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Thought it's be interesting to hear what people have to say on this one. It can be one or multiple!

Mine is Pat Sheridan. I just love how much fun he has playing and how fun it is listening to him. Obviously his technical skills are amazing but what I really love is his tone quality. His recording of Danny Boy on his Lollipops CD made me fall in love with tuba. He was my first influence and I still enjoy listening to him over and over!

depending on genre.....Alan Baer - ensemble orchestra
Oystein Baadsviik - contemporary soloist , Fnuug !!!!
Bill Bell - Mac Daddy Tuba
Scott Rimm Hewitt -pure enthusiasm- and a great player who ran the Boston Marathon with a tuba on his back and hiked the Appalachian trail( entire ) with horn in back pack...how do you not love that ?

whoever Prokofiev heard prior to and while he was composing #5

Bob Sadler

Our instrumental community is so relatively new (compared to the communities of other instrumentalists in the orchestra), that anyone who has scaled to the heights of our profession, is deserving of our admiration.

Having said that, I feel that Bill Bell is the spiritual grandfather to us all, for what he did to get the instrument out of the back row.

Harvey Phillips deserves so much respect, for his sustained ingenuity, and artistry, which he directed (with both barrels!) at popularizing the instrument.

John Fletcher is just great!

No real favorites, but there are some fantastic soloists whose style I just don't prefer. Overall, I just have a lot of respect for great players and great teachers.

Bob Sadler wrote:whoever Prokofiev heard prior to and while he was composing #5

Bob Sadler

Vladimir Matchekho, would have been the tuba player in the orchestra that premiered Prokofiev's 5th Symphony.

As far as my list goes in no particular order...
Walter Hilgers
Tommy Johnson
Roger Bobo
Warren Deck
Gene Pokorny
John Fletcher
Mike Thornton
Alexander von Puttkamer
Chester Schmitz
Bob Tucci
and there are a ton more, these are just off the top of my head...

ZNC Dandy wrote:Vladimir Matchekho, would have been the tuba player in the orchestra that premiered Prokofiev's 5th Symphony.

"Vlad the Inhaler" I presume
Thanks for the info

Bob

The three B's:

Bobo
Buzbee
Bob (Stewart)

(I guess that's actually six B's.)

Also fond of Eli Newberger. If you haven't seen his "Summertime" video, you must.

Why? They all play the tuba like it's a tuba.

I like all of the tubists mentioned previously....

Rex Martin....Live from Japan is an incredible "live" recording. Almost anyone can "can" a solo. Not many can execute such a live performance. IMO


TML

Marty Erickson
1. He plays Eb!
2. He can do unbelievable things- I saw him play an Eb scale (starting on the 2nd partial) with no valves at all.
3. He is a super nice guy.

I also like Gene Pokorny, Pat Sheridan, Oystein Baadsvik, Walter Hilgers,....

At the moment Sergio Carolino - cos he makes everything sound so easy even though it is incredibly difficult and extraordinairly high - interesting repertoir as well.

My son, Dan (tuba)!
My son, Chris (euphonium)!

Bill Troiano wrote:My son, Dan (tuba)!
My son, Chris (euphonium)!

Good answer, Bill. And, yes, I get it.

Bob Sadler wrote:whoever Prokofiev heard prior to and while he was composing #5

Bob Sadler

Great!

Along those same lines: the tuba player that Silvestre Revueltas wrote those wonderful parts for. Not only Sensamaya, but how about the Homage a Federico Garcia Lorca, et al. What monster tuba player might that have been?

Whoever played tuba for Klemperer with the Philharmonia and New Philharmonia. Consistently present without being woofy, big sound when NEEDED (listen to Klempy's Bruckner 4 and you will get it) and wonderfully articulate. A close second goes to the tuba player with the Bavarian State Orchestra in 1928. Search out Strauss' recording of Don Juan with those forces from 1928 and tell me if you have ever heard a more perfect tuba sound. Modern era? Joe Novotny and pre-Hirsbrunner Chester Schmitz.

Chuck

Here's another vote for Chester Schmitz. He is always in my mind's ear - that's the sound I'm after.

Chuck Jackson wrote: Modern era? Joe Novotny and pre-Hirsbrunner Chester Schmitz.

Chuck

If we are going to pair players and horns, then Deck and "Frankenstein".

I like reading peoples' answers, but ...WHY are they your favorite?

Joseph "who reads the OP's question, and also wants to know why people chose who they chose"

For his superior musicianship, virtuosic tehnique and incredibly wonderful sound, I cast a vote for John Fletcher. His Vaughn-Williams recording with London is second to none. His performances with the Phillip Jones Brass Ensemble were superb.

UTSAtuba wrote:I like reading peoples' answers, but ...WHY are they your favorite?

I believe I answered that with the man in Klempy's recordings.

The gentleman in the Bavarian State Orchestra of 1928 played with such AUTHORITY that I was blown away. His sound was magnificent, clear and present, and he played with a certain "swagger" that said "Listen to me play" but at no time was he over-balanced or in the way. Total Musicianship.

Joe Novotny- Had THE tuba sound to my mind. He never gave way even when he made a monumental clam (vis-a-vis Copland's 3rd). He played in tune and had a sense of where he belonged in the ensemble, a trait that sometimes is overlooked in today's "Loud is GOOD" style of orchestral playing. His Mahler performances, especially the 6th, are the benchmark by which I judge tuba players. No one has come close.

Chester Schmitz- When he picked up the Hirsbrunner he sounded like everyone else. Whe he played the Alex he COMMANDED the orchestra. WHAT A BEAUTIFUL SOUND. The Final Alleluia from Mathis Der Mahler is a lesson in loud and FOCUSED playing that everyone should listen to to remember what it is to be an orchestral tuba player. What an amazing sound he got out of the Alex, a sound that I missed when he switched equipment. BTW, Armando Ghitallas playing in the Hindemith puts ANY other orchestral trumpet player on the back burner.

Chuck