Brass Legacy Project: Sam Pilafian

For the first installment of the Brass Legacy Project we simply had to start with Sam Pilafian. Both Lance LaDuke and myself were incredibly close to Sam. He shaped us as musicians and as humans. Sam was like a second father to me.

We decided to go big for this tribute! We were joined by 21 different guests from various aspects of Sam's life and career. All were people who knew him intimately and were deeply affected by his artistry and humanity.

Group #1 (0:00​):

• Daniel Burdick

• Julian Dixon

• Julie Landsman

• Elaine Martone

• Tom McCaslin

• Clarke Rigsby

Group #2 (44:00​):

• Mark Gould

• Mike Jacobetz

• Jens Lindemann

• JD Shaw

• Patrick Sheridan

Group #3 (1:29:00​):

• Velvet Brown

• Jeff Curnow

• Marty Hackleman

• Scott Hartman

• Charles Villarrubia

Group #4 (2:15:00​):

• Joe Alessi

• Chuck Kerrigan

• Michael Nickens

• Michael Sachs

• Gail Williams

Miss you like crazy, Sam.

The Brass Junkies: Scott Hartman - Episode 48

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Scott Hartman, Lecturer in Trombone at Yale University joined us to discuss his incredibly successful and diverse career. Scott has taught and played concerts throughout the world and in all fifty states. He regularly performs and records with the Yale Brass Trio, Proteus 7, the Millennium Brass, the Brass Band of Battle Creek, and the trombone quartet Four of a Kind. Mr. Hartman spends several weeks each summer in residence at the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. 

Scott covers his thoughts on how the chamber music business changed over the years since from his time with Empire Brass to today. We learn of the important distinction between Scott A. Hartman and Scott P. Hartman and get some great Empire Brass stories.

Oh and at one point, Scott may have sounded possessed. And he can be a meathead.

Links:

Don’t go to:
http://www.slushpump.com/

But do go to:
http://www.hartmanmouthpieces.net/
http://music.yale.edu/faculty/hartman-scott/
http://www.bbbc.net/roster/ 

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Take a minute to leave us a rating and a review on iTunes.

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!

Lastly, you can do us a HUGE favor by just sharing our show with your knuckle head friends who would also enjoy it. You know who they are. Bring them into the fold!

Produced by Joey Santillo

Empire Brass on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: Monday YouTube Fix

Growing up in Boston in the 1980's I was exposed to countless professional brass quintets.  Empire Brass, Atlantic Brass, Paramount Brass.  The city of Boston had the most thriving brass quintet scene in the country and for this young tuba player that was invaluable.  To get to hear my instrument featured in a chamber setting showed me what was possible and inspired me to get to work.

I will never forget the first time I heard Sam Pilafian play.  (When I was 11 and hearing him play for the first time I certainly never dreamed he would take over a gig for me as he did with Boston Brass earlier this year!) His playing was virtuosic, he was completely approachable, and he made me think that I could someday do what he did.  That's a great thing to be exposed to at such an early age!

The Empire Brass appearance on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood was a collision of two worlds for someone my age.  Seeing Sam along with Rolf Smedvig, Charlie Lewis, Dave Ohanian and Scott Hartman on the same television screen as Mister Rogers is still kind of crazy to me.

But the best part of this is Sam giving Mister Rogers a tuba lesson.  The other best part is when Mister Rogers asks if it helps to be friends and there is an uncomfortable laughter...

Enjoy!

ft. The Empire Brass Quintet

again the Empire Brass Quintet

Opinionated Fingers

Valves on a brass instrument need to be up or they need to be down - not somewhere in between. This is always the case with the Pat Sheridans and Carol Jantschs of the world. Their fingers never get caught in no-man's-land. You could say their fingers are opinionated. They have a very strong opinion about when they are being pushed down and when they are being released. I always learn a lot about technique when I watch great trombone players. When watching Scott Hartman or Joe Alessi play I am immediately taken aback by their slide work. Their slides seem to always be in one position or another and never seems to be en route. And this is just as true when they play Rochut as when they are playing Till Eulenspiegel.

Those of us with valves can learn a lot from them.

Monday YouTube Fix: Empire Brass

This is simply brass quintet at its finest.  As many of you know, Sam has been one of my mentors since I was 12 years old.  I have never heard any other tuba player play with such character within a quintet.  He is the perfect foundation on which to build a chamber group. The amazing thing to me is how much character each one of them plays with while never stepping to the foreground musically when it is not called for.  The ears that these five musicians have are special.  Every lick that gets passed around the band is perfectly matched: the beginnings of the notes, the weight, the ends of the notes, the line, everything.

I sure am happy I stumbled upon this clip.  I hope you enjoy it!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G6r5KcgJQw]