The Most Validating Day of My Life

25 years ago today was possibly the most validating day of my life.

I took Sam Pilafian to his first ever Phish show and he completely lost his mind.

It was maybe during the third song of my first ever Phish show (the previous New Year's Eve) when I thought "Sam has to see this band." It became my mission to get those five humans in the same room.

I flew from Chicago down to Phoenix with the sole purpose of taking him to the 12/9/94 Phish show at the Mesa Amphitheater, even though it was under the guise of "staying in touch with him and checking out ASU for graduate school." I was only a sophomore LMAO (Thanks for the plane ticket Mom + Dad!)

Mesa Amphitheatre

The band came out and launched into a tune called Llama which was at about 180 bpm. Sam's eyes were on the band and I my eyes were glued to him. He was staring without any expression whatsoever. He was giving me nothing. He seemed to be into it but just standing there like a statue.

Trey Anastasio's guitar solo on this version was crazy. Lots of noise and effects. Angular and almost violent while slowly building like a giant angry roar. Just before it peaked, the drummer, Jon Fishman, played a measure of quarter-note triplets on the kick drum underneath the madness.

That drum fill was the precise moment when Sam, who was still standing completely still, suddenly unleashed a double fist pump and at the top of his lungs screamed "%&@$ YEAH!!!" He didn't yell this towards me. He yelled it AT THE BAND. He got "IT" instantly. What they were capable of individually. How cohesive of a chamber group they were. The whole thing. Like, all of it.

After the first tune he said to me something to the effect of "Okay Hitz I get it!" That was already obvious but still filled my heart with pride. Can't put into words how validating the first five minutes of that show were for me as a musician and a human.

The rest of the first set could not have been drawn up any better to show off everything the band could do to a musician like Sam. During the second song's guitar solo, the entire band diminuended until they all completely dropped out except for Trey. He is playing unaccompanied at pp and eventually the rest of the band rejoins him as softly as they can. They then execute one big crescendo to ff together until it all peaks. A band playing pp at an outdoor rock concert literally moments after the the violent, tweaked wall of sound opener. Sam was floored.

The third tune was a song called Guyute, which is one of the most intricate and complex compositions in their entire repertoire. And they nailed the shit out of it. Like walk off the stage positive you advanced to the next round nailed the shit out of it. Again, he was floored.

I could speak at length tune by tune on Sam's reactions but I won't. The perfectly executed accelerando in Sparkle. A barbershop quartet tune. A couple of acoustic bluegrass tunes. Sam commenting on the stage presence of the drummer for his two humorous solo numbers "What a showman. He had that crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. That's how you do it." The versatility they displayed took his breath away.

He saw all-time versions of three Phish tunes that might all be on their Mount Rushmore: Antelope, You Enjoy Myself and Tweezer. The Tweezer is a 26-minute monster jam that featured the jam of another one of their tunes embedded in the middle of it. That jam featured one giant, Mahler-esque build that when it peaked had Sam smiling from ear to ear.

Sam went to a number of other Phish shows in his life. Some with me and some on his own. He got it. He really did. And he bent over backwards while I was his Graduate TA to help cover my studio responsibilities so I could continue to get to shows (which was hard while living in Arizona!) He knew how much they meant to my musical development and my soul.

Sam was one of the first people I called when I found out I was going to be sharing the stage with Trey Anastasio and the National Symphony Orchestra back in 2013. He was almost happier than me! Almost...

So if you see me smiling extra wide tonight from the podium at the Kennedy Center, yes I'm happy as hell to be conducting another Tuba Christmas. But I also might be thinking about Sam's involuntary double fist pump during Llama 25 years ago tonight which holds a very special place in my heart.

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.