This is an offshoot of the thread that ended up about me, which I’ll admit kinda floored me... I do my thing, but I want to tell you there is an ENTIRE SECT of professional tuba players out there who are all but unnoticed by the tuba mainstream who are deep in the trenches creating their own paths and finding new ways to apply the tuba. I’m not talking about any specific genre or type of player, I’m merely talking about players who have decided to take the leap OFF of the written page and leave reproduction behind.
This group is growing exponentially, and I want to make sure you know their names.
You should know who these players are. They deserve the tuba community’s recognition, and more importantly the tuba community’s support.
I’ll start by saying this list is only the tip of the iceberg -- there's no way I could mention them all, so I'm going start and focus on players JUST IN NEW YORK ALONE.... and I’m sure that there are some I’ve missed (apologies for those who should be added, I can go back and edit afterwards), I’m must musing this off of the top of my head. And this does not include the many wonderful more conventional players in the city. I’m merely listing players who I know for a fact are digging in and discovering new directions of their own.
Off the top of my head, I can count at least four generations...
There’s the “Varsity” as HoJo calls it... You know many of these folks... Howard Johnson, Bob Stewart, Joe Daley, Earl McIntyre, Dave Bargeron... those guys not only invented unique ways to apply the tuba (all of them are very different players!!) they pushed MUSIC in a very hard direction... from jazz to free jazz (which goes alongside classical chamber music) to funk, to R&B and rock. (did you know HoJo was working with John Lennon at the time of Lennon’s death?) Joe Daley is also probably one of the most beautiful sounding sousaphone players around with a unique and sweet style all his own. Add to this is Philly’s Jonathan Dorn who also did so much. In town there’s also Jack Jeffers and Ralph Hamperian, and the charming Art Baron who plays sousaphone for that one boss guy... Bruce Springsteen.
And there is the generation before them... Don Butterfield and Bill Barber, and let’s throw Ray Draper in this group too -- while rough, Ray was amazingly brave and searching for something that I think he was able to touch upon. Ray is still legendary up here in my neighborhood of Harlem, where HoJo, Bob Stewart, and myself all live a few blocks from each other.
There then is another generation, the generation before me -- players like Marcus Rojas who really champions the avant-garde and it’s relation to other genres. There’s also of course Sam Pilafian (including him because he is a former New York guy!) and his application of taking sheer virtuosity in many directions. Jay Rozen is a part of this group too, a guy with insane chops and a fierce curiosity. Cant forget Jay’s Yale contemporary, John Stevens (also former New York guy). There’s the amazing Ray Stewart, and a guy named Dave Hofstra who is a current NYC staple, as well as Dave Grego and Jose Davila and Clark Gayton, all who both have done and continue to do interesting things.
Then there’s these guys - not all NYC folks but deserve special mention: Brian Wolff, Matt Owen, and Tom Heasley too -- all masters of pioneering electrification and processing the tuba sound and interfacing it with technology. We can now also add John Altieri to that too... he recently has been on the road providing the low end on sousaphone, but with a synthesized application, for David Byrne in a complex and physically acrobatic show. Ben Vokits is also getting into this group well bringing some rock to the NYC brass band scene.
There’s also some new-to-NYC folks pushing the envelope: Ben Stapp, Dan Peck, Chanell Critchlow, Ibanda Ruhumbika all are going in new beautiful directions and are all very accomplished players at a young age... and are creating a lot of excitement in NYC.
And, probably the most interesting and versatile (and possibly one of the very best all-around tuba players you might ever meet) is my friend, the infamous and enigmatic Ron Caswell. And let’s put Christopher Meeder in there with Ron too... another superb and interesting madman... both truly inspiring musicians. Kenny Bentley is yet another, and there are more interesting players in town too: Don Godwin who rocks the helicon, George Rush, Tom Abbs... and there’s also Andy Bove, a virtuosic tuba player who recently recorded a beautiful record of love songs... on the cimbasso. Cool.
And that’s JUST in New York!! That’s not including the many amazing more mainstream players that are in town. And what about “tuba mecca” aka Chicago? And what about Nashville? DC? Boston? Atlanta? Austin? LA? Duluth, Dubuque, Denver, Dallas, Davenport etc etc etc....... all chock full of players creating new areas for the tuba. Players who don’t want to sit in the back row any more and see it as a young instrument that has only begun to grow. Also, they are professional players out there working in the world who deserve official professional support.
I don't mean to sound like a cynic, but how many of these players teach or even give masterclasses at universities? How many have industry sponsorships? (Hint: very few) How many do more professional gigs in a year than most pros you know?!! (hint: Many of them, some several times over) Those are the folks that are out there redefining the tuba. How many have a salaried job? Few. They are all schlepping their axes gig to gig to gig to gig, chasing a vision filled with low frequencies of sound.
AND, there’s another angle.... don’t get me started on the bumper crop of outstanding sousaphonists... many of the Mexican banda players are incredible in their own right (and rockstars!), and NoLa guys like the legendary Kirk Joseph, and John Gross, Jason Jurzak, and of course that aaammaaazing Matt Perrine... who just might be one of the best tuba players *of any kind* alive at the moment. His musicality is downright awe-inspiring (upon hearing him, I thought him to be the “Pokorny of the Sousaphone”) And of course Nat McIntosh has his amazing thing too (Nat and I were actually in Colorado All State band together once upon a time)
...and while we are speaking of Colorado, let’s mention my childhood friend Jeanie Schroder, who may actually be the biggest rockstar of the tuba, from the incredibly popular, and very accessible band DeVotchka. Listen to the soundtrack to the Academy and Grammy nominated movie Little Miss Sunshine. It is TUBA CITY... and all Jeanie. (and I’m gonna plug that Jeanne and I were in high school together, she credits me as her first teacher!)
I’m guessing that Jeanie currently plays tuba (she plays sousaphone live) to larger live audiences on a regular basis than any other tuba player of any kind. Major symphonies are now backing up her band in huge arenas... and she also helps manage the band...!
have you heard of her? You should. Her band’s music is truly beautiful. The fact that she’s never been invited to headline an ITEA event boggles my mind! She’s an absolute 100% professional tuba success story. And what about Damon “Tuba Gooding Jr” Bryson? HE’S GOT ONE OF THE BIGGEST AND MOST SOUGHT AFTER MUSIC GIGS IN THE WORLD. yeah, I know it’s sometimes hard to hear him in the mix of the Roots, but i guarantee that’s not his fault. But eff it, he’s a good player, created a niche for himself, and is on TV every night and I am sure is making BANK with a tuba. Another complete and undeniable tuba success story.
On that note, why does ITEA avoid the sousaphone? Someone needs to answer that, stat. The sousaphone is experiencing an INCREDIBLE renaissance as a completely viable professional instrument. Incredible. Why is it not viewed with the same validity as an orchestral BAT? Why are not sousaphone stylings taught at university??
Teachers... if you want to teach your students how to make a living playing music, teach them to read a leadsheet, to memorize, to groove, to adapt, and to create. Stop placing so much emphasis on Fountains and Prokofiev 5 and the Vaughan Williams. Chances are an average music school graduate will NEVER get a chance to play these works professionally. Think about that.
Now, I too adore playing those works and jump at them every chance I get, I’ll admit it. ... but let’s face it, art will always continue to march on.
There are those progressive tuba players you have heard of -- the ones from Europe ...possibly because of Europe’s superior support and acceptance of the arts (yep, got political there for a moment. Don’t comment on that please). There’s that amazing Oystein Baadsvik and the seemingly unstoppable energy of Sergio Carolino. And also Roland Szentpali (hear his recent youtubes on period instruments... wowww!!!) and others....Greek Panagiotis Kamvisidis, French Michel Godard, and now Canadian-in-Holland guy Dave Kutz (a really amazing tuba player you all should know) has been starting to seek new things. And cant forget Melvyn Poore, the imitable Jon Sass (another former NYC guy), and of course my friend the superb Janos Mazura, and lastly one of the guys who got me started on this path, the one and only Oren Marshall. I heard him in grad school and it literally changed my entire life. I remember almost everything about that day I heard him. One more... someone who I recently discovered and I really like his vibe a lot, Cimbasso-destroyer Mattis Cederberg.
The new (or not so new) sect of progressive and exploring tuba players keep on coming and re-adapting... just yesterday I met a wonderful tuba player from Montreal named Julie Houle who just recorded a very sweet record of folksy funky jazz-ish originals that is truly charming. Please check it out. It’s a gem. (...and it’s music that would be great for university recitals!)
The tuba community at large needs to embrace these folks and others more.
And NO this is not because orchestral gigs are dying. These people are not falling back because auditions are so tough... these are people who see the tuba as a musical opportunity and are looking for new things to do with it.
These are not the people winning gigs, THESE ARE THE PEOPLE CREATING GIGS.
Thanks for reading, it means a lot.
-TJ
