Hindsight on 2011

Maybe I need a little more distance from 2011 to have good hindsight, but I've been thinking about the past year and trying to figure out where I've been and where I'm going. Summing up the facts, gigging this year I made more money, and played fewer gigs. The gigs I played were more often the kind of music I'd like to be playing, but my schedule has been much lighter, which I don't enjoy. I had no gigs in November. The bottom line with gigs is that I want to be playing more, but there is lots to celebrate from 2011.

A couple gig highlights -

• Wicked in May - I really loved being part of such a big production. It's an incredible musical, great sets and music, and top notch Broadway actors. Beautiful voices. 
• Mahler 1 with the Spokane Symphony - one of the few times I got to play with an orchestra this year, and what a treat to do Mahler!
• The Spotted Cats Debut - an August evening cruise on Couer d'Alene playing great music. Lots of familiar faces in the crowd, and my Mother-in-Law wins the prize for selling the most tickets and inviting the most people. 
• The Eric Moe Brass Group - once again, not my name choice for the group, but an amazing opportunity for me. I put together a 12 piece brass group to play a September 11 tribute, and it was wonderful. To pick music, people and play in that setting was amazing for me, and I loved it. 

As far as teaching goes in 2011, I had nearly the same load as last year, and made a little more money. I have a couple adult students right now, and I really enjoy working with a mature student who knows the discipline practice takes and puts in the time. I also have some much younger students than I usually have, and that's going well too. It's fun to see joy in the novelty of making noise on a trumpet.

Right now I'm practicing for some solo opportunities coming up. First in February on Monday the 13th I get to be the guest jazz soloist with the Ferris High School jazz band. Then on March 28th I get to play Carnival of Venice with Ferris also.

For the jazz concert in February, we're doing a Dizzy Gillespie tune called Emanon, and some other things too. I'm working on doing a solo that sounds kind of like Dizzy; not a complete transcription, but definitely using some of his licks and aiming for his sound. I'm doing a Dizzy impersonation, and it's a fun challenge. To a jazz trumpeter's ear Dizzy, Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard etc. all sound very unique, and you know within a couple bars who you are listening to. I want to sound like Dizzy.

Then in March I'll need to sound like Herbert L. Clarke. I've been doing some homework learning about the Carnival of Venice. It looks like it was originally written for violin, and then stolen by Arban for the cornet. Since Arban there have been many arrangements done, each player putting their own stamp on it. Among trumpeters one of the most famous is Allen Vizzutti's Carnival of Venus. Of course, it's out of this world.

As long as I'm posting links to videos, here's one I stumbled on. Water Trombone. Does this surprise anyone? really? :)

Starting 2012 trying to sound like Dizzy and H.L. Clarke is quite an ambitious new years resolution, but I still have a couple months to get it done. Hope your 2012 is a great one!

The Jedi Powers of Good Music

I had a busy week starting last Friday playing 5 gigs in 6 days. What amazed me as I look back on it, is how fickle I am. Good performances are so persuasive, I find that when I'm in the middle of an experience, I can't imagine putting effort toward another style of music. But as soon as the next good gig comes, the previous gig is out of my mind.

Friday and Saturday I played with a brass quintet accompanying the Gonzaga choirs for their Christmas concert. We did some great music, like the In Dulci Jubilo by Praetorius, and some hymns with the audience like this arrangement of O Come All Ye Faithful. (these clips are not from the concert, but can give you a taste of what we played). This version of O Come All Ye Faithful is so moving! I love getting to play it, and on our second concert it brought the conductor to tears. Playing in a brass group like this fuels my desire to start my own.

Sunday afternoon I grabbed my piccolo trumpet and headed down to First Presbyterian church. They host a sing-a-long of Handel's Messiah. There's lots of sitting to do during the Messiah (we only play about 5 of the 53 songs), but it includes some really fun stuff like The Trumpet Shall Sound. I love getting to play piccolo for the Messiah, and I do it really well. I'm comfortable sitting in the orchestra, and would love to do it more often.

Childcare required amazing feats of agility and acrobatics all week long. Monday night my dad came  right as I was finishing up giving a bath to one of our kids. I grabbed my mutes, music and 2 horns and was off to play with the Bob Curnow big band. One of my favorite tunes that Bob's band does is his arrangement of Heat of the Day, a Pat Metheny tune. Here's a video of Metheny doing it his way, and you can hear how driving, rhythmic and intense it is. Imagine that with screaming trumpets! Bob's band is so rockin' and powerful; at one point I remembered playing the Messiah and wondered to myself, why would I ever want to play music different than driving, modern jazz?

By the time Wednesday rolled around I did want to play a different style of music. I got to play with the Hot Club of Spokane doing vintage swing at a really cool new restaurant called The Vault. The Vault is setup to look like a speakeasy from the 20's. All the servers are dressed in costume, and downstairs you can dine in the actual vault. It's totally different kind of playing too. Very little written out, lots of improvising solos and backgrounds, lots of dixieland style playing and soloing together. I brought all my mutes and I'm looking for ways to sound unique and fit the style - lots of cup mute and plunger.

The nature of being a professional musician is that you have to wear lots of different hats, and be able to play lots of different styles. I struggle with that a little, and I long to be part of a group and grow into that role, but I'm so thankful for the chance to play this past week. Gigs have been kind of light this fall. It's a treat to get to make good music.

The Eric Moe Brass Ensemble

Since moving to Spokane I have often dreamed of starting my own brass group. There are several big hurdles to this in my mind, money being chief among them. If I was to start a group of my own I'd want to be able to afford really good musicians and the rehearsal time it takes to be excellent. Having a place to play also costs money. Buying music costs money.

Then there is personnel. Spokane is not short on good brass players, but I know from playing with the Denver Brass that quality people are key. You want people who are invested in the group and want to contribute, who can take criticism, and personalities that are easy to work with. Among the musicians I know what would the right mix of people be?

These 2 hurdles, money and people, have been paralyzing to me and I haven't started my own brass group. Then 3 weeks ago I was asked to put together a brass group for a September 11 remembrance event. The problem of money was solved - I could deal with finding people.

That's how the Eric Moe Brass Ensemble was born. About the name - not my choice. That's what happens when you don't choose a name. I've thought of lots of names; how about River City Brass. I like it, but I think it's been used, and isn't Spokane the Lilac City? Lilac City Brass is too much flower for me. If I was a firefighter I'd start a brass quintet called Red Hot Brass. I thought about starting a group called Green Brass which has all sorts of hidden meanings. Raw brass turns green with age. Green means inexperienced too, or how about brass concerts with an environmental twist. Online concert programs, or a concert venue you bike or walk to.

So I began scrambling to get people and music together. I choose the conductor first, and then started filling out the brass players. It all came together and we played last night! It was thrilling to play in that setting again. There's nothing quite like the power a professional brass group can deliver, and sitting in the middle of it is one of my favorite places to be.