Back from the State of Cold Air and Warm People! (Minnesota Trip)

There is cold and there is cold. I am not speaking of Pluto but of my birth state of Minnesota. It was 15 to 20 degrees BELOW zero not including the wind chill that put it into the minus 35 to 40 range. But being with the trombone section, and the orchestra in general, was a very warm, human experience.

It was great to play in the trombone section. It was totally easy, in every way, and it sounded beautiful. Doug Wright and I (in photo) played together as if we had never stopped 12 years ago. Playing with Dave Herring and Steve Campbell felt the same way.

I also had a great time with my brother and sister who live in the Twin Cities. Their love and concern for my well being was so touching.

I also was fortunate to see a production put on by the "Out on a Limb" Dance Company and School. My sister, Marcey, is the vice president and her two sons, David and Jeremy Bensussan, my nephews, basically have danced their whole lives in it. They were great in the performance of "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."

It was on Valentine's Day that I went to an old favorite candy shop in Minneapolis called Candyland, where they have the best caramel popcorn I ever tasted. It brought back memories of when my mother used to take my sister, brother and me there when we were children. The only problem that day was that my valentine, Carol, was in Boston!!

I will look forward to my next trip to play with the Minnesota Orchestra in April. At that time, I hope to see my former teacher, Ronald Ricketts. He was out of town last week. Then we can take another "three' generations" photo.

Bravo and Thank You to the PAT Participants

A big "Bravo and thank you!" to the PAT participants today. I am very happy and filled with gratitude that there are those who wish to experiment with me in this way. It was also nice to hear from a couple of you so soon who played in today's concert.

For me, it was fascinatingly wonderful. I played what I was feeling. Eventually, I started playing a very short sequence of notes that sounded like prelude music for ... PAT concerts. I will be sharing it with you shortly on the blog. When the music came, I was feeling very open, secure and very aware that others were playing alone, knowing they were not alone. People from different parts of the planet. WOW! I felt very happy, simple and childlike during the applause at the end. What a unique sensation and sentiment to clap for others in appreciation, knowing others were doing the same! Here I was in a room with just me, but I knew I wasn't.

Carol was participating in another part of the house and, afterwards, when we spoke about it, she expressed a feeling of simple gratitude that it could happen and that everyone could succeed in such an unpressured way.

Till next time!

Playing Alone Together (PAT) Instructions

Special Instructions for P.A.T. concert  on February 17th:

1. Do whatever you do to get ready to play your music.
2. Be comfortable and natural.
3. For those that feel comfortable with trying something new, acknowledge, in your own way and style, that there are others, in their own special musical world, supporting your love and privacy in this experimental concert.
4. Connect to your love, joy and gratitude that your life allows you to be able to have your own private musical life.
5. Start playing when you feel you are ready to play.

The concert will begin at 4:00 PM Boston time and end at 4:30 PM. If you feel inclined to play 'encores,' please do! Even if you do continue you to play after 4:30, at 4:30 if you can give a soft applause to yourself and all those who participated in the concert. 

If you feel so inclined, I would love to hear from those who participated by leaving a brief comment on the blog.

All the best to you and I hope you enjoy the 'concert.'

Three Generations "Reunion"

This Sunday, I will be leaving for Minnesota, the state of my birth and upbringing. A place where there has been three generations of my family born. Also, a place where the local world famous Minnesota Orchestra has a very interesting 'three generations' story of its own in the trombone section.

Next Week, I will be playing 2nd trombone to my former student, Douglas Wright, who is the Principal Trombonist of the Minnesota Orchestra. Doug is a truly marvelous trombonist and musician of the highest caliber. It will be a joy playing next to him and the great bass trombone player, David Herring. I also know their terrific tubist, Steve Campbell, very well. He was in Boston as a student and a freelancer. It will be an honor to play with them again.

The 'three generations' connection is this: Doug replaced my former teacher, Steven Zellmer. That means he is, in a certain way of thinking about it, a 'grandstudent' of Steven Zellmer. I will be playing in the seat of Kari Sundstrom, who is on sabbatical and replaced another teacher of mine, Ronald Ricketts.

I have played with the Minnesota Orchestra before but on euphonium. I have never played trombone in the orchestra, the first orchestra I ever heard when it was the famous Minneapolis Symphony. This will certainly be a most memorable 'family' event of the 'third' kind!

Playing Alone Together Concert Date

The date: February 17th, 2008
The time: 4:00 PM Boston time
The place: Wherever you are!

A few weeks ago, I proposed a Playing Aone Together concert, inspired by conversations I had during the holidays. In response, several people wrote to express interest in participating. Here are links to these posts! Making Music Alone... with Others and Follow Up: Playing Alone Together

Now, we have a concert date! This is going to be our first time ever Playing Alone Together concert. I am really excited about this experimental concert. It will be very curious to see and experience what can happen in this unique situation.

For those that are interested in participating, mark your calendars with the above timings and check back for special, easy-to-follow instructions. These instructions will help facilitate our concert and will be posted within the next week. So stay tuned!

In the meantime, I will leave you with a quote from one of my most important first teachers, who was my Grandma Leah: "Make beautiful music."

Birthday Surprise and Thank you!

This past Thursday, January 17th, was my birthday. But when I got up that morning, I had no idea what I was going to find.
As I've mentioned in a previous post, my wife and partner, Carol, has been going wild with Garage Band, putting new great sound clips on our website. But what I did not know was that she actually also was planning to release, as our first digital down load, "Long Live Symphony Hall" to honor my birthday! I was totally surprised and absolutely delighted!

It is, thanks to Carol, our first release of recorded music since 2002. We have so much music waiting to be released. And now, we have a little more time to have it actually happen. But, Carol NEVER ceases to amaze me with her ongoing dedication to find new ways to transmit the signal of what music, art and life means to us, so others, who may be interested in this approach, can have a better chance of knowing about it.

Carol told me the story about all the different people she had to get in touch with to help with the various components, so it could actually be ready by my birthday, because it didn't just take posting the music. She listed the 'cast of thousands' with a twinkle in her eye and a smile but I know she was up till midnight the night before my birthday and made it all happen just in time. PHEW!, is what I feel just thinking about it. I am very touched when people go through so much for others. In this case, I am the other, and am blown away by it!

This piece, "Long Live Symphony Hall," was the last piece we performed on our concert in April 2001 in Jordan Hall with the Frequency Band. This concert was the finale to an intensive first time ever, week long, international Frequency Band retreat. We had people come in from Denmark, Holland, France and New Zealand, plus people from other states and, of course, many from New England. It was a powerful week, filled with self discovery that, in many ways, stretched the limit of everyones preconceived ways of going on.

The recording that Carol and the team has made available is very potent and uplifting, with a majestic strength and accessibility. It was the only piece written for Boston Symphony Hall's centennial celebration.

For those interested, I highly recommend this for your upliftment and enjoyment. It is a wonderful way to hear the Frequency Band in action, and what we mean by "music as a living thing"! What a fantastic birthday present.

My love to all who made it possible, with an extra dose to my extraordinary wife.

To vibrato or not to vibrato, is that the question?

[Where's the video?! A video will reappear in an upcoming post about 'kinds of vibrato.' In the meantime, this post is about the vibrato debate itself. Enjoy!]

If you ask 50 different brass players about vibrato, I'm sure you will get as many different answers about when vibrato should and should not be used, as well as what kind is acceptable as well as what is the "correct" way to produce it.

I developed a natural diaphragm vibrato at age 12. I remember hearing string players with vibrato and loved it. My teacher at the time was Ronald Ricketts and when he heard it, he thought I would have more control over jaw vibrato, because he heard that it can be hard to shut off diaphragm vibrato. He also wanted me to use the kind of vibrato he himself, and a majority of brass players, used. (He had a beautiful vibrato.) At that point, I learned jaw vibrato and, in a short period of time, it felt very natural and was an integrated part of my lyrical and expressive aspects.

When I studied with Steven Zellmer, I asked him about vibrato and he thought it should not be technically contrived. He believed it naturally would emerge out of the player as an expression of certain music. So he never talked about the mechanics around the production of vibrato. He did say that vibrato, at certain times, tended to cover up the purity of the trombone sound.

I've also heard woodwind players speak of diaphragm and throat vibratos, often in terms of the right way and the wrong way. I can tell you, from my experience, that I have heard wonderful vibratos made in a variety of ways whether it was produced by the throat, jaw, diaphragm or other.

Many European players that I know do not use vibrato. Many soloist do, no matter what part of the world they are from. So the question arises: "Is there a time and a place for vibrato?" My response is, it is all in the interpretation and inner feeling life of the musician, regardless of the different schools of playing that can have their rules about what constitutes proper vibrato etiquette.

Since I have played in a variety of musical formats, orchestral, chamber music and solo, all covering a broad range of musical styles, including Renaissance, Baroque, Classical and Romantic and right through Big Band, Pops and Contemporary, I have used vibrato at some point, to varying degrees, for them all. Was that right? It was for me. Did everyone like it? Probably not. Is that my criteria? No.

At this point, I use six different kinds of vibrato based on what I feel will get me closer to what I am musically seeking. Those kinds are: jaw, throat, diaphragm, slide, 'U' syllabic oscillation, and when using a plunger or a Harmon mute (the 'wa,wa' effect). Of course, within each one of those kinds, there is a spectrum of naunce that is possible, ranging in intensity and subtlety.

If someone says to you to NEVER use vibrato in the orchestra, I hope you will realize that you are the one with the choice, unless, of course, the conductor or your section leader has another idea! Obviously, it is wise to blend in and go with the flow in certain ensemble situations, yet you can still have your own views based upon your ongoing discovery of art and its expression.

There are many ways that something can sound expressive. Just because someone uses vibrato doesn't mean they are expressing very much. Sometimes vibrato can be used like whipped cream to cover up a dry cake instead of as an enhancement and compliment to the quality of experience.

In the end, you can't please everyone, and that, in my view, should never be the government in your music making. Find your ways to build a relationship with the music and it will reveal to you what it wants through your own way and style.