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What tubist has had the most influence/impact on your career?

When I was a young aspiring tuba player, what shaped my view of tuba sound, what the tuba was capable of, etc. the most was listening to the early Roger Bobo recordings. Over and over and over and over and over . . .

Do you mean the most influential in general, or specifically on your own career.

If it is a personal thing, it probably is going to be a private teacher for most people. What other tubist are they likely to come in contact with, in a meaningful way?

If you mean in general sense, then I think it has to be Harvey Phillips, hands down. He has impacted us all.

Bill Bell.

Works both ways. Not only was he an incredible performer, but also the person who taught my teacher, Irv Cohen, in New York.

Personally, my greatests influences are Warren Deck, Paul Krzywicki and Abe Torchinsky. For those that more universally influenced the tuba world, I would vote for Arnold Jacobs, Bill Bell and Harvey Phillips.

Happy New Year to all!

For me (in no particular order):

Arnold Jacobs
Warren Deck
Walter Hilgers
John Fletcher

Listed in chronological order according to the time in my life by which I was influenced:

Dan Perantoni
Chuck Daellenbach
Floyd Cooley
Jeff Hodapp

I don't know the first three personally. But even though they don't know it, they shaped me as a tuba player.

I would have to say Dr. Eli Newberger. For what was probably my 12th or 13th birthday, my Aunt Christine gave me the record "Shake it Down" and it totally blew me away. This guy was having FUN playing the tuba, and I was having just as much fun listening to it!

I'd have to say there were two: my private teacher in 1966-67 Roger Bobo and Bill Bell.

Let's not forget Winston Morris at Tenn Tech University. He has not only turned out a number of fine players, but his efforts for tuba ensemble music have helped bring us a lot of literature. And yes .. I did study with him.

This may sound crazy but the first name that came to mind was no one famous at all. The name is Jim Testa. As a newly minted freshman in HS I heard Jim play the tuba at an assembly. I had started playing in 7th grade and was looking forward to playing in the HS band but this was the first time I'd ever heard anyone other than me play the tuba. He was amazing and I said right there that's what I want to do and that's how I want to do it. After Jim it has to be Abe Torchinsky, my teacher from 12th grade through college and Bill Bell who I only got to meet once.

Personally:

Kevin Ladd
John Upchurch
Jack Robinson

Tuba-Wide:

Bill Bell
Harvey Phillips
John Fletcher
Chester Schmitz (sorry, pre-Hirsbrunner prefered)
Joe Novotny
Abe Torchinsky

For me, it is mostly my private instructor, Robert Harrold. However, some more widely known tubists that influence or inspire me are Alessandro Fossi, John Fletcher, and Les Neish.

I believe you made your point, Bloke, and I agree. He certainly had a profound influence on me. I can't say how many times I had to decide between trying to play as well as Bobo, or selling my tuba. I still own the tuba, and hope sometime to get close to Bobo. Yes. I am definitely an optimist.

A few come to mind:

Chuck Dallenbach -- first tuba player I saw live, made me think "wow, that's so cool!"
Toby Hanks -- great teacher and a great person
Kevin Ladd -- I got to play alongside Kevin many times back in Baltimore. Great player and a great person, about as down to earth as it gets.

Or... from a different angle:
David Fedderly -- not only a terrific player, but a first-rate businessman. I can't imagine how many hands he has helped tubas fall into. 50 years ago, I imagine it was WAY harder to buy a tuba!

For me, the most influential tubists are certainly Charles Daellenbach, who played the first virtuosic tuba solos I ever heard and indeed inspired me to start playing the tuba, and John Fletcher, whose tone and musicality I have been striving to match ever since I first got my hands on a PJBE album.

This should cross over to the other current thread about jazz tuba - I am influenced a lot by my "big three" of modern tuba/Sousaphone players, even if I do not/cannot always emulate them when I am playing for $... (I don't do much "classical/symphonic" so that is not a qualifier.)

Marcus Rojas, Matt Perrine, and Nat McIntosh are ALL pushing the limits of what a tuba player can do in the worlds of jazz.
Yes, there are others I have mentioned in this forum before for similar questions, including Eli Newberger and Bloke (when he was with Hot Cotton) but looking back on 30+ years of recordings and live performances I have heard, those three are at the top of my list!

For me Chester Schmitz and Arnold Jacobs. The Sound. And my teacher David Townsend who was in the Richmond Symphony at the time, who opened up the world of the instrument to me and remains a terriffic tuba player and good friend to this day. Ed

I started playing bass trombone in a church group. A gentlemen named Dan played tuba. He lent me a Conn 20J and I sold my trombones and went to tuba.

Since then I watched youtube and enjoy Roger Bobo, Canadian Brass, and Mozil(?) Brass.

I wish I knew more of these folks. I was lucky enough to get some lessons from Mr. Torchinsky, who really opened my eyes. He could make a point in a way that I have not encountered since (anywhere).