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Thread: Best Euph for Jazz Playing

  1. #31
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    NYC metro area
    Posts
    523
    Quote Originally Posted by John Morgan View Post
    [snip] I know at my age that the train has definitely left the station, and I will be no jazz phenom, but I do try to get a little better at improv occasionally. [snip]
    Never too old to learn, John! My wife, with a classical background, started studying jazz piano when she was [age redacted].

    For your amusement, that old saw "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" is absolutely wrong. Jazz (see my avatar) is approaching 11, and still learns.
    Dean L. Surkin
    Mack Brass MACK-EU1150S, BB1 mouthpiece
    Bach 36B trombone; Bach 6.5AL and Faxx 7C mouthpieces (pBone on loan to granddaughter)
    Steinway 1902 Model A, restored by AC Pianocraft in 1988; Kawai MP8, Yamaha KX-76
    See my avatar: Jazz (the black cockapoo; RIP) and Delilah (the cavapoo) keep me company while practicing

  2. #32
    Quote Originally Posted by John Morgan View Post
    I read this comment a while back and meant to post a brief reply. I never played trombone growing up, it wasn't until later in life that I picked it up. A lot of my trombone playing is with orchestras and brass quintets. But, I have spent a good amount of time playing trombone in big bands, too. I love playing big band ballads. I have played lead mostly, although I do not improvise. I totally missed that lesson in life growing up, no big bands or jazz in any of the schools I went to, plus I only played baritone/euphonium. So, I have messed around a little using Band in a Box. I was going to suggest this, as a way to sort of ease in and get your legs with the world of jazz. I think there is something else called Garage Band or something like that. With these programs, you can enter in chords and pick from many different types of accompaniments and instruments. You need some MIDI gear usually or sound modules. I have a Yamaha Disklavier piano (with MIDI capability) and a Yamaha MU50 Tone Generator. And some nice speakers. Once set up, you can loop your music to play endless jazz solos in any key, tempo, style, etc. you want. This truly is a good way, along with listening to as much jazz as is humanly possible, to get started. If you are fortunate to be around where there are some community big bands (sometimes offshoots of community bands), many times they tolerate folks who are trying to get their jazz chops going. I know at my age that the train has definitely left the station, and I will be no jazz phenom, but I do try to get a little better at improv occasionally. And it is kind of fun when it is not totally humiliating.
    Hey, thanks John. I appreciate you sharing your experiences. I've heard of Band in a Box and Garage band but haven't used them. I have some Aebersold CDs that I plan to use but may check out those programs that you mention. Sounds like a great way to wade into the water! Much appreciated.
    John 3:16


    Conn Victor 5H Trombone
    Yamaha 354 Trombone
    Conn 15I Euphonium

  3. #33
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Summerfield, Florida Sturgis, SD (summers)
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    Quote Originally Posted by dsurkin View Post
    Never too old to learn, John! My wife, with a classical background, started studying jazz piano when she was [age redacted].

    For your amusement, that old saw "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" is absolutely wrong. Jazz (see my avatar) is approaching 11, and still learns.
    I will keep all of that in mind. I enjoyed your wife's age. I am still learning new solos to this day. And working on multiphonics which my band director wants me to do for some reason (I think for the concerts we do for kids). And I can actually take a half way (maybe quarter way) decent improv solo on tunes like "When the Saints Go Marching In" without wanting to hide my face (too much). So there is indeed hope. I wish I had done some of that when I was very young and starting out. I am happy to see that in the schools around where I live, they all have big bands and kids getting into jazz. This is very good.
    John Morgan
    The U.S. Army Band (Pershing's Own) 1971-1976
    Adams E3 Custom Series Euphonium, 1956 B&H Imperial Euphonium,
    1973 F. E. Olds & Son Studio Model T-31 Baritone
    Adams TB1 Tenor Trombone, Yamaha YBL-822G Bass Trombone
    Year Round Except Summer:
    Kingdom of the Sun (KOS) Concert Band, Ocala, FL (Euphonium)
    KOS Brass Quintet (Trombone, Euphonium)
    Summer Only:
    Rapid City Municipal Band, Rapid City, SD (Euphonium)
    Rapid City New Horizons Band (Euphonium)

  4. #34
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Summerfield, Florida Sturgis, SD (summers)
    Posts
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    Quote Originally Posted by Davidus1 View Post
    Hey, thanks John. I appreciate you sharing your experiences. I've heard of Band in a Box and Garage band but haven't used them. I have some Aebersold CDs that I plan to use but may check out those programs that you mention. Sounds like a great way to wade into the water! Much appreciated.
    Yeah, the Aebersold stuff is really good. I actually considered moving to his neck of the woods where he has his jazz music camps. I think around northern Kentucky or southern Indiana. Louisville comes to mind. That was during one of our many "I'm tired of living here, let's move somewhere else" adventures. He put out a ton of CDs. And books. And his CDs allow you to play along. Kind of like Band in a Box, except with Band in a Box, you can change things (keys, tempo, instruments, style, etc.). And make up your own stuff. What I did was get a couple or three of the monstrous fake books, then entered the pieces I wanted to play and improv on into Band in a Box (basically the chords to the piece) and picked a style, and off you go. Put the program on loop and play as many solos over and over as you like until your wife shoots herself or you go terminally nuts. Every once in a while, I would crank out something that sounded better than a junior high player (and some of those little guys are actually pretty good).
    John Morgan
    The U.S. Army Band (Pershing's Own) 1971-1976
    Adams E3 Custom Series Euphonium, 1956 B&H Imperial Euphonium,
    1973 F. E. Olds & Son Studio Model T-31 Baritone
    Adams TB1 Tenor Trombone, Yamaha YBL-822G Bass Trombone
    Year Round Except Summer:
    Kingdom of the Sun (KOS) Concert Band, Ocala, FL (Euphonium)
    KOS Brass Quintet (Trombone, Euphonium)
    Summer Only:
    Rapid City Municipal Band, Rapid City, SD (Euphonium)
    Rapid City New Horizons Band (Euphonium)

  5. #35
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Indianapolis area
    Posts
    1,003
    I attended one of the Aebersold summer camps at age 62 and had a blast. Jamey Aebersold lives in New Albany, IN...not far from Louisville and about 90 minutes from me. The camp was on the Univ. of Louisville campus. As it turned out the guy who coached my combo regularly played in NY with a guy from the 1969 NJ All-state Band of which I was a member! Also enjoyed the company of Dan Haerle, who played in TubaJazz with Harvey. Euphonium blends great with alto or tenor sax, BTW. One thing I didn't do, however, was find a bari sax player to do a Brookmeyer-Mulligan style group.
    I recommend the Aebersold camps highly--everyone is positive and encouraging, and they will place you in a group that challenges without intimidation. The amount of knowledge one can absorb is virtually unlimited, and I particularly enjoyed the trombone faculty who auditioned me.

    On an unrelated matter, if anyone ever goes to Louisville, a visit to the Louisville Slugger Bat Museum is a MUST, and the "Please and Thank You" coffeehouse is superb.
    Jim Williams N9EJR (love 10 meter CW)
    Formerly Principal Euphonium in a whole
    bunch of groups, now just a schlub.
    Shires Q41, Yamaha 321, 621 Baritone
    Wick 4AL, Wessex 4Y, or whatever I grab.
    Conn 50H trombone, Blue P-bone
    www.soundcloud.com/jweuph

  6. #36
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Summerfield, Florida Sturgis, SD (summers)
    Posts
    1,867
    Quote Originally Posted by Snorlax View Post
    I attended one of the Aebersold summer camps at age 62 and had a blast. Jamey Aebersold lives in New Albany, IN...not far from Louisville and about 90 minutes from me. The camp was on the Univ. of Louisville campus. As it turned out the guy who coached my combo regularly played in NY with a guy from the 1969 NJ All-state Band of which I was a member! Also enjoyed the company of Dan Haerle, who played in TubaJazz with Harvey. Euphonium blends great with alto or tenor sax, BTW. One thing I didn't do, however, was find a bari sax player to do a Brookmeyer-Mulligan style group.
    I recommend the Aebersold camps highly--everyone is positive and encouraging, and they will place you in a group that challenges without intimidation. The amount of knowledge one can absorb is virtually unlimited, and I particularly enjoyed the trombone faculty who auditioned me.

    On an unrelated matter, if anyone ever goes to Louisville, a visit to the Louisville Slugger Bat Museum is a MUST, and the "Please and Thank You" coffeehouse is superb.
    Jim,

    Pretty much what I have heard from everyone who has attended. When we went there looking for out next place to live (Lousiville), it was not quite when the camps happened, so I did not get to attend, but wanted to. So you played euphonium at the camp? Were you alone in that choice or other euphonium players? If I had went there, I guess I was planning on playing trombone since I already had quite a bit of time playing it in big bands, just never improvising.
    John Morgan
    The U.S. Army Band (Pershing's Own) 1971-1976
    Adams E3 Custom Series Euphonium, 1956 B&H Imperial Euphonium,
    1973 F. E. Olds & Son Studio Model T-31 Baritone
    Adams TB1 Tenor Trombone, Yamaha YBL-822G Bass Trombone
    Year Round Except Summer:
    Kingdom of the Sun (KOS) Concert Band, Ocala, FL (Euphonium)
    KOS Brass Quintet (Trombone, Euphonium)
    Summer Only:
    Rapid City Municipal Band, Rapid City, SD (Euphonium)
    Rapid City New Horizons Band (Euphonium)

  7. #37
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Summerfield, Florida Sturgis, SD (summers)
    Posts
    1,867
    Quote Originally Posted by Snorlax View Post
    ….On an unrelated matter, if anyone ever goes to Louisville, a visit to the Louisville Slugger Bat Museum is a MUST, and the "Please and Thank You" coffeehouse is superb.
    My wife and I stayed in Louisville back around 2001 in our 5th wheel, scouting out the country for our next landing spot. Your mention of things to see and do reminded me that we really wanted to go take a look at Churchill Downs, site of the annual Kentucky Derby. That place always looked fabulous on TV and the people there were highly interesting, especially the ladies with their big hats. I hope I offend no one, but we were underwhelmed when we drove to the track to have a look. Granted, nothing was going on at the time we were there, but it looked to me, nothing at all like it was shown on TV. It was sort of grey and drab, and if I remember correctly, it sat in sort of a seedy part of town. I should have stayed away and kept my TV memories. Or maybe I just saw it on a bad day, could be.
    John Morgan
    The U.S. Army Band (Pershing's Own) 1971-1976
    Adams E3 Custom Series Euphonium, 1956 B&H Imperial Euphonium,
    1973 F. E. Olds & Son Studio Model T-31 Baritone
    Adams TB1 Tenor Trombone, Yamaha YBL-822G Bass Trombone
    Year Round Except Summer:
    Kingdom of the Sun (KOS) Concert Band, Ocala, FL (Euphonium)
    KOS Brass Quintet (Trombone, Euphonium)
    Summer Only:
    Rapid City Municipal Band, Rapid City, SD (Euphonium)
    Rapid City New Horizons Band (Euphonium)

  8. #38
    Quote Originally Posted by John Morgan View Post
    Yeah, the Aebersold stuff is really good. I actually considered moving to his neck of the woods where he has his jazz music camps. I think around northern Kentucky or southern Indiana. Louisville comes to mind. That was during one of our many "I'm tired of living here, let's move somewhere else" adventures. He put out a ton of CDs. And books. And his CDs allow you to play along. Kind of like Band in a Box, except with Band in a Box, you can change things (keys, tempo, instruments, style, etc.). And make up your own stuff. What I did was get a couple or three of the monstrous fake books, then entered the pieces I wanted to play and improv on into Band in a Box (basically the chords to the piece) and picked a style, and off you go. Put the program on loop and play as many solos over and over as you like until your wife shoots herself or you go terminally nuts. Every once in a while, I would crank out something that sounded better than a junior high player (and some of those little guys are actually pretty good).
    HaHa.....I think I already drive my wife crazy with the current practice. That would only add to it. She is actually very supportive and I'm fortunate in that regard.
    John 3:16


    Conn Victor 5H Trombone
    Yamaha 354 Trombone
    Conn 15I Euphonium

  9. #39
    Quote Originally Posted by Snorlax View Post
    I attended one of the Aebersold summer camps at age 62 and had a blast. Jamey Aebersold lives in New Albany, IN...not far from Louisville and about 90 minutes from me. The camp was on the Univ. of Louisville campus. As it turned out the guy who coached my combo regularly played in NY with a guy from the 1969 NJ All-state Band of which I was a member! Also enjoyed the company of Dan Haerle, who played in TubaJazz with Harvey. Euphonium blends great with alto or tenor sax, BTW. One thing I didn't do, however, was find a bari sax player to do a Brookmeyer-Mulligan style group.
    I recommend the Aebersold camps highly--everyone is positive and encouraging, and they will place you in a group that challenges without intimidation. The amount of knowledge one can absorb is virtually unlimited, and I particularly enjoyed the trombone faculty who auditioned me.

    On an unrelated matter, if anyone ever goes to Louisville, a visit to the Louisville Slugger Bat Museum is a MUST, and the "Please and Thank You" coffeehouse is superb.
    Love the Louisville slugger museum. I used to work for a company headquartered in Louisville and traveled there frequently. Enjoyed the many many places to eat. Tremendous place called "toast" on market st. that had the best breakfasts.

    Did you go to the Aebersold camp on Euphonium? or trombone? Must have been a great experience.
    John 3:16


    Conn Victor 5H Trombone
    Yamaha 354 Trombone
    Conn 15I Euphonium

  10. #40
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Indianapolis area
    Posts
    1,003
    I went with only my Yamaha 321, and everyone was more than receptive. I was the only euphonium in
    the camp for my session, but they told me I was far from the first euphonium to have participated.
    Dan Haerle, of course, was well familiar with the euphonium.
    (I'm only a few lessons ahead of my junior high/highschool students on trombone)
    Everyone was familiar with Rich Matteson, naturally, and (thankfully) didn't fllinch when I tried to imitate
    Chet Baker or Bob Brookmeyer rather than Rich.

    As to the race track, John, your assessment is accurate. I made the mistake of going down there
    from Indiana University for the 1971 race. It was miserable in the infield--drunks were barfing all over
    and it was impossible to see the race--all two minutes of it.
    Jim Williams N9EJR (love 10 meter CW)
    Formerly Principal Euphonium in a whole
    bunch of groups, now just a schlub.
    Shires Q41, Yamaha 321, 621 Baritone
    Wick 4AL, Wessex 4Y, or whatever I grab.
    Conn 50H trombone, Blue P-bone
    www.soundcloud.com/jweuph

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