🎶 🎉 Congrats to my trombone students Saffron and Louis for their placement in the Vermont All-State Orchestra and Jazz Band this year! So proud of you both! 🎉 🪅 🎵
Final Countdown
Just the melody, written out for Treble Bb (trumpet, tenor sax) and Bass Clef (trombone, euphonium).
This one is for Jace, Neil and Shea! Thanks for the request!
VYOA Winter Programs
There are two groups I want to promote today:
The Da Capo Ensemble is aimed for intermediate middle-school students who want more of a challenge than what school band might offer.
VYOA Jazz is for high school students, and is definitely more of a challenge than most high school jazz programs!
Both programs start soon so jump on it!
Very Merry Theater: Hadestown
Performances are at 20 Allen St:
Friday 7pm
Saturday 2pm and 7pm
Sunday 4pm
Alma Picante NYE Party!
🎅🏼 Holiday Quartet at the 126
Hey all! I’ve got a special gig coming up that I’d love to see students at! Some of my favorite brass colleages and I will be performing holiday tunes at The 126 on Friday, Dec. 20. All ages-friendly, 7-9pm at 126 College Street. Here’s a sample from last week.
New Year Gig Blast
12/13 and 12/20 — Holiday Brass Quartet @ The 126 — 7-9pm
12/21 — Tuba Christmas on Church Street! Around 50 tuba and euphonium players congregate together to play our favorite holiday carols. 1pm
12/31 — Alma Picante @ Arts Riot — Top notch Salsa band playing the year out. Band plays 8-10pm, Tickets Here!
1/1 — Beethoven’s 9th Symphony — 3pm, Elley-Long Music Center
1/3-1/5 — Very Merry Theater presents Hadestown! Show info here.
1/18 — High Summer @ Zenbarn, night
1/23 thru 2/1 — Hadestown @ U-32 Montpelier. Seven shows 1/23-1/25 and 1/30-2/1
High Summer Jammer
Every set my band High Summer plays includes at least one fully-improvised song — even Miriam’s lyrics. Here’s one from our recent ZenBarn gig.
Signal Boost: Lassus Trombone as a work of racism.
I just read a very important post by Doug Yeo, in which he discusses the history of Fillmore’s Lassus Trombone, a piece I remember playing in High School. At the time, I had no idea that it and its companion pieces were musical caricatures, direct descendants of the racist minstrel shows of the 19th century.
I’m sharing this link because I feel it’s extremely important that trombonists, especially white ones, reckon with this history. Even if you’ve never heard of Lassus Trombone, this post illustrates how pervasive systemic racism is, leaching into even something as fun as High School band. Take a few minutes to read it.
Be forewarned, there are racist depictions of African-Americans in this post.