MSM Career Talk

I'll be participating in a talk about life after school for students at Manhattan School of Music on April 16th. I'm not sure what I want to talk about because life after school has been a mix of positive and negative experiences. The only thing I'm sure about is that life after school is nothing like I expected. I guess it's like that John Lennon quote, "life is what happens when you're busy making plans."

I could talk about the good things and encourage students to go for it, or I could talk about the bad things and say how hard it can be. And with the economy, it's only gonna get harder, blah blah. I don't know that doesn't seem exactly right either.

At first I thought this would be fun, but now I'm getting kind of overwhelmed. Any ideas?

freelance and stuff

I'm going to write about freelancing today, because things have been pretty busy lately and it's mostly what I'm thinking about. I'm going to give you a month in the life of Josh, so that aspiring trumpet players can know how crazy things can get (get out while you can). In the past few weeks I've had to do a wide variety of projects and be able to come in and "fit" in with all of them. For example, at the beginning of the month I was performing and recording a piece by Lisa Bielawa, a great composer, that involved performing in a transient ambient space. Her piece was very challenging both technically and musically, it required a lot of character and personality to bring it to life.

Next was a solo performance for a Terry Winter Owens memorial concert. This was at CUNY and was filmed by a tv crew for broadcast. I got the music only days before and required a lot of score study, since I was the only one who hadn't performed the piece before.

Then, I was off to NC to play with Carolina Brass, who I wrote about in a previous blog. But talk about shifting gears. Not only was the music making different, the whole life style was completely different. But it was really interesting to see how freelancers in NC do it.

After that, I'm slated for a bunch of shows at South Pacific. I guess the adventure keeps on going. Sometimes I know ahead of time what I have coming up, sometimes I don't. I think its about preparing to be unprepared, if that makes any sense. When things come up on the fly you have to just go with it. Anyway, I'm happy to be working right now and doing things I enjoy.

Carolina Brass

I just came back from North Carolina, where I was a guest artist with the Carolina Brass. After doing most of my work performing in New York City, I had a really enjoyable experience getting out of the city and playing some concerts for a very enthusiastic audience. As it says on their website, they are fun musicians playing serious music. The concerts were really enjoyable to play and the audiences ate it up. There was such a positive response to our performances, which is something I wasn't used to in NYC. I play a lot of contemporary music concerts and more conservative classical concerts where the audiences tend to be more intellectual and often reserved.

So, I can't say enough good thing about Carolina Brass. They have 4 recordings out that are all worth checking out. Go to their website for more info on CD's, and info about the group.

Interview with Mark Gould

Josh: These days, where does your musical inspiration come from? Do you ever struggle with inspiration or does it come naturally?

Mark: Inspiration is not the issue anymore. Sitting down everyday and looking at a blank page with patience and diligence is what is difficult. With regard to trumpet playing...I still enjoy practicing a little every day. I'm still figuring things out about the 'iron monster'.

Josh: Who is your favorite entertainer? and Why?

Mark: I don't have a favorite entertainer. I have favorite authors, films and pieces of music but not entertainers. Upon further thought...I would say Judy Garland.

Josh: Would you be the same person you are today if you never touched a trumpet?

Mark: I cannot remember not playing the trumpet. I have been playing for over 50 years. I would absolutely not be the same person I am today without my instrument. I would probably be in jail now without the trumpet.

Josh: Can you tell a good Met story?

Mark: My first year at the MET in 1974, in a run of performances of 'Elektra', (I was playing 5th trumpet) Mel Broiles used to hold the high concert 'D' in the 'recognition' scene so long and so loud, he used to black out or white out. The 3d trumpet player, Harry Peers, used to rub Mel's shoulder after this note to wake him up and get him ready for the next entrance. I remember hearing Harry whispering the countdown to the next entrance as Mel slowly revived, his head bobbing slowly, his eyes again beginning to focus. He 'woke up' just in time for the next big toot.
When I asked him about this passage, Mel told me, "men die in battle to the sound of the trumpet", and then walked away. WOW!! There will never be another Mel Broiles.

Clifford with Strings

This is album is a model of jazz phrasing or just phrasing in general. It's elegant, soulful, flexible and expressive all in one. This is the top of the top. There's not much else to say about it. Listen to it. Internalize it. Experience it.


Clifford Brown With Strings

Clifford Brown

For players that are first learning about Clifford Brown, the great bebop jazz trumpeter, I recommend the album:


Study In Brown.

This has a lot of classic songs like Jordu, Sandu, and Clifford's definitive recording of Cherokee. He recorded it with drummer, Max Roach who was one of the great bepop/jazz drummers. Both were known for their fast tempos and virtuosic abilities on their instruments and compliment each other's styles. Clifford's playing is both virtuosic technically and elegant musically. As you learn more about Clifford and his solos, it seems that he was almost a "Mozart" of his time. The way he could intuitively connect chord changes and harmonies in his solos are uncanny. Not to mention his style and phrasing are out of this world. Definitely start with Study in Brown. There are many other great recordings out there too, considering that Clifford died young. One essential recording to every musicians library after Study in Brown, is Clifford with Strings. More on that in another post.

In Gabrieli's Day

The recording
In Gabrieli's Day is a great compilation of lesser known brass music from the renaissance and early baroque period.

I'm definitely partial to this recording because I'm on almost half of it. I recorded about 7 tracks, which we did in one day. It was pretty grueling, but we were working with Judith Sherman who can really run a recording session. It was a great learning experience. and I think the album sounds really great.