Brass Chats

Can you walk and chew gum at the same time? Rub your belly whilst patting your head? Triple-tongue three-octave arpeggios while sitting on the shoulders of a unicycle-riding bear in a party hat? Hmm...you're tough......how about: can you be principal trumpet of both the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic at the same time? HA! ...then you're not Chris Martin, our 30th guest on Brass Chats.  Lots of trumpet (slash brass) nuts and bolts in this one. Watch and learn all about how he warms up, what he works on every day, how he develops his sound, and of course---how he navigates the looming minefield of the Monster Round. This one easily gave us about 6 months of stuff to work on in the woodshed. Enjoy! ...and then go practice.

In our interview, Jim Pandolfi offered us the 'Red Pill' of trumpet pedagogy. You might *think* that you know correct trumpet playing technique... but after you hear what Mr. Pandolfi has to say, you might start to question EVERYTHING you've been taught before. Watch the interview and see how deep the rabbit hole goes.

The master of trombone talks about his life growing up in a household of musical influences, his challenges and breakthroughs in regards to playing trombone, and...his dream car.

Today we're sitting down with Phil Snedecor who teaches at the Hart School of Music in Hartford, Connecticut and he has played with pretty much every kind of ensemble you can think of including the Baltimore Symphony, the National Symphony and the Washington Symphonic Brass.

We bet lubes to doughnuts that you've never seen Chameleon played on a cornetto before  this. We'll even give you 12 to 1 odds. So...you know...if we win, you have to buy 1 bottle of valve oil from us, and if you win, we have to buy you a dozen doughnuts. In fact, you'd probably buy yourself the dozen doughnuts anyway because you can't be trusted around doughnuts. We understand. Once you go get your doughnuts, return right here and eat them in front of this month's Brass Chat, which (if you couldn't tell from the above link) was clearly one of the coolest subjects we have ever had. The guy is a genius and it was immensely enjoyable hearing his perspectives on life, music, trumpet, and tennis. Here ya go.

Word association time! You know how it works; I say a word, and you respond with the first thing that jumps to mind. Examples: Peanut Butter? Jelly. Star? Wars. Opera? She dies at the end. Okay...so....Louis Hanzlik? American Brass Quintet, Aspen, Juilliard, UCONN, Columbia Teacher's College ...yep, the list goes on. Today, it only takes 27 minutes and 14 seconds for you to become a better musician; what are you waiting for??? 

Adding handsomely to our stockpile of famously accomplished and otherworldly-good trumpet players in our Brass Chats Interview collection, this month we snared Tom Hooten, who sits in the principal trumpet chair for the Los Angeles Philharmonic. We were super lucky that he had time and energy for us (boy did he!) as the LA Phil swung through New York; the result was one of the most information-rich interviews we've done so far. From warming up and routine to excerpts and chops and beyond, Hooten spills it, and we all get to collect it—thanks to another worthy installment of Brass Chats. Enjoy!

You heard him for years with the Brecker Brothers, you saw him tear up the town in Stoplight Jazz. Now join us for a swim through the inner workings of the mind of trumpet legend, Randy Brecker! We hung with Randy and his cats (animals, not jazzers) at his pad in Montauk, NY, and covered fundamentals, learning to improvise, great stories about all the famous cats (jazzers, not animals) he's played with, the legacy and history of the Brecker Brothers, and much more!

David Krauss, principal trumpet of the Met Opera Orchestra in NYC, had a lot of great stuff to share: stories about taking lessons in Wynton Marsalis' apartment...an unfortunate and unmentionable pogo stick injury, his favorite place to play trumpet, and a few great stories—like the time he almost missed the biggest solo in opera right after he was hired. ...Also, pastrami. Lots of pastrami. Come hang! 

So Vlad Lavrik is the principal trumpet of the Russian National Orchestra; he plays a mean horn and is actually a very fine conductor as well, and is exploring this passion very frequently at work and elsewhere. He being his fully Russian self, and us being us, we wanted to think of some funny things to bring up. Turns out, we're not that funny—but we did ask if Vladimir Putin knew where Mr. Lavrik was. He said no...BUT: we saw his FB feed about a week later, with a video of him receiving a special award for the Arts in Russia...from VLADIMIR PUTIN. Moral of that story? ...Vladimir Putin watches Brass Chats. How about that!