Bob Stewart Tuba Competition

[ArnoldGottlieb]

MERCEDES ELLINGTON
Founder, President and Artistic Director

MARILYN LESTER
Executive Director

For Immediate Release 1st Annual Bob Stewart Tuba Competition,
Created by the Duke Ellington Center for the Arts,
To Take Place at “37th Annual 52nd Street Duke Ellington Jazz Festival”

Saturday, Oct. 20, From 2 to 5 PM
5 Musical Organizations That Feature the Jazz Tuba Will Fill the Canyons Along 52nd Street, Between 5th& 6thAvenues
with the Pulsating Sounds and Rhythms Unique To the Tuba


The 1st Annual Bob Stewart Tuba Competition, created by The Duke Ellington Center for the Arts, will be held on Saturday, October 20, 2012 from 2 to 5 PM as part of The 37th Annual 52nd Street Duke Ellington Jazz Festival. The competition has been created to provide enhanced exposure to the many dynamic tuba players who perform in improvisational music ensembles in and around the New York area. The five groups chosen for the competition perform in a wide range of genres from traditional and contemporary Jazz to Blues, hip-hop, funk rock and world music.
“They are five of the top-rated music ensembles today whose musical repertoires are built around the tuba,” said Bob Stewart, a world-famous tuba player and Board member of the Duke Ellington Center, who is coordinating the competition. “I was very fortunate to have had wonderful opportunities as a young tuba player, and through this competition I’d like to show my appreciation for those who helped me launch my career by sharing my knowledge and experience with some of the young musical lions of today,” Stewart said. “It is my sincere hope that this forum will shine a spotlight on some very deserving musicians and spread the appreciation of the tuba’s unique voice in today’s textured and rich music scene.”
The tuba has long been one of the most important instruments in the jazz world, especially in New Orleans, Stewart noted. “From the legendary marching jazz bands who have patrolled the streets of Bourbon Street for ages to jazz orchestras who perform in prestigious concert halls across the world, the distinctive sound of the tuba has been a major component of jazz compositions written and created by current and past jazz greats, among them Duke Ellington”.
Participating in the 1st Bob Stewart Tuba Competition are these five music organizations: the ten member Channell Crichlow's Pitch Blak Brass Band, who describe their musical style as ‘Hip-Hop Brass’; Ralph Hamperian’s Tuba D’Amore, a five piece ensemble specializing in ‘Hard Bop’; Stumblebum Brass Band, a trio specializing in ‘Punk Influenced Rock’; Tuba Joe and the New Tuba Love, a quintet that performs ‘Rock/Jazz/Funk’; and Kenneth Bentley’s Color 4, a four-piece ensemble specializing in ‘Contemporary Jazz.’

Bring your horns for a grand finale from 4-5. We will all play "Joe Avery's Tune" (check YouTube)
All are welcome and please pass this on to friends and other tuba players.

Hey Yall, Let's Party....
Bob Stewart

Tubist and Educator
http://www.bobstewartuba.com" target="_blank