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[jspeek]

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[eupher61]

It's always easy to say "so and so should be better known". What's more difficult to say is why that person isn't. Difficult, from several angles.

What do you like about the playing on those CD's? For that matter, which ones do you have, or have you heard? Favorite piece(s)?

[jspeek]

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[BVD Press]

I have heard Steve Seward's CD's and was wondering why he isn't more well-known. Can anyone enlighten me?

I don't know Steve or his recordings, but it may be a choice. Getting recognized depends upon how one markets themselves plus the label they choose (or the label that chooses them) etc. There are many factors that go into one player being recognized while another is not...

As I continue to educate myself (it is never ending), I will order Steve's recordings tomorrow...

[eaborst]

Mr. Seward is the tubist for the Kansas City Symphony and teaches at Truman State University. He is the son of Nancy Seward, who wrote many great band works. He has stayed pretty close to his home town throughout his career an that may be one reason that he is not has well known nationally. He is a very gifted player.

Alex

[MartyNeilan]

As I continue to educate myself (it is never ending), I will order Steve's recordings tomorrow...

The music for Kansas City Dances is currently out of print. The only way to get it is through the composer, Dr. David R. Holsinger. If he can't find it, he will point you to me, as I made a high-res scan of the one-off copy he gave me. Perhaps BVD press could do something about putting this interesting tuba work back in an accessible domain

[BVD Press]

As I continue to educate myself (it is never ending), I will order Steve's recordings tomorrow...

The music for Kansas City Dances is currently out of print. The only way to get it is through the composer, Dr. David R. Holsinger. If he can't find it, he will point you to me, as I made a high-res scan of the one-off copy he gave me. Perhaps BVD press could do something about putting this interesting tuba work back in an accessible domain

Do you know if the rights were returned to David or the original publisher has retained them?

[BVD Press]

Some players right now are flat out annoying in how they try so hard to push themselves on us. You have to respect someone like Mr. Seward who just loves doing the job and is not into the whole "look at me, I am great, buy my sh¡t" game.

A couple huge differences between Mr. Seward and others:

1. Steve has a job that generates income. Many performers are trying to make it on their own and do not have a steady income.

2. Many artists now produce their own CD's and music. Instead of the label, publisher, etc. being "annoying" it is the actual player because they have to push their product to survive. Is it really any different than an orchestra or college doing constant fund raisers?

I can applaud both sides. That is staying in background or in ones face. Both work...

[Alex C]

Do you know if the rights were returned to David or the original publisher has retained them?

That's a story by itself. David gave the copyright to me when I was starting a publishing company years ago. When I went through my divorce, I lost interest. A couple of years later David said a publisher wanted to pick it up and would I be willing to pass the rights to him. I said sure and at no cost. I was never contacted, so I am probably the legal copyright holder.

If you want one of the early legal published copies, I probably can find them even though I just moved this weekend. It'll take a while.

[BVD Press]

Oh… But not enough people will pay to hear live recitals on the tuba or euphonium to pay the bills? THAT SOULD TELL THESE GUYS SOMETHING. Honestly. Come on.

By this logic, orchestras should go away as well? Consumers aren't paying as they did in the past to hear them either. Attendance is down, etc.

As you said it is all a matter of opinion and I agree very few will succeed (which is hard for someone to realize), but I enjoy when someone posts that they have a new CD, composition, etc. I have been, and probably always will be, curious what someone is recording, writing, etc.

[jon112780]

It sounds like he recorded both albums in a studio. As a result (to my ears), the attacks are really accurate, while the sound seems a bit dry at times. With that it mind, I have no doubt of his musicianship, and I doubt I could ever sound as good as him. I would like the opportunity to hear him live, the command of his (I'm guessing) 5/4 Rudy Meinl CC is downright freaky. I guess I would have preferred to have his recordings in a larger hall, but I'm quite pleased with both of his albums. He's just one more tuba player I stand in admiration of.

We are truly fortunate to have as many recordings of as many quality tuba players as we do now. I don't know how Jake, Tommy, Roger, etc, got 'that tuba sound' in their heads when at the time, there were extremely few tuba recordings at all. If I had been born 30 years before I was, I don't know if I would have gone into music playing the tuba. The tremendous quantity of quality recordings was just getting started, and my listening options would have been quite less that they are now.

Anyhoo, I would say Seward's recordings are great to have! Another positive tuba influence is always appreciated!

[BVD Press]

I agree with many of your points. Especially the mediocre recordings part. Maybe there are too many, but I still enjoy something new and do my best to support these recordings by purchasing them. I sure would like to hear more live recordings, but I don't think this will happen. On the other hand, YouTube is a quite a nice place to hear various people in the "raw". Doesn't the same hold true for band, big band, orchestra etc. in terms of OK recordings?

Orchestras do exactly the good and effective thing I am talking about: They perform; the single most important thing they do is to perform, live and with regularity. Some record here and there and some are recording machines. Some will never, ever record anything outside of local public radio broadcasts. The recordings are an outgrowth of the performances and are almost an afterthought (unless you are one of the machines like Cincinnati or Berlin, who gin up lots of decent sellers).

I agree 100% with the live performance aspect, but think orchestras (like Tuba and Euph players) also need a reality check in many respects. Performing live and on recordings may not be enough to survive anymore. Orchestras need to be innovative, diverse, etc. in order to survive. The solo artists and orchestras who are able to connect with their audience will survive and the others.... The hard part is sometimes finding the audience.

An example of being innovative, and something I quite enjoy, are the Met broadcasts on Sirius. Most, or possibly even all of their broadcasts, are either live or a live re-broadcast. Just wonderful stuff. With blips, kacks (can someone suggest a better spelling?), screw-ups, great playing, etc. The excitement is there and they are a "true" rendition of the orchestra.

More live music from the New York Philharmonic can be found here:

http://nyphil.org/attend/broadcasts/ind ... stsByMonth

I don't see anything "tuba" heavy up there now, but last year Pictures, Tchaikovsky 6, etc. were up for listening. I am sure there are other orchestras doing this, but if not why not? As Wade said "the single most important thing they do is to perform". If you do perform, why not be proud and share it? By sharing, you can create a fan base which may support your group in the future. If the public doesn't hear a group, one wonders how a base can be created? No matter what profession we choose, we must have some sort of fan base or we will have to move on to another career.

Being in the real world can be difficult. If you fork out money to make a CD and it doesn't sell, that should give you an indication of your market, etc. If a CD does well, you do more CD's and if not, you don't.

[BVD Press]

And maybe my Taco Bell-induced heartburn will have dissipated by then. Who knows?

I know I owe a you beer from some other thread and maybe we should meet at Taco Bell followed by a dose of

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at some point!

FWIW, I was not offended (it is fairly hard to offend me) but appreciated someone else's point of view. It may have been a "rant", but there were many interesting points that you brought up that players need to consider before diving into the giant pond professionalism.

[lgb&dtuba]

None of ours have crossed over into even that small market yet. Pilafian's Travelin' Light album was the closest one yet that I have seen, IMO, and it is not a solo album, per se. It is a small ensemble.

Throughout your rant I was thinking of that particular album. There are others. But usually they are not, as you noted, solo works.

Nor are they full of obscure pieces that only a small core of other euph or tuba players would have even heard of.

[MKainuma]

Steve was a senior at the University of Michigan when I started there as a freshman, and he played the heck out of the horn. He won the school's concerto competition that year with the Bozza Concertino and played it with the orchestra, sounding simply amazing. Burning technique. LOL - I also remember that the rotary valves on his Rudi Meinl were terrible - it seemed that he wore them out, but that didn't hinder his abilities on the horn one bit. Great guy, as well.

In response to the OP's question of why he's not better known? He may not be particularly familiar to you, but he was certainly well known in school, and among his/my generation of students and players.

Cheers,
Morris Kainuma

P.S. On many an occasion, I've had to explain to students the significance of persons such as Abe Torchinsky or Arnold Jacobs, as they were names unfamiliar to them.