but that wasn’t to be. We know many of you enjoyed our last adventures in Durham and we were hoping to see you all again.

No matter, we’re safe and well and we hope you are too.

So, what have we been doing in the trombone world?

What has struck both of us during this lockdown and isolation is the adaptability and generous spirit of trombonists and people interested in the trombone.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised. We are, after all, a curious, multi-faceted and generally gregarious bunch. Like many of you, no doubt, we’ve spent time trawling the internet and it is amazing to see how adaptable and creative our fellow trombonists have been.

For some it is certainly a matter of needs must, given the on-going difficulties of live performance opportunities, but it is clear that new skills in communication and musicmaking are being developed, which has to be good news.

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Peter has been listening to online performances of different sorts, although we’re both fans of Ben van Dijk’s Facebook page. Accessible via WWW.BASSTROMBONE.NL , Ben has made a deliberate effort to produce a steady stream of wonderful music.

Particular favourites have been a recent performance of Piazzola’s Oblivion, and there was a great new duet by Steven Verhelst called Lock Horns that will be fun to try once we ‘get out’! Another nice discovery was that the late Don Lusher has a FACEBOOK PAGE .

There’s been some gorgeous ensemble playing as well.

The theme from Jurassic Park got an impressive airing from an outstanding British team, HERE .

Back in May, at the height of the crisis, there was a performance of Bruckner’s OS JUSTI by Dutch trombone students which was very moving and worth a look.

A different sort of website we’ve found diverting is WWW.KIMBALLTROMBONE.COM. Will Kimball is a Professor at Brigham Young University, and this American academic site explores the trombone’s history, as well as aspects of playing. It has masses of detail and an extensive array of weird and wonderful pictures – all sorts of things you did not know.

Talking of resources, music publishers have been especially generous during these challenging times and we’ve found Warwick Music very helpful (WWW.WARWIC KMUSIC.COM ). They made many of their publications available to trombonists free of charge and

ASK AMOS – YOUR LETTERS

DURHAM CATHEDRAL

have much of their catalogue available for download at very low cost.

Being bass trombone players, we’ve been disappointed that the 2020 Dutch Bass Trombone Open planned for September has been cancelled – we’ll just have to keep practising! Maybe the big challenge is to keep the momentum when there’s not really a performance opportunity. We’ve found progress starts with keeping the trombone out of its case, so ‘the beast’ is there, in view, demanding to be played. Even five minutes a day has helped to keep the lips in some sort of shape. As for the dots, Peter enjoys the Bach Cellos Suites (yes, they do work, usually slowly (!), but try the Gigue from Suite No.5) and there’s also been lots to work at in Eliezer Aharoni’s The Non-Classical Bass Trombone.

The play-along CD is fun, if a touch fiendish in parts.

Likewise, Bob McChesney’s Harmonic Dexterity has been a challenging discovery – look it up on HERE .

Playing along, karaoke style, to any good singer, the likes of Frank Sinatra, Diana Krall or Ella Fitzgerald, for example, is a very enjoyable way of keeping in practice and developing your listening skills.

Staying at home has given everyone a chance to listen to music, maybe exploring new fields, or recalling old favourites. There have been some fabulous streamed videos online: David was very happy to see friends and former colleagues from the Royal Marines Band, including performances by Tony Boorer, Nick West and Chris Dean, and stellar performances by the trombone sections of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and London Philharmonic Orchestra. Among the albums he’s rediscovered over the past couple of months are: Stepping Stones: Micah Everett Bone-ified: Bill Watrous Fancy Free: Blair Bollinger

The Great Fontana: Carl Fontana Point in Time: Denson Paul Pollard Always Forward: Marshall Gilkes

(check out Puddle Jumping) Memories and Dreams: Ian Bousfield Ella Fitzgerald sings the George and Ira Gershwin songbook: Volume One – with the fabulous

Nelson Riddle trombone section.

For Peter, one lockdown project involved sorting out books and music, but it was easy to get distracted into lots of listening. It was good to rediscover albums such as Bones Galore, from 1969, and the CDs of the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble and Canadian Brass. And if anyone has never come across the 1990s trombone group Spiritual to the Bone, check them out for some amazing playing. THIS RECORDING will give you a flavour of their extensive CD recordings.

Doubtless like us you’ve missed going to concerts as well as performing. Climaxing with a weekend of Beethoven symphonies in February, the last big concert heard around here was the Hallé on top form in the Sage Gateshead with the Ninth – bravo Katy, Roz and Kyle.

Regrettably Beethoven didn’t write much for trombones, but what he did was always special, and he had the good taste to have them play at his funeral. By the way, John Suchet’s book, Beethoven: the Man Revealed, has been a recent good read as well.

Maybe lockdown has been a time of discovery after all. We’re looking forward to our next massed blow, hopefully in Durham next year. It will be a very special occasion when we can all meet again.

Keep safe and keep practising.

Best wishes, Peter Chester & David Thornber ◆ North East Representatives of the British Trombone Society

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PRESIDENT’S TOOLKIT:

The Tongue

BY MATTHEW GEE

We have explored the role of slide technique and air attacks within the articulation system. The final part for discussion is the function of the tongue. Despite being quite straightforward in concept, this can be by far the hardest and most disruptive part of the system.

Let us remind ourselves what happens when you play without the tongue. A very small amount of air is released down the instrument before the lips start to vibrate. In its simplest form, the function of the tongue is to remove this small amount of air, and in doing so cleans the front of the note. The release of the tongue from its point of contact – whether a strike or a seal and release – should occur precisely at the start of the note.

I like to imagine that the tongue is being blown out of the way by the air – air-led attacks, as I quite often tell my students. The contact of the tongue needs only be very light, just enough to make a seal with the roof of the mouth/top of the teeth (the point of contact can vary of course), but it should strike in the same place for any one note.

Variation within the tongue-strike – changing the weight and duration of contact – can produce a huge number of different colours and articulations, and with time these can all be practised and developed. But the technique above covers what I like to think of as the basic orchestral attack and would be used for the vast majority of the time.

To practice, I suggest repeated articulation on the same note whilst starving the instrument of air. It is quite hard to describe here, but the video should make it nice and clear. This allows the player to focus solely on keeping the tongue nice and light at the point of contact.

You know when it is working nicely because you create a very satisfying ‘pop’ for each articulation.

Once all three aspects of the articulation system have been worked on individually, it is time to put them together. This may take a little time, but I hope that knowing exactly how the system works and having specific exercises to practise each core element will allow you to really polish your basic articulation. ◆

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HE FRONT COVE

National Youth at Home STUDENT'S VIEW

BY ADAM WARBURTON

I first auditioned for the National Children’s Brass Band of Great Britain (NCBB) in 2016, when I was 11 years old, and was offered a place for that coming season. It was during my second course in NCBB that I decided to audition for the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain (NYBB) that autumn. Again, my audition was successful, and I was invited to be a member of the NYBB starting with the 2018 Easter course. Moving my way up the section, I was first awarded the Principal seat in NCBB in 2018 and Principal seat of NYBB in summer 2019. This is a huge honour for me given the calibre of players who have sat in these seats before me.

I was invited to be a member of the ground-breaking inaugural virtual courses, both as a mentor for NCBB, and as a member of the NYBB. These were courses like no others; we couldn’t meet with our friends physically.

With many events having been cancelled due to restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 outbreak, it was great to be part of something rather than just practising on my own. Despite some teething troubles, which were quickly resolved, it was still a wonderful two weeks, and having had the experience, I’m certain it would be built upon to be even better should we have to do it again.

way to talk to them one-on-one, but I did get to know my section very well, during the course. Unfortunately, we missed out on the usual recreational activities of playing Tennis with Nicholas Childs, or Football and Manhunt, but we still managed to have a quiz (hosted by Owen Farr), which was enjoyed by all, and as always, worked very well!

Member of the NYBB My second virtual week, starting on the Sunday evening following the Children’s Band course, was the NYBB. I feel very privileged to have been the section principal for the second consecutive course. In a packed week, Carol Jarvis (​ the returning Trombone Tutor for this virtual course) kept us all engaged throughout in sectionals, and even treated us to an appearance of Christopher Bill, who presented a masterclass on improvisation, recording, and looping. Socially, it initially proved difficult to connect with friends made on previous courses, but an increase in our understanding of the technology, quickly meant that we could go into a ‘breakout room’ and connect with our friends. This in turn led to more interaction, and since anybody could join, we could ‘meet’ with the new members and make them feel more welcome.

Throughout the course, a number of activities had Mentor for the NCBB been scheduled; one of these was an interesting talk During the week, we were given plenty of time to practise on Diversity and Inclusion, led by Chi Chi Nwanoku, during our sectionals, including a private lesson from the Duncan Beckley and Clarence Adoo. It gave everyone section tutor. For the trombones, it was Whitburn Band’s in the band an insight into discrimination found within Paul Kiernan; I’ve been working on Autumn Leaves and it society, through their sharing of personal experiences. was great to get feedback from another player. Everything We were also given a presentation by The Band of the went swimmingly in the sectionals, apart from his Wi-Fi Household Division of The British Army, who explained service! Paul shared his expertise among the section and their role, how the ceremonial parade for the Queen’s treated us to some of his own playing. Being a mentor, birthday was put together, and how they cope with the I had the added responsibility of making everyone feel heat! This gave band members information on a potential welcome. This posed a challenge as we couldn’t find a future career path.

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PHOTO: LORNE CAMPBELL / GUZELIAN

WE GET THE LOWDOWN ON THE NATIONAL YOUTH AND NATIONAL CHILDREN'S BRASS BANDS OF GREAT BRITAIN SUMMER COURSES, WITH A DIFFERENCE.

THE FRONT COVER

STUDENT'S VIEW

BY ABIGAIL ORNADEL

Hi, my name is Abi. I am 16 and I joined the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain (NYBB) in 2019.

I started trombone lessons at school when I was 9 years old. When I was 11, I became a member of the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain, where I remained for four years until joining NYBBGB last year. In 2017, I gained a place at the Junior Department of The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where I currently hold the trombone scholarship.

The NYBB is very friendly, and when I started I felt that I had been accepted into a large family with a long tradition. I had the opportunity to meet other musicians of the same age and a similar mindset.

Last year we had two eight-day residential courses – Easter and Summer. Our days involved sectionals and full band rehearsals, and the guest soloists gave a masterclass. Socially, we hung out in ‘Bar Raymond’ after the evening rehearsal, with pizza night, quiz night, disco and an informal concert night.

Each course ended with public concerts – on the penultimate and final nights. Our guest soloist at Easter was world-renowned trumpet player Allan Vizzutti, and in the Summer the guest soloist was distinguished trombonist Carol Jarvis. We were really lucky to have Carol as our tutor for the week, leading our trombone sectional rehearsals. Carol gave us a hint of what it is like to use recording technology, and we produced and posted a version of Christopher Bill’s arrangement of Shenandoah online.

The National Youth At Home 2020 was very different: it was completely virtual because of the coronavirus pandemic. Luckily, our trombone tutor was Carol again, whose knowledge and expertise in both the music and technology industries provided us with the best possible course. As with a physical NYBB course, our days were structured around a timetable, but our interactions occurred over Zoom. There were large parts of the day taken up making individual recordings that were put together to create our ensemble performances.

Although doing a course virtually couldn’t give us the same ability to socialise as the residential course, it has helped us grow as musicians and individuals. Playing is different when recording in a room on your own compared to playing in a room with other people.

When you record, you are more aware of imperfections: every note, every tiny mistake, every split note, and even your appearance.

Even though we weren’t together physically, Zoom enabled us to re-create ‘Bar Raymond’. Despite not being together, we still managed to hold our infamous Quiz Night, hosted by John Maines, on the online platform Kahoot. We also did ‘karaoke’, when we played along to an old recording while we watched Bramwell Tovey conduct over Zoom. We played Night to Sing and Coventry Variations, both composed by Mr Tovey, and Kingdom Triumphant, composed by Eric Ball.

The course concluded a week after the last day of rehearsals with a joint concert with the National Children’s’ Brass Band of Great Britain. They started off the concert with Liberty Bell by John Philip Sousa arr.

Robert Childs, then Brett Baker played Autumn Dreams

by Leo Zimmerman. The first half of the concert ended with a commission by Peter Graham called Strange New Worlds.

NYBB kicked off the second half of the concert with William Rimmer’s march The Cossack, which has become one of our signature pieces. David Childs performed three beautiful solos on the euphonium: The Better World by Norman Bearcroft, I’ll Make Music

by Karl Jenkins, and Carnival of Venice by Paganini / Arban.

We watched ourselves perform Madrigali, which was written specifically for the virtual course by Bramwell Tovey. In his own words, ‘Madrigali is a set of instrumental madrigals for each section of the band.’

It was an unusual experience hearing our ensemble piece when you’ve recorded your individual part separately from the other players. In a regular rehearsal you hear each other and work together. However, this shows us how music transcends challenges, and even though we were not together physically, we could still produce an amazing piece of music. The concert was expertly put together by Ben Stratford and his team, creating both a visual and musical performance.

Thank you to Alun Williams, Ben Stratford, Bramwell Tovey and everyone else involved in making the course happen.

Continues on next page …

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THE FRONT COVER

TUTOR'S PERSPECTIVE

BY CAROL JARVIS

I’ve been involved with the NYBB since last summer, when Bramwell Tovey and the late Philip Biggs invited me to be the guest soloist with the band for their summer 2019 course.

This summer, not surprisingly, has been very different indeed. Instead of coaching the eight young trombonists in person all week, and rehearsing my solos with the full band, the entire week-long course moved online. But that’s all that changed.

The whole course worked surprisingly well online.

With the dashboard platform that was created by Ben, every student and member of staff had their schedule, rooms to go into (Zoom calls to join), PDF music and backing track downloads. Staff meetings, sectionals, full band rehearsals, talks, discussions, presentations, and even concerts (pre-recorded) took place. It was a chock-a-block week!

There was a lot more work needed ahead of the week, than if the course had been in person. There was, for example, planning ensemble pieces, exporting and uploading backing tracks and click-tracks for the first day, so that students had enough time to record and then allowing enough time for audio and video editing before the end of the week.

Between rehearsals and sectionals there were some

extremely interesting talks and discussions on equality and diversity in music, and careers in the Armed forces.

It was so valuable for students to be taking part in such activities.

Even though the feeling of making music together wasn’t completely there during the week, I feel that some new skills were touched upon for the students, and skills that you need in the profession, like recording to click-track for example, so all in all, it adapted into an extremely valuable week for all involved.

As long as you’re adaptable and versatile and open to change, then I feel that there will always be work for musicians. The musicians I’ve worked with online during this lockdown time have been highly adaptable to the uncertain circumstances in the music world.

However, I fear that many West End shows and music venues will be closing their doors for good because of the financial impact that COVID-19 has had upon our beloved industry.

Fingers crossed that musicians, venues, ensembles, shows can all be as adaptable as the NYBB proved to be on this course. Bravo to all involved!

Carol Jar vis is a world-renowned trombonist, f irst vice president of t he International Trombone Association, and former president of t he British Trombone Society. Visit her website HERE.

▶ THE TROMBONES OF THE NYBB, WITH THEIR TUTOR CAROL JARVIS, PERFORM GABRIEL'S OBOE BY ENNIO MORRICONE. ARRANGED FOR NINE TROMBONES BY CAROL JARVIS.

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THE TECHNICAL SIDE

BY BEN STRATFORD

Technical manager Ben Stratford tells us how he made the whole thing work.

PHOTO CREDIT: NYBB

THE FRONT COVER

THE FRONT COVER

Could you tell us about your professional background and what you’ve done with the NYBB in the past?

When I was younger I was both a member of the NCBB and NYBB and was really excited to use my knowledge of digital design and development to create the digital footprint of the NYatHome courses.

Have there been any particularly tough challenges to overcome?

The toughest challenge was stitching together around 70 videos to create one single performance. Both the audio editing and video editing took up to a whole day per minute of music!

What has your role with the NYBB been this Summer?

My role was quite varied, however, primarily I was the technical manager who ran the course through the schedule and making sure I was on hand to answer and solve any technical issues that arose.

What have you learned that you will apply to your work in the future?

My knowledge that I have gained from the course is so varied and so vast, but mainly I’ll remember and implement how digital systems and networking can create an extremely intuitive experience. This in some ways could be said to be better than what was possible on the physical course! ◆

Could you briefly outline the NYBB programme of events for this Summer and how it had been delivered; with a particular focus on how technology has made it possible?

It was all made possible mainly because of the web-app I created which ran the summer school; it contained libraries of repertoire covered during the courses, an upload feature to which delegates could upload their individual performances to be stitched together, a schedule system which linked to specific meetings on Zoom and it contained a shop where they could purchase merchandise. The calls were handled by Zoom and scheduled from the NYatHome Dashboard which I hand-coded for use on all digital devices.

Ben is a digital designer who has specialised in design for

music and musical pursuits. Wit h a Honors Degree in Music per formance from t he Royal Welsh College of Music and

current principle baritone at t he Tredegar Town Band, music has always been a big factor in his life. During his studies he continued his passion for design and star ted Mango

Design from his halls of residence. Five years later and wit h a whole host of awards for his design work , he has seen

Mango Design flourish and take a commanding role in t he

visual aspects of brass bands and t he fur t her musical world.

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In Pursuit,

by Claire McCue

EV I V

World premiere, performed 11 January by the Edinburgh Contemporary Music Ensemble.

For more about John Kenny, visit: www.carnyxscotland.co.uk

BY JOHN KENNY

N

This impressive concert, by one of Scotland’s most ambitious new music ensembles, featured the world premieres of four new works by Scottish based composers: Claire McCue, Tom David Wilson, Harry Whalley and Julien Lonchamp. It also celebrated the music of one of Britain’s most respected composers 20th Century composers, Thea Musgrave, who was born and studied in Edinburgh, with a performance of her expansive orchestral concerto The Seasons.

In Pursuit by Claire McCue is effectively a double concerto for two trombonists with large chamber orchestra or small symphony orchestra. The piece is 16 minutes long, and in a single movement, although its internal structure is effectively three clearly contrasted sections. The two soloists for this world premiere, Dávur Magnussen & Simon Johnson and principal trombonists of the Royal Scottish National and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestras respectively – met the challenges of the piece not only with assured technical mastery, but also with a delightful humour and sensitivity that served McCue’s music admirably.

The piece begins with both soloists stage front, but spatially separated to the extreme right and left of the stage, sending gusts of air through their instruments over shimmering, limpid textures reminiscent of Sibelius.

The music is very beautiful, full of light and dappled shadings – the trombones gradually beginning their pursuit – of what? Of each-other? Of an idea? Of a melody? A character? All of these things: this is not a programmatic piece, but it is nonetheless clearly dramatic in intent. The opening watery landscape now shifts to minimalistic figures, and the soloist being to chase each other through repetitive string, wind and percussion textures, calling, signalling – but playful, in an overwhelmingly major modal sound world.

McCue understands the trombone extremely well; her deliberate directions for the use of straight sound, high pressed slide vibrato at climactic points and the wide dynamic range of the trombone is perfectly scored.

As the soloists gradually move to centre stage, Magnussen switches to alto trombone, but McCue chooses not the

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THE T WO SOLOISTS, WITH COMPOSER CL AIRE MCCUE CREDIT: GORDON BRAGG

CONDUCTOR: GORDON BRAGG SOLOISTS: DÁVUR JUUL MAGNUSSEN AND SIMON JOHNSON

high but middle register of the alto, with Johnson’s tenor lines sailing above, in the unrolling of a long, sensuous duo of gradually rising and falling legato lines, over the continually shifting, relentless forward movement of the orchestral textures. The music now shifts to darker colours for the first time, with long glissandos from both the soloists and strings, cutting across the still rapid and undulating textures of the full ensemble. Discords develop and resolve in passing, and minimalistic figures becoming more defined and violent until a cadenza passage for alto and tenor trombones emerges out of the chaos.

McCue’s use of muted trombones against the open soloists is very subtle and powerful, and her use of the bassoon and contra bassoon as a mediating texture, bridging the sound of trombone and strings is particularly effective. A pointillist, brooding dialogue develops with the soloists exchanging extremely rapid falling gestures, before moving into a ‘hanging garden’ of wind and harmonic string chords against which the trombones alternate high commentaries and slowly warbling glissandi.

The final section of the piece is a fast and furious duel, with the two soloists now playing close together, swinging their instruments around, one often above the head of the other, facing the audience, the walls, the audience, the orchestra – it is all tightly choreographed, and must of course be played from memory. The tension, physicality and volume mount until there is really nowhere left to go – and so ends the pursuit, with a shout!

In Pursuit is wonderful addition to the trombone’s concert repertoire. By turns beautiful, mysterious, frightening, hilarious, and exhilarating it is a piece which demands the highest level of skill and commitment from the soloists, and Dávur Magnussen and Simon Johnson supplied all of that and more, in a stunning duo performance. The Edinburgh Contemporary Music Ensemble, under Gordon Bragg’s direction, also rose to the challenge with distinction. McCue’s, In Pursuit deserves to be widely performed, and hopefully Simon Johnson and Dávur Magnussen will find the opportunity to record the piece for general release. ◆

CLAIRE MCCUE IS A PRIZE-WINNING SCOTTISH COMPOSER, COLL ABORATOR AND MUSIC EDUCATOR. HER MUSIC HAS BEEN PERFORMED ACROSS THE UK, AS WELL AS INTERNATIONALLY, AND HAS BEEN BROADCAST ON BBC RADIO 3 AND BBC SCOTL AND.

R

RE V I E W Quinteta-Tete

BY YUSUF NARÇIN

Facebook live: 02 August 2020.

It was a pleasure to have been present at Quintet-a-Tete’s debut gig three years ago at Ronnie Scott’s, and back then I would have not believed that in the future I would be asked to review the band performing on Facebook live. These times are of course different and now we are all bored at home wanting some ultra-swing in front of our computers … Enter Quintet-a-Tete!

The band came together out of a mutual love for the great collaboration between trumpet player Clark Terry and valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, and they have slowly moved from performing mainly the Terry and Brookmeyer repertoire into showcasing mostly their own compositions. James’ and Callum’s characterful style throughout the concert channels the historic combo whilst respectfully injecting the music with elements of their own personality. Sam, Misha, and Matt are a fierce driving force, keeping the listener at ease as they effortlessly move between world class section playing and virtuosic solos. It’s worth mentioning the efforts of Chris Traves, who engineered the sound for the concert – the best quality audio I’ve experienced in a live stream (despite Facebook compressing the audio quality – BOO!).

The show began with an explosive Terry & Brookmeyer tune, Haig & Haig, featuring fiendish

TRUMPET – JAMES DAVISON VALVE TROMBONE/TROMBONE – CALLUM AU PIANO – SAM WATTS BASS – MISHA MULLOV- ABBADO DRUMS – MATT SKELTON

demonstrations on the valves from James and Callum.

James and Callum’s slower Duck & Cover saw boisterous brass blows followed by softer solos and classy interplay from the rhythm section. Next, another original, Me Time, based on the changes of All of Me featured some beautiful Ellington-esque playing from Sam Watts, and a head (the main theme) that gave homage to the brilliant Billy Byers arrangement of the standard for the Basie Band. Next, Verity, taking things down to a gentle ballad dedicated to the trumpet player Verity Jacklin. Contrasting this, the band then let Matt off his leash to feature on Step Right Up, a tune from Terry and Brookmeyer’s original pianist Roger Kelloway. The Fox with Long Socks, another original, sounded as jolly as the name. To finish, the band played their name sake Têteà-Tête, the first track on Terry and Brookmeyer’s debut album, a brazen finale featuring the whole band – Bravo!

We can all agree after these four months of screen time that live streams are not the future of live music.

Quintet-a-tete, however, provided a much needed portal into a world we have all missed dearly, and to the livestream’s credit, you can watch it back retrospectively, at THIS link, which I very much recommend. And remember … the band are still taking donations! ◆

LOGO CREDIT: STUART CRANE

Bold as Brass Podcast Nosy trombonist Melissa Brown c hats to brass professionals about t heir careers, how t hey got t here and what music t hey’d happily put in t he bin!

Lots of trombonists for your ears including Lindsay Shilling, Sue Addison and Carol Jar vis alongside ot her brass names t hat we’re sure you’ll recognise!

FB: BOLD AS BRASS PODCAST Instagram: @BOLDASBRASSPODCAST

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CREDIT: BENNY VERNON

Slide Action

JOSH CIRTINA TELLS US ABOUT HIS AWARD-WINNING QUARTET: THE STORY SO FAR AND THEIR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: HUW EVANS, BENNY VERNON , JAMIE T WEED, JOSH CIRTINA

Slide Action formed in the autumn of 2018, initially with the single aim of competing in the International Trombone Association quartet competition. In fact, we were so set on that one goal, we all agreed that we wouldn’t ever do any concerts, nor have a social media presence and so on – it was just for fun. We had all either just graduated or were in our final year at the Royal Academy of Music where we had met a couple of years prior. Having had a great time at the RAM together, we didn’t want to drift apart as we all embarked on freelance careers, so the quartet enabled us to stay in touch and keep on our toes with difficult repertoire!

So, we got together for a couple of rehearsals, duly recorded the pieces set by the ITA, and then forgot about everything until the results of the preliminary recorded round were announced a few months later… we were through to the final! Our single aim was a reality! Unfortunately, it then suddenly dawned on us that since the final was taking place in Indiana, USA, 18

we were going to have to fund the costs of the trip ourselves, and since we were all fresh-faced freelancers living in London, we were not flush with cash to say the least. Within 4 months of our formation we were going to have to break our only rule and start doing some concerts. And with that, the group began to find its feet.

On to the introductions, there are 4 of us (obviously), in no particular order: HUW EVANS – Huw was initially a euphonium player from the age of 7, but saw the light, aged 16, and moved to the trombone. He studied at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama for his undergraduate degree, before moving to London to do his Masters at the RAM. Since graduating, Huw has been busy freelancing with various orchestras such as London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Aurora Orchestra and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra to name but a few. Huw also dabbles with

SLIDE ACTION

doubling instruments such as the bass trumpet and alto trombone. When Slide Action ventured out to Indiana last summer, Huw also reached the final of the ITF Solo Alto Trombone Competition.

To distract himself from blowing down a metal pipe all day, Huw likes to spend his time baking, playing squash and singing in a Welsh choir. Oh, and he’s also scarily good at throwing a tea bag into a mug from a great distance.

BENNY VERNON – He has played trombone for quite a while now, studying first at Wells Cathedral School, then at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he graduated in 2018. Since graduating, he has taken part in the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s Future First scheme and has since performed as an extra in the orchestra. Other professional engagements include performances with the Aurora Orchestra, dep. work on Fiddler on the Roof in the West End, and touring performances of William Kentridge’s The Head and the Load with the New York based Knights Orchestra.

He has a passion for new and contemporary repertoire, taking part in the Lucerne Festival Academy 2019, and managing his own experimental music ensemble the 4|12 Collective.

Aside from music, Benny is a keen photographer, running his own portraiture business on the side.

He also loves film, art, and cooking (only vegetarian food though).

– Jamie started playing the trombone at the age of seven, despite it being as tall as he was at the time. He then went to Wells Cathedral School, and in doing so met Benny, meaning the Slide Action origin story is almost a decade old. He then studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Mark Templeton, Matt Gee, and Ian Bousfield, and graduated in 2019, making him the freshest and least cynical of the group.

Jamie is currently freelancing and teaching, and

JAMIE T WEED

has played with the likes of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and SouthBank Sinfonia. In 2018 he was the principal trombone of the Britten Pears Orchestra. He also likes to think he can play jazz sometimes and has performed with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and Ed Leaker’s Swing Machine.

Aside from trombone tooting, Jamie is a keen skier and is trying to persuade the quartet to do a tour of the Alps. He also enjoys climbing, cooking and producing electronic music.

– Josh first handled a trombone at the age of 11, when he was only marginally smaller than he is now. It turned out he liked it, so joined his local brass band. From there Josh went on to be a member of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain and the Fairey Band. Josh studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and RAM with James Garlic, Adrian Morris, Christian Jones, Bob Hughes, Keith McNicoll and Ian Bousfield who were all truly fantastic teachers.

From time to time Josh likes to play tunes and has had some successes including winning the British Trombone Society Bob Hughes and the International Trombone Association George Roberts competitions in 2014.

A highlight of his solo career has been performing Frosty the Snowman live on Sky TV from a cave in Yorkshire in sub-zero temperatures.

Following a journey of self-discovery, Josh decided that minims and semibreves were much more his thing and began working with orchestras across the UK, including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Academy of St Martin-in-the-fields, Philharmonia, Aurora Orchestra, BBC Symphony & Hallé to name a few, and was a member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester from 2017–2019. In 2019, Josh was appointed Principal Bass Trombone of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and is having thoroughly nice time.

JOSH CIRTINA

▶ Continues on next page …

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SLIDE ACTION CREDIT: BENNY VERNON

In our brief existence so far we’ve been very fortunate to have our fair share of successes. I guess we’d probably all agree that of course the biggest highlight in our short time together so far was winning the 2019 ITA Quartet competition. We really didn’t expect to at all and were just delighted to be there at the festival. We made some great friends out there, of which there is more about below.

We’ve also heavily invested time in recording for our Facebook/YouTube channel which has had some wonderfully rewarding results – a particular favourite of mine is Bruckner’s Christus Factus Est, which was pretty much the last time we played together live before lock down.

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Also, gaining the support of Denis Wick London Ltd. has been hugely beneficial and gave us real confidence that we’re moving the quartet in the right direction, and we couldn’t be more thankful to them.

With the successes though, comes the difficulties. We took a while deciding what we wanted to be … quite simply doing everything possible to not be ‘just another student trombone quartet’.

We’ve spent hours and hours discussing the direction we want the group to move in following our win at the ITF, and how to build on it. We had no desire to go down the well-trodden path of touring the country playing for various music societies. I’d like to add that there’s really nothing wrong with that at all and many very successful chamber groups make it work fantastically for them, but since we are all (usually) busy professional players, we were really concerned about the dilemmas encountered with, for example: a single quartet date clashing with one of us being offered a monthrun of an opera. We were really clear from the start that we didn’t want to be ‘depping out’ any of the parts, as we wanted to do a lot of programmes entirely from memory with very challenging music, so it just wouldn’t work.

Another difficulty is also funding.

Having all graduated now, grants and funding are very much less available.

We’re really lucky that Benny is a great photographer and Jamie has awesome recording skills. This has enabled us to save potentially thousands of pounds in external hire and production costs. The key to this though is being really strict with yourselves on the quality of the content: anyone can put a video of a tune out there now, so the production values are paramount if you want it to be a hit.

What I’d really like to emphasise with this article though are the rewards that come with the hard work of developing a chamber group. There are so many. We all earn the bulk of our living playing on stage or in the pit with various orchestras, so chamber playing adds a wonderful extra dimension that’s so different to our usual day-to-day playing. It develops your musicianship in really interesting ways, including a real heightened sense of awareness of what’s going on around you and the ability to personally make much bigger musical

SLIDE ACTION

CREDIT: BENNY VERNON

decisions as a group without a conductor. Furthermore, from a purely technical point of view – quartet playing is amazing for developing stamina, as a lot of the rep is pretty intense and the instrument is on your face for the whole piece without many bars rest … we all certainly really feel it in rehearsals if we’ve not played together for a few weeks.

Talking of not playing together for a few weeks … or months … lockdown has been quite frustrating, as it has been for many, putting a stop to projects that were about to happen. Initially we were pretty fortunate that just before the lockdown we had spent a few days recording videos for our Facebook/YouTube channel, so we were able to release them a little quicker than originally planned – as Jamie and Benny, who do all the audio/visual editing in house, suddenly found themselves with a lot of free time to get it all done.

Also, as I mentioned earlier, while in the USA last year, we made some new friends! In the quartet competition final with us was the Chicago Thunderchops quartet, from Northwestern University.

We had a great evening in Indiana with them, and joked about joining together for an octet one day. With the sudden rise in international collaboration videos from

late March, we thought now was the perfect time to join the party and do something together, albeit virtually.

Thus, the ‘THUNDERSLIDE ACTIONC HOPS ’ were formed!

So, what are we planning for the future? In the immediate future: not a lot. However, looking a little further ahead, as the country settles into whatever the new normal is, we have a number of projects ready to go as soon as restrictions allow. In addition to the brass, wind and percussion category final of the Royal Over Seas League competition which has just been rescheduled, we have a series of recordings planned of vocal music arranged for the quartet, plus a project to record and perform live a new suite of tunes paying tribute to an old 1950’s American TV show. We’re also looking forward to continuing a relationship we’ve begun with a church in Central London, featuring a series of performances of Bruckner’s music for voices and trombones. The future is looking bright, once we get there! ◆ To keep up to date with all the latest from Slide Action, follow their FACEBOOK PAGE .

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BY PETE THORNTON

Tipping Point Pete Thornton talks to trombonist & composer Tom Green about his new album, his work in lockdown, his thoughts on climate change, the state of the music industry, and more.

PETE THORNTON: Tipping Point is your second studio album, what’s the story behind the album?

When I was writing the music there was a lot kicking off in the world, what with climate change and political upheaval, and it felt that the global situation has shifted since writing my debut album, Skyline. There’s a lot more angst and global challenges which have influenced the music. For example, the title track is darker, more intricate and definitely a bit heavier, but I also try to keep bits simple to balance the more turbulent sections with some kind of hope. I think that hope is important when dealing with any kind of global challenge.

I made Tipping Point and had it all ready for release when Covid happened, and it accidentally gave the title a new meaning. It wasn’t originally about that but it’s all part of the trajectory that the world seems to be going in – to a more unstable place.

TOM GREEN:

PT: Ironically, climate change may have taken a positive turn as a result of Covid – with fewer aeroplanes, and fish returning to canals for instance.

TG: I’m passionate about climate change and it’s quite difficult to know whether Covid is going to be overall positive for the climate or not. Before Covid, climate change was at the top of government agendas but now it’s taken a step down. There are lots of movements to build back in a green way but I’m worried that

22

governments will get the economy going in a cheap and easy way instead. But there has been a real upsurge in people taking more interest in nature because they’re focussing on the area around them, which is amazing.

I think that public opinion has been helped by this but the challenge of getting governments to do anything, maybe not.

PT:

Tell me about the recording process of Tipping Point.

It’s almost the same band as Skyline, five years ago, and I’ve known them for a long time. James Davidson (trumpet) and I grew up together in Cambridge – we went to jam sessions and snuck into pubs and things.

It’s quite a close-knit group. We did a big, eighteen-date, launch tour for Skyline and everyone gets on, so it was a really nice process recording Tipping Point as everyone was so relaxed.

We recorded it at AIR Studios in London. It was great, really lucky to get it. John Prestage (engineer) basically produced it, as well as recording and mixing, because he’s one of these engineers who you give the score to, and he’ll follow through and mark in if someone plays a bum note or something, at the same time as he’s dealing with all of the recording stuff – it’s ridiculous! So he was kind of co-producer as well. And a super nice guy, we were lucky to have him.

TG:

PT: Due to Covid, the album’s launch tour has had to be postponed. Have you rescheduled the cancelled dates?

SPARK L ABEL, 2020

INTERVIEW

I’ve been rescheduling for early next year but I’m waiting to see what happens. I don’t want to put in too much time and energy when nobody knows what’ll happen next month, let alone in eight months!

What I’m hoping is that when we’re clear of this situation and peoples’ confidence is restored in going out to live gigs, I’ll be able to put some time into doing an album launch tour. It might be a mix of dates with the septet and a smaller group – I’ve been doing a lot of writing during lockdown for other projects, so it might be a combined tour or something, but something will happen in 2021 I’m sure!

TG:

PT:

What else have you been up to in lockdown?

TG: I’ve still felt quite busy, which is nice, and part of that is because I’ve got a young family. With Patchwork Jazz Orchestra (PJO) we’ve release and EP so, along with many others, I’ve finally got my home recording setup sorted and I’ve been doing bit of recording for others.

But we decided to make five remotely recorded tracks with PJO and the way we did so was quite interesting.

The composer made a guide track with tempos and so on and then the rhythm section did a rough take.

The horns played on top of that, then soloists, and finally the rhythm section re-recorded their parts, so you get a bit more of that interaction because their parts are the most improvised and they could bounce off soloists and hear the full band. We got it properly mixed and mastered and are pretty pleased with the result.

Then personally, I’ve been doing some writing but not for any project in particular – just exploring ideas without worrying about deadlines or commissions, but enjoying the freedom to just sit at a piano and write, so that’s been nice.

What are your thoughts on the current Covid situation and the uncertainty going forward with the music industry in this country?

PT:

Continues on next page …

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INTERVIEW

TOM GREEN TG: Because everyone’s suddenly lost all of their live work, everyone’s recording and releasing music videos online and on social media. What is interesting is that it’s really difficult to monetise recorded music now.

Even musicians expect to be able to access recorded music for free, and that’s the legacy of streaming and the massive change in the music industry that happened ten years ago that snuck up on musicians. If live music had been halted thirty years ago musicians would have still had income from recordings and royalties and that’s something which has been lost. Musicians’ income is their live work! Making money from recorded music isn’t an option anymore. Covid has definitely highlighted that for me. It’s really hard and I don’t know what the solution is, but that’s how it is now.

I do think that Bandcamp are really good because the way they work is that you can stream stuff but are prompted to buy if you’ve listened a few times. There are so many ways that the streaming model could be better but it’s just not how it’s been set up. It’s even difficult now if you want to play a physical music collection, because modern smart speakers are designed to work with a streaming service.

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PT: I find it so much less enjoyable when it’s so easy as well. I jumped on the craze a few years back of buying vinyl and building a collection of old records, and it’s the most fun I’ve had listening to music – because it’s such a faff! Setting it up, storing it correctly, flipping it over and all of those things.

Because it’s something you have to put time into, it makes you appreciate it. Now with the ease of access, recorded music has become background music. I don’t think the general population would sit down and listen to an album without doing something else. Listening to music isn’t viewed as an activity anymore.

TG:

PT: So it kind of places more of an importance on live music then, for it to be an activity in itself.

TG: Absolutely! Live music is the one thing which hasn’t suffered in this whole thing because it’s still seen as an activity.

PT: With your strong views on live music, how did Spark!, your record label, come about?

INTERVIEW

TG: There’s so much great music out there that doesn’t get released at all – particularly when people are leaving music college, they’ve written all of this amazing stuff and it either doesn’t get recorded or released at all, or it gets recorded but not released, or it gets released in such a way that nobody’s going to hear it, and I find it frustrating to see all of this great music not publicised in the right way so nobody ever hears it, such a shame!

As a self-employed musician you’re expected to manage every aspect of your finances and everything, as well as play your instrument to a high standard, which is something I worked hard at keeping on top of when I left college. When I looked for a label to release Skyline, I found it difficult to get straight answers out of anyone regarding, for example, how the finances worked. It felt like if I play my instrument well then they might pay me some money if I sell some CDs. But how does one put something on a streaming service? I was interested in all that stuff and I think that it’s important for any musician to know how recorded music works. I set up Spark!, with drummer JJ Wheeler, for artists to receive information and mentorship for releasing their music – particularly with timing for artwork, CD pressing, registering with the Performing Rights Society and the Publishers Licencing Service, and things like that. We also place a lot of emphasis on live dates, as that’s where you’ll sell albums, and we have built a community with our artists to share information and contacts and generally help each other. I’m not saying that any other label is rubbish or trying to rip you off – there are plenty of really amazing labels out there – but I just never found one that was quite what I wanted as a musician who wanted to understand how the music industry functions.

So hopefully anyone who releases on our label can find that out for sure.

PT:

How do you come across the artists you work with?

TG: We’ve just had people approach us so far.

We’ll probably carry on that way because every release is a lot of work. We do it for people who want to release an album but just need some help doing it. We’ll see what happens; maybe if there’s a really cool band or project that’s wanting to record something … basically just get in touch!

PT:

Are you genre specific?

TG: I’ve always been really influenced by Maria Schneider – she’s got this melodic aspect to her writing.

It’s all intricate but she gives her soloists a lot of space to improvise, which I try to do. I’ll write a chart, but with a structured improvisation as opposed to a 32-bar loop.

You’ll start at this point and finish at that point in terms of intensity, but it’s the soloist’s choice how they get there and what journey they take you on. I love Kenny Wheeler; his writing is so clean and ordered but the way they play is so messy and free, I love that stuff!

I’ve been listening to a lot of folk music as well, there’s a Joni Mitchell tune on the album and she’s got an amazing and unique way of writing, she’s great.

I went to a gig at London Jazz Festival a few years ago, Punch Brothers with the mandolin player, Chris Thile – oh my goodness, totally outrageous! I think that’s the best live gig I’ve been to in the last five years, they blew me away! I’ve been listening to them a lot since then. But also some more modern folk like Lau and Talisk. Also, I’ve always been a bit into prog-rock and metal and things – I love Porcupine Tree. I’ve been listening to Tigran Hamasyan as well; he’s a jazz pianist who’s been doing some solo and trio stuff recently but there are a few albums with his larger band where he does a lot more of this ‘proggy’ stuff and mad arrangements. All of that has definitely gone into Tipping Point. There’s a folky track in there and some bits that are a lot heavier.

I should probably name some trombone players, shouldn’t I? The first gig I went to where I was like, ‘the trombone is awesome!’ was a Mark Nightingale gig, so it was cool to have a couple of lessons off him and get to know him way down the line. I really like Marshall Gilkes, who’s a ridiculously good player! I really like his writing too; he’s got a unique, modern style and an almost classical approach to things.

I still listen to some of the old jazzers like Urbie Green – he’s got one of the best sounds – and Carl Fontana. And there are a couple of guys who are around at the moment who are amazing, like Andy Hunter who plays with the WDR Big Band – he’s amazing! ◆

To keep up with Tom’s work, including where to buy ‘Tipping Point’, visit: https://www.tomgreenmusic.com/ 20% OF ALBUM SALES WILL BE DONATED TO THE

TG: We know most about the jazz scene and promotion of a jazz record because that’s our area of expertise but no, we’re open to any genre and we’re willing to check anything out and learn!

C HARITIES TREES FOR LIFE: REWILDING THE SCOTTISH

PT: When writing Tipping Point, who were your musical influences as both a writer and a player?

For more about the ‘Spark!’ record label, visit: https://www.sparklabel.com/

HIGHL ANDS BY RESTORING THE CALEDONIAN FOREST, AND COOL EARTH: WORKING ALONGSIDE RAINFOREST COMMUNITIES TO HALT DEFORESTATION.

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DR SARAH CRIC K

Musculoskeletal health MUSICIANS' HEALTH

Dr Sarah Crick talks to Emma Allen, an expert in musculoskeletal injuries.

EMMA ALLEN

tendinopathies, bursitis and overuse injuries. The left hand in particular can be subject to a range of problems.

Both upper and lower cross syndrome, which refers to postural issues in the upper and lower torso, are common when having to stand in one position, whilst having core muscles that are not strong enough to facilitate this.

Can you start by telling us about yourself?

I’m a sports therapist, and I have an MSc in Performing Arts Medicine. I trained as a dancer, and worked as a performer for six years before re-training at university.

What are the common musculoskeletal injuries you may come across in trombone players?

Trombone players are susceptible to a range of musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries, throughout the upper limbs to the shoulder, as well as both upper and lower back. These can range from muscle tension, 26

Are there any risk factors for developing an injury?

In a word, yes, standing in one position for hours of practice as well as performance can set you up for injury.

Equally, conducting your practice seated and expecting your muscles to then perform while standing for a few hours can increase injury risk, as the body is just not prepared. Playing-related musculoskeletal disorders are more common when there is tension present. Also risk of injury can increase with age, if you are hyper-mobile, or if you have a previous injury. General health and fitness are really important, you expect your body to perform in a high demand situation, therefore being overweight, smoking or drinking too much alcohol can increase risk of injury.

We talk about Periodisation in sport and dance, could you explain what this means? Do you think it could be applied to musicians?

I believe that it could be applied to anyone completing a specific activity regularly. It’s a method of training that

CREDIT: ISTOC K

MUSICIAN'S HEALTH

uses a period of time to build up strength and stamina, in order to maximise performance and minimise injury risk. For example, if you were working towards a summer performance season, and you knew you had three months to prepare, you would spend the first month working mostly on the posture and positioning of the instrument to optimise playing ability, the second month building up the length of time playing over each week (think marathon runner completing shorter runs Monday-Friday followed by a long weekend run), and the third month would be very specific to your repertoire, keeping the pattern from month two.

The amount of practice would remain the same, but the intensity would increase. A week or so before the first performance, the intensity would drop right down, but practice hours remain the same. You might listen to your repertoire and play along in your mind, for example, to give the body chance to fully recover in time to perform.

This is called tapering, and is the most crucial part of the process.

Are there are any rehabilitation techniques that may be useful for musicians with MSK injuries?

Although rehabilitation is tailored to recovery of a specific injury, pre-habilitation can be hugely beneficial.

Simple things like adding a few Pilates-style exercises to your morning/bedtime routine to engage the core muscles daily can help prevent a great deal of injuries.

You don’t need to attend a full class, 10 minutes a day would start to make a difference. Also remembering to warm up and cool down as an athlete would is beneficial, including some big movements for the wrists, shoulders and back as well as some stretches at the end of practice. Also forget ‘no pain, no gain’. … I mean if you have a particularly long rehearsal and are a bit achy the following day, there’s unlikely to be a problem, but if you notice that your left wrist is sore every morning, seems fine as you play and stiffens up at night, you might have aggravated a tendon. The sooner that’s seen to the better, as left to fester it can lead to a long and boring recovery. If a pain lingers for a few days or over a few practice sessions, it’s worth nipping it in the bud, even if it doesn’t seem like much. ◆ 27

BY JEREMY PRICE

JAZZ

BY JEREMY SWING WITH LIFT, RHYTHM AND MOVEMENT: AFRICAN SHUFFLE

Playing with good time and good feel is paramount for jazz musicians. In the last article I mentioned the aim of achieving ‘swing and lift’ in the phrasing of Donna Lee, so I thought I would expand on this point for this issue.

Most jazz musicians will work on their swing feel as a regular part of practice, and for classical and brass band musicians perhaps swing phrasing is an elusive mystery, so I think it’s worthy of some attention here. If you are a classical or band musician, I really hope this is helpful in de-mystifying jazz phrasing. It may take a conceptual leap of faith to get there so when I heard this track African Shuffle from a Steve Turre album Rhythm Within I thought it would be a great way to help you break through. Here’s the link to what is track nine of this great album, the whole of which I would thoroughly recommend buying HERE .

I’m also offering this as perfect workshop or teaching material if you find yourself leading a jazz group and in need of explaining swing quavers. Moving away from the more visual and notated approach to rhythm so prevalent in classical music education will be needed in order to be able to communicate this well. Many of these horn lines could be taught by ear in a workshop situation.

There is an undeniable link between original African percussion and jazz. African drumming groups layer up different rhythms that interlink and complement each other which then becomes a unified and collective way of generating ‘groove’ and ‘feel.’ There’s an important relationship between rhythm and movement, without which the essential physicality of the music will be lost.

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The feel has to be absolutely in the core of your body.

The following link is fantastic for connecting rhythm and movement and is well worth checking out alongside the Steve Turre recording HERE .

The film was made in Baro, Guinea, West Africa, where the word ‘Foli’ apparently means both ‘rhythm’ and ‘movement.’ The word has interchangeable meaning.

It’s a beautifully produced short film showing how rhythm comes from everyday movement. Rhythm in this case comes from your body and action, not from a notation system and an understanding of fractions!

That said, we’ve provided a little transcribed section of the percussion intro as a route in, but go with what you hear first and foremost and only then use the notation to help work out the layers. Thinking of the triple time in either 6/8 or 12/8 will give an impression of what’s going on and the multi-layered nature of what you are hearing. Try learning each rhythm by ear and clapping or tapping out the phrases to the recording.

If you can do this standing while swaying about to the music, so much the better. Be loose at your knees and keep your centre of mass low! Shoulders relaxed and arms free! You’ll feel a 4/4 crotchet pulse at the same time as the underlying triple-time patterns and then you can also feel syncopations and subdivisions percolating under the surface. Some of the horn writing comes in as a cross rhythm, adding another layer. It’s not until 2min 08 that you hear a unison Big Band figure, straight out of the Count Basie catalogue, that will hopefully provide the lightbulb moment I’d like you to have. This is a really standard swing phrase but coming out of the

JAZZ BY JEREMY

triple time African percussion group and sounds really swinging. This is key to my point here, that good swing phrasing comes out of a physical understanding of all the underlying layers of rhythm.

I’m not talking about a cerebral understanding but something visceral. Get on down and strut your funky stuff!

Vocalising, clapping and dancing is the best way to appreciate this. Without the movement aspect within rhythm the phrasing will sound quantised, square, stilted, heavy, too uniform, militaristic, mechanistic.

With movement within rhythm the phrasing will be buoyant, loose, have forward momentum and will make you want to dance.

After this workout, you can move on to the trombone solo transcription printed for you here. It’s by Frank Lacy, a stalwart of the Mingus Big Band, among other great jazz ensembles. It comes after a solo from Steve Turre himself on his now famous Conch Shells which feature heavily throughout the album. Again this is perfect jazz workshop material as it’s a 12 bar blues in the simplest of harmonic forms. The trombone solo itself is full of joyous ‘whoops’ and hollas, using riffing and plenty of raucous gestures.

I would be really interested to know how any of you get on if you use this in teaching situations and it’s always a pleasure when any of you get in touch with some feedback. ◆ 29 ILLUSTRATION: ISTOC K

LINK: ROB EGERTON JAZZ TRANSCRIPTIONS

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LINK: ROB EGERTON JAZZ TRANSCRIPTIONS

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LINK: ROB EGERTON JAZZ TRANSCRIPTIONS

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FOR A TRANSCRIPTION OF THE OPENING PERCUSSION GROOVE, CLIC K HERE.

33

From the Stage to the Pit …

Covid-19 has had a devastating effect on the arts globally and going into our sixth month of not being able to work, things still look very bleak. Many organisations are creating alternative output through digital platforms, and I think this will continue even when we can start to use our theatres again. However, since the rules of performances outside have been relaxed there are some opportunities to see live music for real.

Tickets for these events are sure to be snapped up as the audience has to be socially distanced, meaning the number is limited, so make sure you get in there quick!

BY BEC KY SMITH

OPERATIC OVERVIEW is staging Offenbach’s Mesdames de la Halle in the gardens from 12 – 28 August.

GLYNDEBOURNE OPERA

REGENTS PARK OPEN AIR THEATRE is putting on a concert staging of Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar from 14 August – 27 September.

Sinéad O’Neill has curated an interesting show for THE GRANGE FESTIVAL entitled Precipice. It is an hourlong show which incorporates music, dance, theatre and poetry with small groups of audience moving around different areas of the grounds for various bits of the show. This jumped out at me as Sir John Tomlinson is singing an excerpt from Wagner’s Die Meistersinger Von Nuremburg, which will be worth every penny of the ticket price.

Other than outdoor performances, where you might need your brolly, you can drive to venues and watch from your car:

THE ROYAL OPERA HOUSE are screening previously recorded material at various outdoor locations.

They will show two operas (La Traviata and La Bohème) and two ballets (Swan Lake and The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland).

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is staging a ninety-minute version of La Bohème at Alexandra Park, again where you can drive in and watch from your car. The show will be staged outside but undercover, with large screens either side also relaying the performance. I am looking forward to this as, although it is a shorter version and using a smaller orchestra (we have two casts and two thirtypiece orchestras in case of an outbreak), it is the ENO performing live opera during a very restrictive period.

As a musician, I really am worried for our future.

The pandemic is affecting everyone in the arts; from individual freelancers to big organisations and, if we don’t receive continued support from the government (self-employment grants end in August and the furlough scheme is being wound down to finish by the end of October), the whole industry is in jeopardy. Fair enough if people can start going back to work, but for us there doesn’t seem to be anything viable and the guidelines are constantly changing. Aside from individual musicians, a lot of venues and organisations rely on ticket sales for survival. It’s lovely that there is content on the internet for free, but this doesn’t help anyone financially. If we can't perform physically in our concert halls and theatres, we don’t create revenue, which will have a catastrophic effect on so many of our beloved art institutions.

ENGLISH NATIONAL OPERA

FROM THE STAGE …

Josh is Principal Bass Trombone in the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Becky is Principal Trombone at the English National Opera.

BY JOSH CIRTINA

SYMPHONIC OVERVIEW As Becky has said, things are looking difficult for the entire industry, I was personally hoping when I wrote the previous From the Stage to the Pit in your last issue, that by the next Trombonist magazine going to press we would be seeing at least a more stable future even if not in an immediate timescale. Unfortunately that is not the case, and thus inevitably this column becomes increasingly difficult to write. However, all is not lost, and I think the one main benefit of this forced pause on the live-music landscape is seeing the orchestras and other arts organisations become much more creative with their output.

Positivity is beginning to crop up across the UK, with various orchestras – the London Symphony and Royal Opera House in particular conducting trial performances in socially distanced settings which gives us a vital flicker of hope amidst the darkness. Before the top picks, I would like to add a little bit of myth-busting to a number of flippant responses I’ve seen relating to the struggle in the arts.

‘Just perform to smaller audiences’ – Unfortunately this is simply not sustainable. The majority of orchestras in the UK rely on ticket sales to make ends meet, so reducing the audiences to half or even a quarter their usual size isn’t even remotely economically viable. Furthermore, coupled to this comes the expenses related to hiring and running the venues. For example, the Royal Albert Hall has openly stated that it needs around 85% capacity to break even in concerts, but social distancing measures reduce this to around 25% … the numbers are far from adding up.

‘Just reduce the orchestration and use smaller orchestras’ (in response to socially-distanced orchestras not being able to fit on stage) – This is a possibility that is being widely explored, but unfortunately it means the most likely musicians to be cut out, in the first instance, are the brass and percussion. There’s plenty of baroque and classical repertoire where we don’t feature so orchestras can perform this instead. While this is a viable shortterm solution for orchestras and some of their members, it is devastating for our very important freelance musicians (on whom the profession relies to a great extent), where this method reduces their chance of work even further.

‘Just perform outdoors’ – This is a concert format commonly seen in the summer months in the UK, so why aren’t there suddenly loads of outdoor gigs?

Well, as you’ve seen above, there are some beginning to be planned. However, we are unlikely to see widespread use of this format as orchestras and promoters are simply too scared of the possibility of a local lockdown in the case of an outbreak. The financial outlay for largescale outdoor concerts is colossal, and there aren’t many, if any, arts organisations that can afford to lose so much money in the event of a large-scale cancellation.

I hope this provides a little background as to why you may not be seeing the Arts industries return to full form as quick as we all may hope, and why they need our support now more than ever.

Anyway, on to the good news! The top symphonic picks on the horizon:

BBC PROMS 2020 . Obviously this season is reduced drastically but we’re lucky that they have actually planned live performances! Amongst a plethora of repeat performances on TV from the Proms archive, they have planned two weeks of live music to conclude the festival. There will be screened concerts from each of the BBC orchestras, plus the London Symphony, Britten Sinfonia and Aurora Orchestra! is streaming two more concerts recorded at Henry Wood Hall: 12 August at 7.30pm features their awesome brass & percussion, while the final stream on the 26 August at 7.30pm is a Beethoven celebration.

THE LONDON PHILHARMONIC ORC HESTRA

THE PHILHARMONIA ORC HESTRA is continuing its series of Philharmonia sessions concerts, with two more: firstly, a great looking family friendly concert on 22 August at 11am, and finally, a concert featuring the wonderful violinist Nicola Benedetti on 17 August at 7pm.

Orchestras across the country such as the BBC PHILHARMONIC and the ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC continue to stream past performances and ‘episodes’ of musical content from their social media channels. I’m sure there are plenty more that I have missed so I encourage you to follow all of the UK’s orchestras online so you don’t miss anything! ◆ 35

Puzzles

Set by Anklepoise

CROSSWORD CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS CROSSWORD Set by Anklepoise 1

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DOWN 2. PRELUDE TO MAIN TROMBONE PART (5)

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3. EXPLODING GRENADE IS ENOUGH TO MAKE ONE MAD (7) 4. PERFORMER'S EXTRA MEN SCORE NO FIRSTS (6) 12

5. PILOT TAKES LEARNER THROUGH AIR TURN MANOEUVRE (5,3)

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6. CAT LIED ABOUT STRONGHOLD (7) 7. DUMMY SIDEARMS ASSEMBLED FOR ST. JOHN'S FEAST (10,3) 14

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8. L AST FIVE THROWN OUT OF GL ASTONBURY, PERHAPS (8) 9. MODEL SLIMMER, YOU HAD VACATION (6,7)

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17. CLOWN WELCOMES FUN ABOUT RING WITH FIRE (3,5) 22

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21. PADDY IS FIRST TO TAKE WORKER DRINK (7) 22. HE BERATES SAILOR, A DRUG ADDICT (6) 25. OLD COIN FOR ROYAL SYMBOL (5)

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10. BURY IN WINTERTIME (5) 11. A DRINK THAT CAN TURN INTO A CURE (9) 12. COLD NURSE TURN OUT TO BE A ROGUE (9) 13. THROW MUD AT A FIXED STARTING POINT (5) 14. COMPOSER OF HARLEM SHUFFLE (6) 16. VISIT A L AY-BY IN JERSEY (8) 18. FORMER RIOTER IN TROUBLE OUTSIDE (8) 20. NONE DIVULGE LOVE FOR OPERA (6) 23. PLUMP FOR A DRINK (5) 24. UNUSUALLY FAB, ICONIC NAME FOR A SERIES (9) 26. INTERVIEWS ARRANGED IN A STUDIO (9) 27. A JUDGE RETURNED AFTER PORT WINE (5) 28. COOKING JAM ROUND TEN CAUSED SUSPENSION (11)

SPRING 2020 CROSSWORD. ANSWERS FOR THE SPRING 2020 CROSSWORD. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A PRINTABLE VERSION OF THE ANSWERS. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNER OF THE SPRING 2020 CROSSWORD, GEOFF WOLMARK. THE WINNER WAS RANDOMLY SELECTED FROM THE EMAIL YOUR ANSWERS TO EDITOR@BRITISHTROMBONESOCIET Y.ORG

CORRECT ANSWERS RECEIVED.

SUDOKU CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS SUDOKO

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What’s

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By Douglas Coleman, Events Editor

BTS DATES

ORCHESTRAL

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF WORKS FOR THE BTS TROMBONE COMPOSERS' COMPETITION 2020 30 August 2020.

LPO SUMMER SESSION 3 – BRASS AND PERCUSSION Was live Wednesday, 12 August, available to watch now on the LPO YouTube channel.

FINALS OF THE IAN BOUSFIELD TENOR TROMBONE COMPETITION 2020 Sunday, 18 October, 2020 Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff Entrance deadline has passed.

BBC PROMS Rattle conducts the London Symphony Orchestra 30 August 2020. Programme includes Vaughan Williams Symphony Number 5 in D Major.

FINALS OF THE BOB HUGHES BASS TROMBONE COMPETITION 2020 Sunday, 15 November, 2020 As part of the BTS Day at Oundle School Entries must be received by Monday, 7 September 2020.

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BBC TROMBONES 13 of the BBC Trombonists perform an arrangement of Bach’s Passacaglia by Callum Au. BBC Instrumental sessions. Click here to see the fantastic performance.

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NEW RELEASES BRASS BANDS CORY ONLINE BRASS BAND CHAMPIONSHIPS 2020 Broadcast online 18/19 & 25/26 September 2020. An entertainment style competition of specially created content. Among the entrants are: Easington Colliery Band, Fountain City Brass Band USA, Brass Band Leieland – Belgium, Glenferrie Brass – Australia, Leyland Band, The Gus Band and Whitburn Band.

TRYPL TRYPL – Trevor Mires forms part of this UK based Latin Jazz group along with Ryan Quigley (trumpet) and Paul Booth (saxophone). Their eponymous album was released on 21 August 2020.

See www.weareubuntumusic.com for more information.

YOUTUBE CHANNELS OPERA ROYAL OPERA HOUSE Luna Drive-in Cinema series- watch ROH opera from the comfort of your car. See www.roh.org.uk for more information. Includes La Traviata at Gunnersbury Park – 26 August 2020, La Bohème at Gunnersbury Park – 6 September 2020.

ENO DRIVE AND LIVE La Bohème, Alexandra Palace 19–27 September 2020.

See www.eno.org for more information.

DENNIS ROLLINS Dennis Rollins – Dennis has recorded a new composition called Soul Journey. If you subscribe to his YouTube channel, you will be sent Trombone parts and a transcription of the piece.

ELLIOT MASON Elliot Mason – Elliot has been releasing music videos and masterclasses frequently during the last few months. See his YouTube and Facebook pages to catch up on this unique and breath-taking trombonist.

IAN MOFFAT Ian Moffat – Ian’s YouTube channel mixes witty, creative videos and high quality musicianship in a very distinctive package.

For more dates and information, please check our WEBSITE

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