Here is your first blogging assignment. Go to You Tube and find a video of someone playing your instrument. Tell us a little bit about the person (which may require future research), the piece of music or anything else you feel is important. Then, you are to comment on the playing. What do you like about the performance? You may make commentary on difficulty, range, tone, technique and maybe you have some questions that arise after watching it. I have given you a a example of a video that I like and response for you to use as a guide. Happy Blogging!
Here is my post.
I have chosen Alison Balsom is a 30 year old female trumpet player from Hertfordshire England. She began playing at an early age and attended the famous Guildhall School of Music in England. She has a very busy schedule as a soloist and plays a great variety of music. Her CD, Caprice released in 2006 features Caprice #24 by Niccolo Paganini.
Paganini was a great violinist virtuoso from Genoa, Italy. He is considered to be the father of violin technique. His Caprice No. 24 in A Minor is one of the most difficult pieces written for violin. This is a theme and variation on a very familiar melody and is one of the 24 caprices that Paganini wrote for violin.
Alison Balsom has transcribed this Caprice for trumpet. What I like about this performance is the incredible technique that she displays. She has a beautiful warm tone in all registers of the instrument. In this piece she plays with a very lyrical approach through all variations. Each variation has very different challenges for the trumpet player. I love the 2nd variation which features the trumpet playing triplets from the upper register to lower register of the trumpet. Also, I love her flexibility on the final variation of the piece slurring large intervals and scales.
I hope you like it! Just copy, paste and enjoy
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W7bGzi9G2k
23 comments:
I have chosen Ivan Renta as my tenor saxophonist. He was born is Ponce, Puerto Rico. He also played the alto sax by the age of 13. At 15 he was already playing wiith local bands. As a teenager he studied jazz harmony and improvisation. At 17 he moved to New York to attend the prestigious " New School Jazz and Contemporary Music Program. In his college years he preformed with artists such as Tito Puente, Eddie Palmleri, William Cepeda, Bobby Sanabria and many many more.
In february of 2000 he contributed to the abum "Masterpiece" which was a mulitple grammy winner. Now in his twenties Ivan is currently working on his first solo album as well as being in the Lincoin Center's Afro-Latin Jazz Orchesta. A quote from Eddie Palmieri states that he will be "The New Caribbean phenom."
I think Ivan has such control with his higher and lower octaves. The difficulty that Ivan plays at astoned me. The only question I have is how he can play so many notes under one breath? The notes are perfectly hit and which such richest that you just want to sit back and relax on a chair watching the sunset. I also think that he has a great career ahead of him and once his album comes out i will buy it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89A0vvoeI6M
The person I chose who plays the bass clarinet is Michael Lowenstern. He is 40 years old and is based in Brookland NY. He has a BM from the Eastman school of music and D.M.A. from the State University of New York at Stony Brook (among many others.) He has been in over 30 c.d. recordings, as well as creating 4 solos 1996 Spasm, New World Records, 1985 Capstone Records, 2000, Ten Children, 2003 Earspasm Music, and Fade, 2007 Earspasm Music. The piece he is playing on YouTube is his arrangement of “Summertime”. His compositions are well known for being expressive, modern, contemporary, agile, swift and well communicated. He has a great range of notes and is excellent at playing in the upper register. The piece Summetime is a very contemporary composition, which involves many different switches in registers and rhythm. The parts I find amazing are when he goes incredibly quickly from notes in the very bottom of the bass clarinet’s range into notes at the top of the range. The piece has a very eerie, surreal sound to it that gave me goosebumps. The rhythm he is playing is very complicated and intricate. It almost sounds like he is playing two different instruments at the same time, swapping from the bass line to the melody and back again. During one part of the piece he makes some very interesting sounds using the clarinet and his mouth in ways that I’ve never seen before. Also I find it very interesting that he is playing notes and sounds that seem a lot like random squeaking. Overall it is a really fascinating performance that I found very enjoyable.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNO4eY4TV1M
I chose James Galway with Annies song.Sir James Galway was born on December 8, 1939. Sir James Galway has been knighted by the Queen Of England. Since 1975 James has been in many orcastras and accompanied varies chamber choirs. James has played on stage for many important people such as;Queen Elizabeth II, Pope John Paul II, Presidents Clinton, George W Bush, George Bush Snr, President Mary McAleese, Prince Charles, The Princess Royal, The Empress of Japan, The Queen of Norway, Princess Diana, The Earl and Duchess of Wessex, the Duke and Duchess of Kent. He has also shared the stage with such people as Stevie Wonder, Henry Mancini, John Denver, Elton John, the Chieftains, Ray Charles, Joni Mitchell, Jessye Norman, Cleo Laine & Andrea Bocelli. He performed with Pink Floyd at their memorial concert at the berlin wall and was part of the Nobel piece prize concert in Norway.
When I listened to this piece,it felt very powerful and moving. He looked as though he was really enjoying what he was doing and not just doing it because he needed the money or something. He also looked very passionate and it deffinitly showed in the tone of the sound....(if that makes sense). I have heard the song before with lyrics but I much prefer it without lyrics. You get to hear all of the different leaps and otaves. All in all it was very enjoyable to listen to and I really liked it.
I chose the song Carnival of Venice performed by Wynston Marsalis. Marsalis was fathered by a music teacher based in New Orleans. He was given his first trumpet at age 6 by a friend of his father's friend Al Hirt, another famous trumpet player. He started playing in a band at his church and eventually went on to the Juilliard Shool of Music.
Marsalis also composes his own music. He was signed by sony and given many commisions for music from the NYC ballet and many others.He has also won many Grammys for instrumentals. He currently lives in NYC.
I really enjoyed the peice that he played because of the smoothness of it. He was accompanied by an orchestra and was just as soft as the strings. Sometime the trumpet can be pierceing (especially when our trumpet section tries to play) but this was very smooth.There is also a very fast section in the peice but he managed to play that softly as well while maintaning the breakneck pace.His dynamics and control were also outstanding he could play very quit at times which is very hard to do with highr notes. He also palyed amazing multiphonics at the end, playing both the rhythem/bass and a fast ascending scale.
-An excellent performance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zGQm_HvrGU
I chose Tine Thing Helseth. She's a 20 year old trumpet player from Oslo, Norway. She started playing the trumpet at age 7, and since then she has won many awards in her life. Some of the awards she won include: National Talent prize (Norway), Musician of the Year 2005 (Norway), International Trumpet competition(2005), and she won a Norwegian Grammy Award in 2007. She has also played on live t.v. that was broadcasted all over Europe. In the video, she is playing trumpet concerto Eb. The song she is playing sounds very difficult because the notes change very fast and change octaves very fast. Her sound is sharp and clear and so is the tone. She currently has one c.d. out : Trumpet Concertos, which came out in 2008. Tine Thing Helseth is a great trumpet player and a talented performer.
Benny Goodman was an American jazz musician, clarinetist and band leader. Benny was born in Chicago and was the ninth of twelve kids raised by a poor jewish family. At the age of 10 his father enrolled him in music lessons at Kehelah Jacob Synagogue. T the age of 16 he joined one of the greatest Chicago bands ever named Ben Pollack he kept recording with them until 1929 which he thoght was a good year until his father died tradgically in a car crash. Benny and his two brothers seemed to rebound from this crushing blow to the family. Benny auditioned for NBC's Lets Dance. He kept playing clarinet until the age of 77 when he died of a heart attack in New York City. Benny received the Grammy Lifetime Acheivment award. KIn the video Aventures of the Kingdom of Swing. Benny goodman showed a wonderful technique by keeping his hands close to the holes and not even thinking about the music he was playing. He also demonstrated great note quality and sound(beautiful)and overall it was a wonderful sight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6kQW17zBWg&feature=related
This is the link to watch Julian Bliss playing Mozart's clarinet concerto, Adagio.
For this assignment, I chose a nineteen year old male clarinetist named Julian Bliss. He lives in London, England. His talent for the clarinet seems to have come from no where, for his family is in no way musical. However, it was evident from an early age that he was a talented clarinet player. At the age of twelve he was already performing, and had gotten amazing feedback. At the age of thirteen he was asked to play at the Queen's Jubilee at Buckingham Palace. He blew the audience away.
Julian continued to play in many major concerts, soloing in many orchestras. He has gone in many musical competitions, and done well in all of them.
The piece performed by Julian that I watched was a great piece. His notes seemed to flow out of his instrument, and each note was perfect. A majority of the notes were in the register, and his ability to switch between registers was amazing. From playing the clarinet myself, I know that playing in the register can sometimes be difficult. Julian however, made it look like the easiest thing in the world. The thing I liked the most about this piece was how his notes just flowed. While I was listening I felt very relaxed and calm. It was perfect.
He was performing Mozarts Agadio, which was completed a couple months before Mozart died. It is known for its switching between orchestra and solos. In the video I watched, Julian had all of the solo parts. He truely is an amazing clarinet player, and I'm sure he will just continue to get better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl7-OIRqUWY
This is a video of a tuba player named Jeff Hodapp. Hodapp is Assistant Professor of Low Brass and Music Theory at Emporia
State University. He teaches trombone, euphonium and
tuba students and conducts the ESU Brass Choir. He plays tuba in the Flint Hills Brass Quintet. Hodapp also has a doctor of Musical Arts and a Master of Music degree in tuba performance. Hodapp also has earned two Baccalaureate Degrees in music (education and tuba playing). Hodapp is bald and wears glasses. He's a great tubaist and has a great fashion sense... ;)
I really enjoyed his playing because he really seemed to know what he was doing. He made it look really easy, and it's definitely not. He had a really good sound and I liked the way he started out slow, with long tones than got to the more complicated things like eighth notes and more note variety. The piece seemed kind of boring at first with all the long tones but it got so much better at the end. I think he could of started out a little bit stronger, but that might of ruined the effect of getting stronger, which I really liked. Overall, I really liked his performance.
I have chosen a male tenor saxophonist that goes by the name of Michael Brecker for this assignment. He was born into a very musical family in Philadelphia. His father was a jazz pianist, his brother a trumpeter and jazz records contently playing, he was destined for a career in music. He took up tenor saxophone in high school. Before that he had learned the clarinet and the alto sax but decided tenor was the way to go. He kept with the tenor sax all through his life. During his career he won 11 Grammys, did countless charity benefits and became the most influential saxophonists in the last 30 years. He died at the age of 57 in 2007 of leukemia. His music will continue to live on in the hearts of fans forever.
In this video you will hear Michael and some fellow jazz players perform the song “El Nino.” I would rate this music as rather difficult. There are a few reasons, why I would give it this rating. The first is the way he has to travel from the higher octave into the lower octave so quickly. There are also a lot of almost constant fingering changes. The final reason is that when he gets into the really high notes of the song, he still manages to control his tone and dynamics. This is what I like most about the piece, as this is something very hard to do. It often comes out sounding very unnatural, artificial or metallic. Another thing I really liked about this piece is the way he articulated. He is playing this song just by memory, and still he remembers all the slurs and tongues. I find it hard enough when playing music this fast to even be able to read the slurs and tongues. This makes the music sound divided the way it should be, while at the same time it gives it flow. This piece kept you interested the whole time you were listening. Overall I would have to say two things. Michael Brecker has total control over his instrument and is one of the greatest saxophonists of all time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wem-GMT9NYA&feature=related
For this blogging assignment I chose the incredible Sharon Kam. Here is the posting for the video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr3aB4v8hXI.
Sharon Kam was born and raised in Israel and was tutored under some of the most prestigious teachers, Eli Eban and Chaim Taub. At the age of only 16, Kam preformed in her first real concert with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. After this she was encouraged to go to the Juilliard School Of Music where she graduated with flying colours. Since then Sharon Kam has preformed with some of the best orchestras in the USA, Japan, and Europe.
Sharon Kam is best known for her work in jazz and contemporary pieces and continually plays in many summer festivals. As well, she has also worked with some of the most brilliant musical minds in the world.
Her CDs for Edle Classics, have received the Echo award many times. Another new album, “Souvenirs”, with Itamar Golan and Sharon Kam is being realsed this year.
The piece I heard her perform is the Mozart clarinet concerto, first movement. Even though I could tell this was a very difficult piece Sharon Kam seemed to play it with no trouble what so ever. She could accurately and smoothly go from the high range in the piece (which was very high!) to low ranges. It also amazed me how she could look so clam and not flustered at all well playing, she hardly took any breaths and when she did they were at the appropriate times. Also, her tone was rich and did not vary in the slightest. There was not one squeak or any fuzziness.
The playing was very effective, it did not even look like she was playing, but fingering a recorded CD. I also liked how relax she was, Kam did not sit down, she was standing the whole time, even moving!
I admire Sharon Kam very much, just for her amazing musical abilities, and know if i want to become at least half as good as her I need to practice a lot more.
The person I have chosen to comment on is Marshall Gilkes. He is a very accomlpished trombonist and a very accomplished person. Marshall Gilkes was born September 30th, 1978 in Camp Springs, Maryland. He is a graduate of The Juilliard School, where he earned his bachelor's degree, as well as Interlochen Arts Academy. Currently Marshall is a member of the internationally acclaimed Edmar Castañeda Trio as well as the Maria Schneider Orchestra, and David Berger's Sultans of Swing. In addition he has performed with Billy Cobham, the Village Vanguard Orchestra, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Stanley Turrentine, and Benny Golson. Marshall has released one album in 2004 and is currently working on a second one.
I quite enjoyed the piece Marshall was playing. It was very flowing and rich with melody's and harmony's. I found his range to be incredible. Also, Marshall was able to play astoundingly well in the upper register. Marshall was able to play (it seemed like) 16th and 32nd notes with incredible ease. Overall, Marshall is an amazing player and has a very bright future ahead of him.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=mHMyrhilkdo
this is a video of Øystein Baadsvik playing the song "Fnugg Blue" as a tuba solo.
Baadsvik began tubaing at the age of 15 at his school in Norway, and won his first soloist competition at age 18. His posts on YouTube are widely acclaimed by the tuba community. As well, Baadsvik teaches tuba clinics at prestigious universities across the globe. He is also known as one of the world's best preformers of multiphonics. Barry Tuckwell, a world-famous horn player, once said, “Øystein Baadsvik, a great musician and a great performer, is the most remarkable tuba player I have ever heard.”
I thought this was a remarkable preformance, especially considering it was played on the tuba. I loved his use of multiphonics, and his ability to play different notes during one long note, switching between notes rapidly. I enjoyed that, for once, the tuba had the melody. Of course, with Baddsvik using multiphoinics, you could say the tuba was playing both the melody and harmony.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPjtRSgg2fg
For the first blogging assignment, I chose the talented Andrew Marriner. Andrew is a British (this is a coincidence that he's British by the way)clarinet player from the London Symphony Orchestra and is also a renowned teacher at the Royal Music Academy. Besides being a teacher and a player, he has toured the world with many gifted conductors and musicians.
As a young musician, he joined the National Youth Orchestra. He later studied at Oxford University and then studied with Hans Deizner where he went on to become a great clarientist.
In this video, he is playing Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, II Adagio. There are three parts to this piece I-Allegro, II-Adagio, and III-Rondo:Allegro. These are the three typical movements for this piece. Mozart wrote this piece shortly before he died, so it was one of his last works. It is known for the light conflict between the orchestra and clarinet (playing solo).
One thing that I liked about the performance was how the soft violins were playing in the background of the clarient solo. It sounded very peaceful and serene. I felt that the range of the clarient was mostly in the high register, this made it seem like a difficult piece. But when Andrew played the piece, he made it look so easy and natural.
Andrew Marriner is a very talented clarinetist and will be known for his wonderful playing and the special touch he brings to every performance.
My Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjeVilS2pug
For my very first blogging assignment, I have chosen the very famous Sir James Galway, who stars in my video playing four songs with the Boston Pops Orchestra. The performance Mr.Galway puts on is mind blowing, and the level of difficulty this man plays at will make anyone marvel at his talent. He can go from the very lowest note to the highest note without diffculty or even a studder of a note. He masters a very difficult piece to play for anyone; not only a flute player,and he makes look unbelievably easy. This inspires me to go beyond expectations just like he does.I absolutely love how he can play what seems like a million notes in under a minute, and how precisely and well he plays those notes is absolutly incredible. It is no wonder that he is the most televised and recored classical player perfoming today, and that he has also sold over 30 million copies of his albums worldwide.
Galway has been playing flute since he was very young, growing up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was born on December 8, 1939 and is nicknamed “ the man with the golden flute”. What inspired him to play the flute was that many people around him played it, his grand dad, and his dad just to name a few, but what inspired him most was his 18 year old friend named Edmund Juke, who sang , and played the flute very well. Soon he succeeded in playing the flute himself, and won the Irish Flute Championships. He excelled in his classes and eventually got a scholarship to the Royal College of Music. Before he went on to make an attempt at a solo career, he embarked on a orchestra career, performing in such orchestras as the Sadlers Wells & Royal Covent Garden Operas, The BBC, Royal Philharmonic and London Symphonies. He has won shelves upon shelves of awards for his beautifully played pieces, and was knighted by the queen of England twice. Galway even worked with the Muppets on Sesame Street in 2001. Not only does he play classical music, but he has also played numerous pop songs, movie themes, Celtic folk melodies, jazz compositions, and much more. I am very glad that I got the chance to learn and about such a wonderful person, and I hope that he will continue to inspire more people for many years to come.
-allee scott.Instrument: flute
I have chosen Bent Persson who plays the trumpet. Bent Persson was born September 6, 1947. Persson has played and recorded with many jazz groups such as the Weatherbird Jazzband, Maggie's Blue Five and his own Bent's Blue Rhythm Band. Bent Persson sounds very close to Louis Armstrong's.
I couldnt find much information on Bent Persson.
anyways heres the link:
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=njwnMMbf5Zc
I have chosen Sonny Rollins as my tenor saxophonist. He was born September 7,1930, in New York City. Sonny played the alto saxophone, but then switched to tenor at the age of sixteen. The music world first got a glimpse of Sonny in the late 1950's. The crowd was astonished by his improvisation skills, and difficulty of notes that he was playing. During that time, people called him the most talented tenor saxophonist in jazz. As Sonny got more famous, he got to meet other celebrities himself. One of his best friends is hockey legend Don Cherry. Sonny then got to meet his idol Coleman Hawkins.
Rollins won his first grammy in 2000 for This is what I do, and a second grammy in 2004 for Why was I born. In the same year Rollins was rewarded for all the hard work in his life by receiving the lifetime achievement award for recording arts.
In the video you can see how hard the songs are, but it looks like Sonny could play it in his sleep. Sonny changes the octaves very smooth and quickly. The fingerings also look extremley difficult, but he hits each note perfectly.
Sonny is known for helping young musicians, and showing how fun and interesting playing jazz is. At the age of 78, Sonny is still going on tour playing his legendary jazz music. Sonny is a very entertaining musician who has entertained the world for six decades. I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJjk_sYamUY
You Tube Address:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-up5SrhmA8
For my blogging assignment, I'd like to tell you a bit about my person, Johnny Hodges.
Johnny Hodges was born in a very hot summer day, which was precisly July 25th, 1906. Hodges was a very talented man, playing both Alto and Soprano sax without having any lessons. All the instruments he played was self-taught. It is not clear when he started playing, but I would predict he was about fourteen years old.
In 1937, Hodges joined the Ellington Band. He played with some legendary musicians such as Benny Goodman.
Everyone who worked with him fell in love with his 'pure' and 'elegant' soud of his instrument. Anyways, he died in 1970, after the recordings of 'The New Orleans Suite'.
I think this piece of music was amazing. The note went as low as (I believe) A flat, but he could just play it so naturally. I squeak when I get to mid G. Hodges played quickly and captured the mood of this song. As a person who cannot even tounge his instrument, I feel obligated and amazed at this performance. However, I probably will not buy any recordings of him play.
Thank you and I hope you enjoy the video.
More on Benny Goodman: See Joel's Post.
This is a second test
For my blog I did Wynton Marsalis. He was born in 1961 in New Orleans. He has 6 brothers and at age 8 he preformed traditoinal New Orleans music at Fairway Baptist Church. When he was 14 he preformed with the New Orleans Philharmonic. In highschool, Wynton was in many bands including New Orleans Symphony Brass Quintet and on weekends he preformed in a jazz band. When he was 17 he was acceped into Tanglewoods Berkshire Music Center, making him the youngest musican ever accepted to that facility. He attened Juilliard in 1979. He then started his own band and they perfomed aprxopently 120 concerts a year for 10 years. In 1987 he co- founded the music program at the Lincoln Center. He has won 9 grammy awards. In 1983 he became the only artist to win a grammy in both clasical and jazz music. He also donates to non profit organizations and scholarships. He has sold 7 million records world wide including 3 gold records.
The song I heard him play was the Carnaval of Venice. This piece is very virtuosic and is for trumpet and orchestra. The short orchestral interludes gave Marsalis a small break before beginning yet another incredibly technical section. This performance was very fun to listen to, never at any time feeling streched or stressed. He preformed it very well with excellent tone and perfect pitch. Marsalis has an fabulous technique and made this performance sound effortless. He is an superb musician and I think he has a very promosing career.
Jerrod, Trumpet
I have chossen for my blog Terence Blanchard
Terence was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1962. He took up trumpet when he was 14 years old. His musical career started in 1982 with another musician named Blakey, and later co-led a group with Donald Harrison but soon got an embouchure. Being able to play trumpet again a year later with a greater talent. Terence then started his second carrer in the movies: writing film scores for Spike Lee and starring in films. But never neglected his trumpet playing. Some of his popular albums are Simply Stated (1993) and Heart Speaks(1995)and his 2007 offering or tribute to hurricane Katrina. A Tale of God's Will( A memorial for Katrina.
I'd say this song has many great qualities about it. Terence goes on and off with his solos but stays with this the jazz. He has the melody of the whole song and can hit the high and low pitches with great sound and perfection. He can role his nots on a great scale which then gives it the jazzy tune.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Iw7Xk9qDMI
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