TubeNet

bloke wrote:1/ How many have performed as a soloist on the Carson show?

Roger Bobo I believe.

2/ How many tuba players (other than the one whose name is printed in the symphony magazine) can non-tuba players name...even including folks who attend regular subscription symphony concerts?

Arnold Jacobs

Winston Morris

He has influenced more students than you might think. He also has many students holding professional playing jobs and teaching jobs.

bloke wrote:
1/ How many have performed as a soloist on the Carson show?

Roger Bobo I believe.

Twice, I believe.

Tommy Johnson. No opther tuba player has ever come close to being lheard more than Tommy. The world over!

Nobody contends that Tommy Johnson's tuba is in more television, motion pictures, and audio recordings than any other player. This also means that there is way more TJ sound floating through space at the speed of light than any other tubist.

One could even say he is the most influencial tuba player in the universe.

To be fair to the original post, I feel that the criteria of influence, and teaching students who win jobs (and still living!), Dan Perantoni is probably the top of the list.

However, many of the people that win jobs studied with other teachers, as well. Here is my LONG list of teachers that also have proven track records.

Warren Deck
Gene Pokorny
Ron Bishop
Tommy Johnson
Floyd Cooley
Paul Kyrzwicki

Maybe some others are not coming to my mind at the moment, but that's a pretty good start.

CJH

I just realized I forgot the two people that helped me out the most, and one of them definitely should be near the top of this list.

Fritz Kaenzig

Also Charlie Hunter...
If it weren't for Charlie, I would never have made it at all.
I miss him a lot.

CJH

snorlax wrote:My vote goes to Harvey Phillips.

Why?

First, sheer virtuosity...he built upon the foundation Bill Bell started, adding missing pieces such as upper register, jazz style, etc.

Next, ability to play in any context...jazz, opera, ballet, orchestra, pop, etc...with consummate artistry. Some of his best playing on vinyl was in the background as a kind of "fifth sax" in a section. People wrote ANYTHING for him, in any style, and he PLAYED it!! In this sense, Harvey Phillips planted the seed for ALL of the next generation of tuba players

As if that were not enough, Harvey and the NY Brass Quintet got the quintet movement going.

If you want to talk about teaching, look at all of his students who excel at their job, whether it be playing or in some other phase of music. One thing Harvey always stressed in his teaching was RESPECT for the music and for the profession of music.

Last but certainly not least is his concern for the business end of music.

Davd baker said that Harvey was one of a handful of muscians who "transformed the aesthetic" of his instrument. A fitting summary that says it all succinctly.

Note to Bloke...Gary Buttery was on Carson...played some whale thing IIRC and a tune with the band. IIRC Carson was even there that night.

Jim

Make that 2 votes for Harvey. In addition to everything Jim said, we must all think about the role Harvey played in getting composers to write solo literature for our instrument. Had it not been for Harvey, we might still be playing Asleep in the Deep as our standard fare and I doubt we would see the influx of tuba soloists based on a limited repertoire.

In my mind, although many living today (including all those mentioned above) have been very impactful, no one measures up to the influence that Harvey Phillips has had on tubists and tuba playing as a whole.

To go back to the original question, I think Harvey is the most influential living person connected with the instrument, with Winston as a not-too-distant second. Knowing Winston, I think he will agree with the first.

Harvey, in addition to a stellar playing career, performing live and recording, has had countless credits as a mover in the tuba world to put the instrument in the mainstream - starting T.U.B.A., commissioning composers, masterclasses, etc. TubaChristmas alone is a huge thing to undertake. Many current performers can put him in the teachers' column, also.

Ike

I am going to cheat and support several answers given. My reason for this is at the bottom.

Tommy Johnson - Influenced one of the greatest pop culture audiences available (the movies). Worldwide and over time, that is huge. I think he brought the tuba to more potential tubists than anybody else. Before you bought a recording of the VW concerto, or Bach for Quintet, or Mahler 5, you probably heard Star Wars or a host of other movie soundtracks with Tommy holding it down.

Gene Pokorny - Jacobs spent over 40 years building an on-stage tuba dynasty unrivaled anywhere else. Gene not only took up hot seat but in my opinion brought it up another level. I actually prefer Gene over Jacobs in a number of CSO recordings. I am not going to say that playing tuba in the CSO is the top of the orchestral pyramid for tubists, but it is the tuba job that gets a larger share of attention in orchestral circles in this day and age. Gene is helping to keep it that way.

Roger Bobo - Roger did for the tuba what Chopin did for the piano - he changed the way composers write for the instrument (especially in the solo context) and raised people's expectation of what the instrument was capable of.

Chuck Daellenbach - Helped to revitalize quintets as a popular venue for your average music goer. Chuck and the CB probably helped employ more working brass quintets today than anybody else out there! They were and continue to be the unavoidable standard. Whether you love or hate the CB and you play in a quintet - you owe Chuck and crew thanks.

The reason I name these guys instead of just one is that all these guys together have a gestalt effect that is very important. The tuba has long suffered as a minimally usable instrument - relegated to brass bands and oom-pah gigs. These pillar players help to disprove all this because they all show seperately and addatively the range and versatility of our instrument across all walks of music - and that has been one of the greatest battles fought by tuba players. The achievements of these players (and many others) as individuals is great, but there is a larger effect greater than the sum of their parts.

On a lighter note - let's thank Sammo Hung for making the tuba player a martial arts movie star!

I asked a few middle-school band kids if they knew the name of any tuba players and the one name submitted was "Patrick Sheridan"--who hasn't yet seemed to have made it to the list.

Maybe y'all are too longhair for the common folk.

(Good work, Pat!)

Perhaps this original post needs some clarification. Are you asking for the most influencial tubist in american culture? The most influencial tubist among musicians? OR The most influencial tubist among tubist?

To answer my own questions:

Tommy Johnson probably has been heard by more people in the world than any other tubist, so I think it's a safe guess that he'll be the answer to number 1.

This is the hard one to answer(mainly because AJ was excluded from the original post). That leaves probably two people, Roger Bobo and Harvey Phillips. Both names are probably close in name recognition by musicians(again AJ excluded).

Finally the most influencial among tuba players. I'll pose a few questions, where would the tuba be as a chamber instrument (besides BQ) if it were not for Winston Morris and Connie Weldon? Think of all the "influencial" groups Winston Morris as been in or involved in organizing. I believe that Winston Morris has directly affected more tubist than any other tubist.

Legendary Artists wrote:Most of us would agree that William Bell and Arnold Jacobs were probably the most influential tubists of the 20th century.

My question - in which both parts must be answered to be considered a valid response is:

1. Who are the most influential tubists living today?;

2. Why are they the most influential?

Okay, if Bell and Jacobs are the most influential of 20th-century tuba players no longer alive, then why would that be? Is it because of their virtuosity? Their impression on the public consciousness? The success of their students? Their design input into instruments? How widely they have been heard?

I submit that these are just facets of influence.

I think a player is influential when he (or she) establishes a playing standard that radically redefines the capabilities of the instrument. Now, they may accomplish this using the more narrow influences above. Certainly both Bell and Jacobs meet this criteria, though Helleberg does also (and he was alive in the 20th Century).

But the tuba has gone into so many directions now that it's close to impossible to see who it is that is really redefining the instrument and who it is making noises that won't affect future practice. The point of influence is that it is subtle, and thus I don't think you can see its effects until substantial time has passed.

Bobo would certainly be on that short list. And so would Tommy Johnson, except that those sounds he has made that pushed the boundaries don't get known outside the movie world as tuba sounds. Phillips certainly can take credit for many of the items on my list above (in terms of commissions, successful students, instrument design, public consciousness, etc.), and he did expand what we thought we could do with a tuba. Parantoni has had a ton of successful students and also had a big role in instrument design. Sheridan redefines the instrument from the point of view of technique, and so does Pilafian, but then so do Szentpali and especially Baadsvik. Daellenbach is widely heard (as is Johnson and Jim Self), but has he redefined the instrument? What about European players such as Fletcher (of course, not qualified for this list) and Lind?

Of all of these, Bobo still seems pretty high on the short list.

But I think we won't know who had the overarching influence until much time has gone by. After all, back in their heyday, Jacobs and Bell were just tuba players who were particularly well-known--among tuba players. Their real influence wasn't apparent until much later, and then in some measure because they had champions to keep their memory on the forefront.

Rick "who can't think of anyone who changed current thinking about what is possible more than Bobo" Denney

My former teacher, Dr. Irving H. Cohen
My first teacher, former NYC pro, passed on Bill Bell's teaching, was a real gentleman, communicated the joy of playing tuba, created a number of east coast pro's, but was killed as a result of an 80's auto accident.

SJSUW wrote:

Legendary Artists wrote:1. Who are the most influential tubists living today?

What are you going to do, huh!?!

I would say that Harvey Phillips would be the most influental. Yes, Bobo is the truest sense of a virtuoso but Mr. Phillips got it started. So while Mr. Bobo took the tuba to another level of musicianship it had to start somewhere and I would say Mr. Phillips was that start. Personally, Arnold Jacobs is the greatest influence with me. But I wanted to give an answer that I think most could agree with.




Ralph

Well, if you want revolutionary, it just might be this critter:



Although I wonder about the use of a convertible marching tuba instead of a sousaphone, these guys are definitely on to something:

http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/news/04/1203_1d.html

(Yeah, they do play using air and "lips" and fingers)

When the name Perantoni comes up, tubists may think of all the students he has helped successfully place into orchestra, band, and teaching jobs throughout the world, but most tubists forget the tremendous influence he has had on them by the development of better quality instruments and equipment. Before there was the B & S Perantucci line, Mr. P was getting his hands dirty helping Peter Hirsbrunner develop his infamous line and before that Rudy Meinls were the point of focus. Nowadays it seems as though most audition winners, whether or not they study with Mr. P, are playing Perantucci instruments or mouthpieces. Mr. P takes that development very seriously, constantly striving for more efficient equipment.

Harvey has my vote!!

Harvey is still the man.
Am I the only one that noticed his name mis-spelled in the latest ITEA journal? For Shame!

Baadsvik, Pilafian...

Tony Halloin wrote:When the name Perantoni comes up, tubists may think of all the students he has helped successfully place into orchestra, band, and teaching jobs throughout the world, but most tubists forget the tremendous influence he has had on them by the development of better quality instruments and equipment. Before there was the B & S Perantucci line, Mr. P was getting his hands dirty helping Peter Hirsbrunner develop his infamous line and before that Rudy Meinls were the point of focus. Nowadays it seems as though most audition winners, whether or not they study with Mr. P, are playing Perantucci instruments or mouthpieces. Mr. P takes that development very seriously, constantly striving for more efficient equipment.

That makes it a lock for me. Mr. P is the single most influential active tubist of our time, IMO. Harvey Phillips may indeed have history and perhaps a greater lifetime portfolio, but no one who is active today is influencing American tubists more than than Perantoni through his teaching, commissioning, chamber music, solo music, summer workshops, and equipment design and testing.

I would hazard to guess that nearly EVERY professional tubist in this country has been in some way directly affected by Perantoni's work at some point in their career. Whether it be listening to a Summit Brass recording, or working up Three Miniatures, or playing on a PT-64 mouthpiece, or taking a lesson with one of his many many students, or taking lessons with the man himself.