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A blog about performing music, teaching music and the business of music.
Filtering by Category: Monday YouTube Fix
I personally can not name 10 musicians who have a more original sense of style and song than Astor Piazzolla. He turned the entire world of tango on its ear by breaking all the rules. His sense of phrasing is breathtaking and this is a great example. I am really enjoying performing his Four Seasons this year with Boston Brass. He was a true genius.
Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbdakZjHTys&feature=related]
This is a whole lot of guitar chops on one stage at one time. Many people know Frank Zappa for his off the wall lyrics and personality and don't realize he was one of the greatest electric guitar players to every strap one on. It takes some serious courage to just get on stage with Steve Vai and Frank doesn't just hold his own on this clip. Love that this is live and they only got one take. Two absolute masters enjoying what was obviously hours and hours of intentional, dedicated practicing.
Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEnzdp71U78]
New Orleans might be my favorite city in America. The food, the architecture, THE MUSIC! This is a video of the Rebirth Brass Band "Do Watcha Wanna" while taking a stroll through the French Quarter. Imagine stumbling upon this as you walk down the street! Happens all the time in New Orleans. It says this video was taken the day before the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival a few years ago. Every single aspiring musician in the world should drain their bank account dry in necessary to attend Jazzfest. To try to even begin to describe what it did to help shape me as a musician the 4 times I attended in both undergrad and grad school would do it a disservice. I grew up as a musician the first time I spent 4 days soaking it all in as a 20 year old visiting from Chicago.
Jazzfest is life changing for everyone but especially for musicians. Get there at all costs!
Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E1VBCcA76E]
I've never heard an angel sing but if I ever do I expect it to sound like Allison Krauss. This is a cool take on the James Taylor classic "Carolina In My Mind" also featuring Jerry Douglas on dobro.
Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83w8SkdJtPM]
Put in the most simple terms, if you are a player with even 5% of the style, conviction, and intent that Louis Armstrong brought to the table, you will make your living performing. He had it all: technique, phrasing, tone, style, desire to perform, everything. We can all learn from Louie! Amazing trumpet playing, amazing singing, amazing stage presence.
And the fact that this video has over 5 million views gives me hope for the human race.
Enjoy and have a great Labor Day!
(Talk about a burning trombone solo. Yikes!)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyLjbMBpGDA]
This footage is from a concert with our dear friends the Imani Winds. We're playing the Gil Evans/Miles Davis version of "It Ain't Necessarily So" arranged by our horn player, Chris Castellanos. This version features our trumpet player, Jose Sibaja, doing his best Miles impersonation. The entire original Porgy and Bess album is a master class on orchestrating. Gershwin was a genious! I love the colors that Chris got out of this very cool instrumentation, which includes Dan Hostetler on the drums.
Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4bauqWXa0I]
The title really says it all. It's pretty incredible that we have the ability to watch a performance like this so easily. In this clip, Stravinsky is conducting the New Philharmonia Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in London. The Firebird Suite has been one of my favorite pieces of classical music since I was in high school. The recording of David Fedderley playing with the Baltimore Symphony & David Zinman was one that I played almost on a loop as a kid. The tone that Mr. Fedderley plays with on the last line of that recording just smothers you. That album played a huge role in the development of my concept of sound and I still cherish it to this day.
What an invaluable resource it is for us to be able to see Stravinsky himself conducting one of his own masterworks. I love his conducting style. It's no nonsense and to the point. I'm especially a fan of his left hand on his hip from time to time. Priceless!
Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2geXJ5Oiq60&feature=youtu.be]
Ranaan is one of the greatest bass players in the world and I am lucky to call him one of my best friends. He is also an incredible entrepreneur and is one of the founding members of the wildly successful trio Time for Three. The bass and the tuba of course have a lot of similarities. Any time I am having trouble making something sound effortless on the tuba I like to listen to musicians like Ranaan. The basses limitations are obvious compared to a violin or a trumpet, yet when Ranaan is playing they seem to not exist. The clarity and "amount" of tone he can achieve on very fast sixteenth note passages in this version of Czardas is nothing short of amazing.
Ranaan is a bass clef inspiration to many. Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFtFXw3FEho]
This is such a great clip. The trombone section, lead by Joe Alessi, makes this seems so easy and effortless. But anyone familiar with this movement realize that it is anything but easy. I love the close-up of Joe at the most difficult point of the excerpt. He looks so relaxed that you wonder if he was about to fall asleep. Just another day at the office for the best trombone player on the planet. Good stuff.
Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZbc63pN7ZE]
Clips like this one are why the internet was invented. YouTube is just a mind-blowing musical resource. It really is amazing how many clips like this one are out there. I attended my first concert of the season at Tanglewood yesterday. Every time I am there I am reminded of Leonard Bernstein. I've never seen a conductor command an audience and an ensemble as well as he did. He was a truly gifted musician and communicator.
This is the final movement of Shostakovich 5 recording live by the New York Philharmonic in 1979. What an incredible performance. The intensity on Bernstein's face at the end of this clip is both amazing and genuine. Thank goodness we have performances from the past like this one on video. There's so much to learn from them.
Enjoy!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YarFI7r2shY&feature=youtube_gdata_player]