The Brass Junkies Episode 180: Matt Neff of the North Carolina Symphony

As you will hear, Matt is a really good friend. We used to teach together and played next to each other in the American Festival Pops Orchestra for years.

We had so much back there that I’m not sure how we never got in any trouble!

Matt is a killer classical player and a killer jazz player! Both of them sound like his home base and that’s not easy to do.

I loved hearing him talk about taking lessons after he already had a major gig and crediting that with winning the North Carolina Symphony audition upon his retirement from the United States Air Force Band.

You can watch the episode on YouTube below or head over to Pedal Note Media for all of the links to where to find it.

Enjoy!

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On This Episode of The Brass Junkies:

• His brand new awarding of tenure with the North Carolina Symphony!

• The North Carolina Symphony’s significant outreach across the state

• Getting a lesson with Jim Nova to overcome nerves with auditions

• The negative self-talk he experienced in his Pittsburgh Symphony audition and how he dealt with it moving forward

• How he used taking 20-25 professional auditions during his time in the Navy Band to “check himself” as a musician

• Changing his pants while driving down I-95

• The different kind of practicing you do when you are preparing for auditions

• Matt’s 17-year run in the Navy Concert Band in Washington, DC

• The Ashley Alexander recording Matt heard as a kid featuring Commodores bass trombonist Lee Goss (the loudest bass trombonist to ever live according to Matt)

• His 2-hour audition for The Commodores including playing with the band, the trombone section and playing tunes with the rhythm section

• The variety he’s experienced in his career and why it’s so important to him

• Throwing Matt Niess under the bus

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The Brass Junkies Episode 162: Jennifer Wharton

Jennifer Wharton is a creative force in the brass world and it was a blast getting to interview her!

I love hearing people who have managed to be able to have a significant creative output during this pandemic. I particularly found the discussion about how she managed to record an album during this time when they her group couldn’t even rehearse together.

And be sure to check out the Bonegasm album. It’s awesome!

You can watch the episode on YouTube below or head over to Pedal Note Media for all of the links.

Enjoy!

The Brass Junkies 69: Brian Hecht, Bass Trombonist of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra

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My good friend Brian Hecht, bass trombonist for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, joined us on The Brass Junkies to talk about the incredible career he has had. This dude has played with the Chicago Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and over a dozen other major symphony orchestras. And he's only 32 which is insane.

I especially enjoyed asking him about performing with Trey Anastasio of Phish, which he had just done a few days before the interview. Every time one of the best musicians in the world agrees with how incredible Trey is, I use it to validate my decision to spend pretty much every penny of disposable income I had over a span of two decades on seeing Phish. Whatever it takes to sleep at night I guess!

From the show notes:

TBJ69: Bass Trombonist Brian Hecht on Playing with the Atlanta Symphony, his Audition Preparation Strategy and Subbing with Almost Every Major American Orchestra by the Age of 32

Brian Hecht is the bass trombonist for the Atlanta Symphony and is a former member of the US Navy Band in Washington DC.

He grew up in Dallas and spent some time in the Navy Band in Washington, DC before hitting the orchestral audition circuit, which led to him subbing with both the NY Phil and Philly Orchestra.

He shares his audition preparation strategy, explains what he learned from legendary clarinetist Riccardo Morales and the importance of noise-canceling headphones.

We also get into the topic of nerves, visualization and the value of a shower and a sandwich.

And no Brass Junkies episode would be complete without a deep dive into Phish frontman and one of Andrew’s boyfriends, Trey Anastasio.

We also spent an inordinate amount of time saying the phrase “poop truck.” Sorry.

The Brass Junkies: John Rojak

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Confession: As a general rule I can't stand brass quintets with a bass trombone on the bottom instead of a tuba. I am obviously biased.

But...

When John Rojak is the one playing the bass trombone book, like he has with the American Brass Quintet for many years, I can't imagine it possibly being any better with a tuba in anyone's hands. And I mean that!

John is one of the best bass trombone players in the world. He is also as fine a human as you could ever hope to encounter.

He's one of my chamber music heroes, teaches at Juilliard, NYU and Hartt, has been playing in ABQ for a very long time, and is an active freelancer around New York City. Fascinating guy and it was a lot of fun to chat with him!

Website:

John Rojak

Links:

American Brass Quintet
Julliard
NYU
The Hartt School

You can help offset the costs of producing the show by making a small donation at https://www.patreon.com/thebrassjunkies. Your support is greatly appreciated!

Produced by Austin Boyer and Buddy Deshler of FredBrass.