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Nicolai Ghuirov- Astounding sustained vocal lines with a huge voice ,loud and soft, and a sense of phrase that rivals my next one.

Frank Sinatra- THE master of phrasing and "turning the corner" musically. Maybe the best musician to never read a note.

Sorry, no tuba players on here. If you can play with the phrasing, style, pitch center, time, EMOTION, and dynamics of these two VOCALISTS you will be gainfully employed playing the tuba. I sense these two are "God Gifted". No amount of practice can teach you these things. Either you got it or you don't.

Chuck

P.S.- Oh yeah, get anything Thomas Quasthof has recorded, all the comments above are relevant to this German singer. His Bach is astounding.

Jerry Lee Lewis. Style, energy, and cockiness. Still.

For tuba, I highly recommend Pat Sheridan's "Let's Play Tuba" book and CD. I found it very instructive to play and listen. When I got to feeling pretty good about how I was doing, another listen made it clear I was quite mistaken. Recording your own playing is also very instructive.

I had to do most of my learning on my own because there seems to be, in the music world, a preoccupation with tempo and rhythm and entrances and so on. I had to stop taking lessons because of that. I have no doubt that the initial emphasis should be on tone. Nothing but tone. When I started with Bordogni, I ignored the note values and focused entirely on tone. I am convinced that consistently good tone comes mostly from training the subconscious; the technical stuff comes mostly from the conscious. Incorrect training of the subconscious will likely have a negative lifelong effect. Get the subconscious trained properly, then worry about the technical stuff.

Bela Fleck, banjo. I would add his band to this as well (The Flecktones: Vic Wooten on bass and Futureman on Drumitar), but we were asked for artists rather than bands.

As a wee 6th-grade tuba player, I was taught by Tim Northcut that if you're going to play something that was originally written for a different instrument, it had better sound as good (or better) than someone playing the original. (I was practicing, at the time, Bach Air and Bouree; I wondered how a tuba was supposed to be lighter than a violin...) With these words in mind, Bela Fleck's musicality is stunning.

Bela has recorded several Bach cello sonatas and violin partitas. I find it difficult to list the ethereal qualities that "musicality" suggests, but his phrasing, dynamics, tempo changes, etc., make up some of the most beautiful solo work I've ever listened to. Couple Bela's musical abilities with Vic Wooten's bass and Futureman's abilities and you've got one KILLER band.

Steve

Scooby Tuba wrote:the subtleties are lost on about 99% today.

Unfortunately. Many of them don't even know what they don't know.

Martha Argerich: Raw unbridled musicality.
Janos Starker: Check out his recording of the Kodaly Sonata for Cello.
Norman Treigle: SPECTACULAR voice. His performance of Mefistofele, is unparalleled. Probably the best actor to ever grace the opera stage.
Gottlob Frick: Phenomenal bass. One of the darkest, thickest most beautiful voices ever.

Those are just a few to jump out at me, that are non brass players...

Bix. Pitch perfection, expanded the harmonic vocabulary while retaining a groove.

Jelly Roll. Technique to burn, and music to swim in.

Rostropovich. Sheer poetry.

Isaac Stern. Ditto.

Mel Torme'. Velvet maybe, but certainly no fog. A true professional, with amazing chops in every facet of music--performance (vocals, drums, piano), arranging, composing.. and a career that spanned decades and generations.

Tony Bennett. Control, ability, and pure joy, and maintains his thing at age what? 115???

Roger Taylor. (drummer for Queen). Perfection in adding his lines to great music, and adding just the right thing to make that music even better. Pre-"Flash Gordon" there was none better, IMO. Keith Moon would come close, but not quite.

Eva Cassidy. Found her comfort zone, stayed within it, but also defied the wishes of big business to pigeon-hole her. Principled. Voice of a goddess.

Jimi Hendrix. Knew exactly what he was playing, but rarely thought about it because he was thoroughly immersed in the basics.

There have been quite a few times where I was stuck by the musicality of someone, whether or not they were a "professional" musician. Here's one that comes to mind right now:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIhyQPixAsc

One of the things I've noticed, and that I try to tell others as much as possible, is that great music comes in all types and styles. And even in all types of voices, whether it be a tuba, violin, low voice, or high, it can all sound good.

Aaron

eupher61 wrote:Roger Taylor. (drummer for Queen). Perfection in adding his lines to great music, and adding just the right thing to make that music even better. Pre-"Flash Gordon" there was none better, IMO. Keith Moon would come close, but not quite.

John Deacon, bassist for Queen. Very inventive, creative, dynamic basslines that add so much to the music, yet are never more than they should be.

Tommy Dorsey. Stan Getz.

I can't believe you brought this up Joe. Just last Wednesday night I gave my church tuba player, HS kid who needs lessons badly, a CD of the Ramblers tunes you put up on AP with the admonition "listen to the tuba". It's got to help. You really did some very musical playing even if it was "just" jazz.

Chris Squire, bassist for Yes, and Jon Anderson, vocalist with Yes.

lots of interesting musicality suggestions.

I would also suggest the Beatles (especially 'meet the beatles' and 'help' and the singles from 64 and 65). How to bring the strong raw emotion out in a tight group setting. The Ramones are another group in that bill.

My suggestion to folks generally is to also go listen to live music whenever you can. of whatever type. Always inspires me to listen to what and how I'm doing things.