Episodes
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In our interview, Jim Pandolfi offered us the 'Red Pill' of trumpet
pedagogy. You might *think* that you know correct trumpet playing
technique... but after you hear what Mr. Pandolfi has to say, you might
start to question EVERYTHING you've been taught before.
Watch the interview and see how deep the rabbit hole goes. -
The master of trombone talks about his life growing up in a household of
musical influences, his challenges and breakthroughs in regards to playing
trombone, and...his dream car. -
Missing episodes?
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Associate Professor of Trumpet at the Hartt School, co-founder of the
Washington Symphonic Brass, founder of the DC Pops Orchestra, and author of
the widely used "Lyrical Etudes for Trumpet" book. We asked Phil Snedecor
what he did to get good at trumpet and he told us all about a heck of a
journey he went on to figure out this trumpet thing. Guess what?! He told
us exactly how he did it! -
Allan Dean - Professor of Trumpet at the Yale University School of Music -
talks about forging a career outside the "safe" orchestral world of music.
He also dishes about early music, why he wouldn't bring his horn to a
deserted island, and tennis. Yes, tennis.
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Word association time! You know how it works; I say a word, and you respond
with the first thing that jumps to mind. Examples: Peanut Butter? Jelly
. Star? Wars. Opera? She dies at the end. Okay...so....Louis Hanzlik?
American Brass Quintet, Aspen, Juilliard, UCONN, Columbia Teacher's College
...yep, the list goes on. Today, it only takes 27 minutes and 14 seconds
for you to become a better musician; what are you waiting for??? -
Adding handsomely to our stockpile of famously accomplished and
otherworldly-good trumpet players in our Brass Chats Interview collection,
this month we snared Tom Hooten, who sits in the principal trumpet chair
for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. We were super lucky that he had time and
energy for us (boy did he!) as the LA Phil swung through New York; the
result was one of the most information-rich interviews we've done so
far. From warming up and routine to excerpts and chops and beyond, Hooten
spills it, and we all get to collect it—thanks to another worthy
installment of Brass Chats. Enjoy! -
You heard him for years with the Brecker Brothers (not sure where they got
the name from...), you saw him tear up the town in Stoplight Jazz, now join
us for a swim through the inner workings of the mind of trumpet legend
Randy Brecker! We hung with Randy and his cats (animals, not jazzers) at
his pad in Montauk, NY, and covered fundamentals, learning to improvise,
great stories about all the famous cats (jazzers, not animals) he's played
with, the legacy and history of the Brecker Brothers, and much more. -
David Krauss, principal trumpet of the Met Opera Orchestra in NYC, had a
lot of great stuff to share: stories about taking lessons in Wynton
Marsalis' apartment...an unfortunate and unmentionable pogo stick injury,
his favorite place to play trumpet, and a few great stories—like the time
he almost missed the biggest solo in opera right after he was hired.
...Also, pastrami. Lots of pastrami. Come hang! -
It's funny; this is a true story. So Vlad Lavrik is the principal trumpet
of the Russian National Orchestra; he plays a mean horn and is actually a
very fine conductor as well, and is exploring this passion very frequently
at work and elsewhere. He being his fully Russian self, and us being us, we
wanted to think of some funny things to bring up. Turns out, we're not that
funny—but we did ask if Vladimir Putin knew where Mr. Lavrik was. He said
no...BUT: we saw his FB feed about a week later, with a video of him
receiving a special award for the Arts in Russia...from VLADIMIR PUTIN.
Moral of that story? ...Vladimir Putin watches Brass Chats. How about
that! -
You wouldn't know it, but don't be fooled by his mild-mannered,
well-temperamented exterior; but Jim Wilt? Associate Principal Trumpet of
the Los Angeles Philharmonic? That guy is MAD at you. He told us, in this
interview. We're talking really, really angry. Especially because of that
time you met him at an audition. You may not have noticed at the time, but
he was literally quivering with rage, speaking every single syllable
through clenched teeth, furious at every word. Just needed you to know
that. Hey, look! A video interview! Right there! -
Quiz time: which number is bigger: number of calendar years A.D., or number
of movies Malcolm McNab has played on? ....I'll give you a hint: the answer
is the part about the number of movies. Give up? No, I'm sorry—we were
looking for "the number of movies Malcolm McNab has played on, which
currently stands far above 2000 and is certainly more than I can even begin
to fathom." Nice try—here's a consolation prize: a great interview with
Malcolm McNab! Welcome back to Brass Chats. -
LA Studio and Jazz player Carl Saunders has been described as "the best
trumpet player you've never heard of." Well, we hope to change that with
this month's Brass Chat because he's ridiculous. The guy can do anything
with a horn, was generous with his time and talents, and plays a lot of
trumpet during this interview, which was a real treat for us; hearing Carl
solo is like...uh...pouring melted chocolate into a glass of red wine, them
mixing that with honey and pouring it over some ice cream or something.
It's a terrible analogy, just ignore us, you're not here for the blogging
skills anyway; just believe us when we say that he is good at soloing.
Welcome to sunny California for this month's installment of Brass Chats! -
You asked for it? You got it: Here's the three handsomest members of
Monster Oil, giving you an inside look at their streams of consciousness as
they test themselves during the Monster Round. So many of you asked for
this we had to do it. Our inbox was overflowing. For weeks on end, maybe
months, all communications to us were along the lines of "sure, it was nice
to hear Ray Mase's thoughts on what makes a great student, and yeah,
listening to Mike Martin tell stories about his early Boston Symphony days
was good, but what I'd really like to see is more of you guys asking each
other stupid questions and giving stupid answers in return." ...well, your
wait is over—so you can stop emailing us about it now. We hope that you,
our adoring public, enjoy this rare offering. Cheers! -
Go to college. Graduate. Win job immediately. Win bigger job immediately.
This is more or less the musical equivalent of the LeBron James career
track, followed in this instance by the phenomenal Ethan Bensdorf, who made
the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra the Cleveland Cavaliers of the Orchestral
World by taking his talents to the Big Apple, where he's now second trumpet
for the New York Phil. Easy-Peasy, Lemon-Squeezey. Touching on topics
ranging from his unconventional teaching style to what it was like to sit
next to Phil Smith, this is an unmissable Brass Chat for sure. -
This is the Brass Chats Interview you watch if you want to pick the brain
of a man who likes hats, likes music, has an INSANE historical instrument
collection (in the video, don't worry), provides musical goods and services
to the greatest musicians in New York (and the rest of the country), and
has built a multi-million dollar musical operation from scratch with
nothing but his bare hands, ingenuity, and elbow grease. One of the most
interesting guys alive today: Steve Dillon, owner of Dillon Music! Only on
Brass Chats. Also Joel plays his best Herseth impression on a Mel Broiles'
old piccoliccolitissimito trumpet. -
Charlie Schlueter, principal trumpet of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for
an iconic 25 years, now enjoys a quiet retirement at his home in
Massachusetts. ...except for when three fools like us come pounding down
his door demanding to be seen and asking him a bunch of rude questions
about how to get better at trumpet. Fortunately, he acquiesced to these
aforementioned demands and we scored an hour of knowhow out of this trumpet
giant. Someday, we'll be back for more—you can talk to this guy all day.
Enjoy! -
What to say about Terry Everson, other than the fact that he's an
internationally renowned trumpet soloist, educator, clinician, composer,
conductor, and church musician? He's also a darn-tooitn' nice fella. His
students are thriving in today's trumpet world, including Brass-Chatter
Karin Bliznik, and if gentle dominance is even a thing, this guy has it in
spades. K-Bliz tells us that she learned a lot from him on trumpet, but it
was really T.E.'s hip-hop skills that helped her hone her dope beats and
sick rhymes; but what else can Mr. Everson teach us? ....watch the video
and you'll see that the answer is: a. lot. -
Finally! A NON-trumpet player on Brass Chats. We know what you're thinking: "what does a NON-trumpet sound like? who makes them? how much do they cost? what size mouthpiece am I supposed to use? Will it help me with my double high-C?" Ha, ha, smart-alec, very funny. Tell your jokes to your mom why don't you, she always laughs at me. I... ...wait a minute, who was I insulting again? Boy, what a digression—back on topic, Monsters: TUBA great Mike Roylance joins us this month! He's principal tubist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, played with our very own Tom Brown when they were both in the Chicago Civic Orchestra, and has an instrument rating. Find out why that has absolutely nothing to do with music—and many more tips, tricks, stories, and more—on this month's Brass Chats!
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Two things to learn about Mark Gould, if you don't already know them. 1: He was principal trumpet of the Met Opera for an absolutely staggering 29 years; and 2: He's a man that says what he means, and means what he says. This makes for a veritable storm of interestingness constantly surrounding him, from his side project Pink Baby Monster (performances sometimes usually NSFW), to running for president in 2012, to his students' total infestation of the professional trumpet scene (obviously in large part wrought by his teachings), and NOW—to one of our best Brass Chats yet. To preserve the integrity of our interview subject, this interview has NOT been edited for foul language or content. Parents, your kids have heard these words before, we promise (Joel, for example, learned the F-word in—wait for it—Sunday School, from his cousin...when he was six. Your kids know the words.)—but all the same, heads up!
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You can't be serious. THE Doc Severinsen? The guy from the Tonight Show? Trumpet Legend? With the high notes? ....how did you guys trick him into talking to you???
...we don't even know, but it was freaking awesome. Nothing more to say; just go. Doc be with you.
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