TromboneLessons.com Video Podcast

Weston Sprott is the 2nd Trombonist in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. I had the pleasure of sitting with him on a recent excursion to New York City. His wisdom and poise bely his young age. I was completely blown away by him. I’m sure you will be, too. He’s possessed of a tireless work ethic, humility, great sense of humor, and MUSICALITY to spare.

He was very kind in sharing with us all his guide to “Audition Preparation” (apparently, it works!) That PDF document will be available as a supplement to this video. I think we all owe Weston a big THANKS for his willingness to share it…..it’s great!

Weston, thanks for the visit and the wonderful interview! Best of luck to you, sir, as you aim towards the highest musical peaks.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we proudly present Mr. Weston Sprott…….

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My friend Brian Miller is a wonderful trumpet player and teacher. He recently had an opportunity to teach in Oman, a beautiful peninsular country bordering Saudi Arabia and Yemen. I have never been to the Middle East and I was fascinated by Brian’s account of the place. I hope you enjoy meeting him!

More info about Oman can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oman

Brian was able take this journey because of an ad he saw at the website “Musical Chairs”, which has a tremendous listing of jobs all over the world. That website is here: http://www.musicalchairs.info/

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“So these 4 trombone players walk into a hotel……..”

Sounds like the beginning of a good joke. Well, just watch what happens!

Spontaneous improvisation. Good for the chops, good for the ears, good for the mind, good for the ensemble, good for the soul.

These are trained professionals (believe it or not), please do attempt this at home.

Participating in this soiree are myself, Lee Watts, Wes, and a guy who suggested that we never, EVER, show this publicly. (He’s our musical guru, though I suspect he secretly wishes for a demotion.)

By the way, this all happened in beautiful Kentucky. Lee makes a very clever allusion to this fact, if you pay attention…assuming you last that long:-)

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PDF file, ladies and gentlemen.

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***PARENTAL WARNING: in this Episode, I endorse the consumption of beer. “Sweetwater 420″, as a matter of fact, brewed right here in Atlanta.***

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In this episode, we bring you some Holiday Cheer from the Country Walk neighborhood in Powder Springs, Georgia, USA.

When I was in the Navy Band, our drum major, Jeff Myers, had a wonderful tradition of marching ’round Capitol Hill in Washington, DC playing Christmas Carols with a brass group. It was always the highlight of everyone’s Holiday Season.

When Katlyn and I moved to Atlanta, we decided to keep the tradition alive……this year was the 5th Annual Brass Caroling at Country Walk. It was a real joy and I thank all the wonderful musicians that joined in the merriment. You guys are the best!

Also in this Episode is a great tip for you bass trombonists that suffer pain in your hand, shoulder, etc. Lee Watts shows us his remedy for holding the tortuous beast known as the Bass Trombone. It’s a little stocking-stuffer tidbit for you:-)

Thanks, Lee! You can check out Lee’s website at: http://wattsbone.com/

Also, thanks to the talented Tim Redman for the still photos. He’s pretty awesome with a camera, check him out at Flicker: http://www.flickr.com/photos/trombontim/

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays everybody.

By the way…….still no sign of my taped interview with Joe Robinson. ARGH!! Would y’all mind saying a little prayer and/or rubbing your good luck charm that I might find that thing? Much appreciated.

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Yamaha Euphonium Artist Adam Frey might very well be the hardest working musician I know. He performs, he commisssions new works, he records, he publishes, he teaches, and he hosts one of the best music conferences around: The International Euphonium Institute.

For aspiring pros, especially but not exclusively euphonium players, he is a terrific role model. He has created opportunities for himself and has sought musical challenges to keep himself fully engaged. He developed a passion at an early age and has run full-speed towards fulfilling his dreams and creating for himself an enriched life in music.

I hope you enjoy meeting my friend Adam. He’s a better than average golfer. His website, most fittingly, is: www.euphonium.com

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Dr. Irv Wagner has been a practitioner of “Trombone Love” for longer than most of us have known about the trombone. A globe-trotting ambassador for the trombone, spending just a few moments in his presence can have a profound effect. Playing duets with him can be some of the most enjoyable music-making one will ever do. Here is Part 2 of our interview, including some duets. Once again, I must thank him for taking the time to share.

Thanks to all of you that have contributed to our mission via PayPal and via the flood of encouraging emails. You are all too kind and we appreciate you! Trombone Love.

Please don’t forget to submit your Recital requests for Colin and myself. We’re looking forward to that episode! For more info, see Episode 49. We’ll accept requests until Sep. 10, 2007. Then, we’ll find a day to play the recital. It won’t be too far off….promise. Send your requests to:

tom@trombonelessons.com

Peace.

PS- congratulations to Appalachian State University football team. You are obviously well coached and you fear nothing. Most impressive.

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50 Episodes! Hard to believe…… That calls for some celebration, I think, don’t you agree? We’ve had some serious fun already and much, much more is in store. To celebrate our 50th, we present Dr. Irv Wagner. I was most fortunate to meet up with Dr. Wagner recently. I had an amazing few hours with him and he was most kind in taking the time to share his wisdom with all of us. I know you’ll find his enthusiasm and spirit to be infectious. You can learn more about Dr. Wagner and his work at The University of Oklahoma here:

http://music.ou.edu/

And if you want to see him in action (having the time of his life seemingly) paste this address into your browser:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSwI9Off-iI

Thanks to all of you that have submitted your requests for the upcoming recital (see Episode 49). We will accept submissions for just a few more days, so please send your requests to:

tom@trombonelessons.com

Thanks, all. Hope you enjoy meeting Irv Wagner. I sure did! (Part 2 will include our duets)

Peace:-)

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The trombone community of Atlanta, GA, mourns the passing of Milt Stevens and we celebrate the life he shared with us. Our hearts are with you, Priscilla, and all who loved Milt.

May these sounds bring comfort and the knowledge that our teacher, our friend, is in a better place.

Peace to him and to us all.

We invite you to read and share memories of Milt at:

www.miltstevens.com

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Milt Stevens was a wonderful man and a world-class trombonist. He passed away on July 30, 2007, and we will miss him. For those that knew him, you can attest to his warmth of spirit and passion for teaching. Here is an hour-long Master Class on Intonation that Milt gave at this year’s Georgia Music Educators Conference in Savannah, GA. It’s a fantastic class and I was going to post it here in any case. It’s great stuff, as everything Milt did was prone to be. It really breaks my heart that Milt and I won’t have the chance to do the interview we had planned. Sorry, Milt. I’m always running late, eh?

We hope you can capture a sense of his wit, humor, knowledge, and wisdom in this video. If you have a loving memory of Milt and would like to share it with his friends and family, please visit the memorial website dedicated to this amazing man:

www.miltstevens.com

We will soon have a musical tribute for him posted here, too. Colin and I both were very positively impacted by the inimitable Milt Stevens. He will be dearly missed.

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