Unusual Jazz Instruments
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Tuba in Jazz.( Derived from Wiki)
The tuba has been used in jazz the genre's inception. In the earliest years, bands often used a tuba for outdoor playing and a double bass for indoor performances. In this context, the tuba was sometimes called "brass bass", as opposed to the double bass, which was called "string bass"; it was not uncommon for players to double on both instruments.
When used in modern jazz, tubas usually fill the traditional bass role, although it is not uncommon for them to take solos. New Orleans style Brass Bands like Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Rebirth brass Band, and Nightcrawlers Brass Band feature a sousaphone as the bass instrument. Miles Davis made use of a tuba, played by Bill Barber, in his album Birth of the Cool, released in June, 1950. One of the most prominent tubists specializing in jazz is the New York City-based Marcus Rojas, who has performed frequently with bandleader Henry Threadgill. Another notable group is the Modern Jazz Tuba Project, founded by R. Winston Morris, which consists entirely of tubas and euphoniums with rhythm section.
The tuba has also played a large role in ragtime music and in big band music.
The tuba has been used in jazz the genre's inception. In the earliest years, bands often used a tuba for outdoor playing and a double bass for indoor performances. In this context, the tuba was sometimes called "brass bass", as opposed to the double bass, which was called "string bass"; it was not uncommon for players to double on both instruments.
When used in modern jazz, tubas usually fill the traditional bass role, although it is not uncommon for them to take solos. New Orleans style Brass Bands like Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Rebirth brass Band, and Nightcrawlers Brass Band feature a sousaphone as the bass instrument. Miles Davis made use of a tuba, played by Bill Barber, in his album Birth of the Cool, released in June, 1950. One of the most prominent tubists specializing in jazz is the New York City-based Marcus Rojas, who has performed frequently with bandleader Henry Threadgill. Another notable group is the Modern Jazz Tuba Project, founded by R. Winston Morris, which consists entirely of tubas and euphoniums with rhythm section.
The tuba has also played a large role in ragtime music and in big band music.
OLDUDE
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Bassoon in Jazz (Derived from Wiki).
The bassoon is infrequently used as a jazz instrument and rarely seen in a jazz ensemble. It first began appearing in the 1920s, including specific calls for its use in Paul Whiteman's group, the unusual Octets of Alec Wilder, and a few other session appearances. The next few decades saw the instrument used only sporadically, as symphonic jazz fell out of favor, but the 1960s saw artists such as Yusef Lateef and Chick Corea incorporate bassoon into their recordings; Lateef's diverse and eclectic instrumentation saw the bassoon as a natural addition, while Corea employed the bassoon in combination with flautist Hubert Laws.
More recently, Illinois Jacquet , Ray Pizzi, Frank Tiberi, and Marshall Allen doubled on bassoon in addition to their saxophone performances. Bassoonist Karen Borca, a performer of free jazz, is one of the few jazz musicians to play only bassoon; Michael Rabinowitz, the Spanish bassoonist Javier Abad, and James Lassen, an American resident in Bergen, Norway, are others. Katherine Young plays the bassoon in the ensembles of Anthony Braxton>.
Lindsay Cooper, Paul Hanson, the Brazilian bassoonist Alexandre Silverio, and Daniel Smith are also currently using the bassoon in jazz. French bassoonists Jean-Jacques Decreux and Alexandre Ouzounoff have both recorded jazz, exploiting the flexibility of the Buffet system instrument to good effect.
The bassoon is infrequently used as a jazz instrument and rarely seen in a jazz ensemble. It first began appearing in the 1920s, including specific calls for its use in Paul Whiteman's group, the unusual Octets of Alec Wilder, and a few other session appearances. The next few decades saw the instrument used only sporadically, as symphonic jazz fell out of favor, but the 1960s saw artists such as Yusef Lateef and Chick Corea incorporate bassoon into their recordings; Lateef's diverse and eclectic instrumentation saw the bassoon as a natural addition, while Corea employed the bassoon in combination with flautist Hubert Laws.
More recently, Illinois Jacquet , Ray Pizzi, Frank Tiberi, and Marshall Allen doubled on bassoon in addition to their saxophone performances. Bassoonist Karen Borca, a performer of free jazz, is one of the few jazz musicians to play only bassoon; Michael Rabinowitz, the Spanish bassoonist Javier Abad, and James Lassen, an American resident in Bergen, Norway, are others. Katherine Young plays the bassoon in the ensembles of Anthony Braxton>.
Lindsay Cooper, Paul Hanson, the Brazilian bassoonist Alexandre Silverio, and Daniel Smith are also currently using the bassoon in jazz. French bassoonists Jean-Jacques Decreux and Alexandre Ouzounoff have both recorded jazz, exploiting the flexibility of the Buffet system instrument to good effect.
JHC
Chief assistant to the assistant chief
As in funeral processions "When the saints go marching in"
It gave way to Double bass early on in "Big band music" I find the Double bass is the best for really punching a rhythm whereas the Tuba is rather Brass Band kind of thing
John Watt
Member
I had a girlfriend who played bassoon in The Ottawa Symphony and The Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, and I know what you mean about oboes.
I think of these instruments as having to clench yourself to hold them, a nice muscular development.
What I liked about her bassoon was the simple beauty of it, the rehearsal one looking as nice as her performance instrument.
They looked perfect, but you knew they were hand made. I hope my guitar looks like that.
Circular breathing is interesting. I can do that easier with a trumpet, something that gives you more back pressure to work with,
and it's a co-ordination not many people have or try.
I would have thought that was a musicians' fable if I didn't see Rahassan Roland Kirk holding a note forever.
Something tells me Corno Dolce can circular breathe with a coronet and play contrapuntal left and right hand on organ,
while using his feet to play digital double bass drums.
His first composition will be about politics and war in a small Lithuanian city, called "Bombed Bast".
I think of these instruments as having to clench yourself to hold them, a nice muscular development.
What I liked about her bassoon was the simple beauty of it, the rehearsal one looking as nice as her performance instrument.
They looked perfect, but you knew they were hand made. I hope my guitar looks like that.
Circular breathing is interesting. I can do that easier with a trumpet, something that gives you more back pressure to work with,
and it's a co-ordination not many people have or try.
I would have thought that was a musicians' fable if I didn't see Rahassan Roland Kirk holding a note forever.
Something tells me Corno Dolce can circular breathe with a coronet and play contrapuntal left and right hand on organ,
while using his feet to play digital double bass drums.
His first composition will be about politics and war in a small Lithuanian city, called "Bombed Bast".
OLDUDE
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Sorry Colin,
No criticism intended - as I think most people realise (including yourself),
I'm only trying to stimulate interest in the Jazz forum.
But is it working?
Will this section survive without more contributions?
Without more response I dont think I will want to continue myself.
No criticism intended - as I think most people realise (including yourself),
I'm only trying to stimulate interest in the Jazz forum.
But is it working?
Will this section survive without more contributions?
Without more response I dont think I will want to continue myself.
Do continue, John. Would also be nice if you could provide us with some samples. Now, here's my contribution.
The second jazz oboe player I found is Paul McCandless. This man is a true multi-instrumentalist. Not only does he play oboe, but also English horn, soprano saxophone, sopranino saxophone, bass clarinet and a variety of folk flutes. He is the leader of a group called Oregon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAcGuRSVvMA (love the way he explores oboe's highest registers)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHnwrwy200g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_C2uL5aV6Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEKsMsaMLuY
Corno Dolce
Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
The other evening I heard an artist playing Jazz Standards on the Heckelphone accompanied by a Piano and Double Bass - A most pleasing combo.
OLDUDE
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Hi CD I would love to have heard that. Here follows info from Wiki on the instrument, (Note that the blue bits are not links)
The Heckelphone is a double reed instrument of the oboe family, but with a wider bore and hence a heavier and more penetrating tone. It is pitched an octave below the oboe and furnished with an additional semitone taking its range down to A.[1] It was intended to provide a broad oboe-like sound in the middle register of the swollen orchestrations of the turn of the twentieth century. In the orchestral repertoire it is generally used as the bass of an oboe section incorporating the oboe and the cor anglais (English horn), filling the gap between the oboes and bassoons.
The Heckelphone is approximately four feet in length, and is quite heavy: it rests on the floor, supported by a short metal peg attached to the underside of its bulbous bell. An alternate second bell, called a "muting" bell, is also available, which serves to muffle the instrument for playing in a small ensemble. This arrangement is unique among double-reed instruments. It is played with a large double reed that more closely resembles a bassoon reed than an oboe reed.
Smaller piccolo- and terz-Heckelphones were developed, pitched respectively in (high) F and Eb, but few were made, and they remain very rare.
The Heckelphone is a double reed instrument of the oboe family, but with a wider bore and hence a heavier and more penetrating tone. It is pitched an octave below the oboe and furnished with an additional semitone taking its range down to A.[1] It was intended to provide a broad oboe-like sound in the middle register of the swollen orchestrations of the turn of the twentieth century. In the orchestral repertoire it is generally used as the bass of an oboe section incorporating the oboe and the cor anglais (English horn), filling the gap between the oboes and bassoons.
The Heckelphone is approximately four feet in length, and is quite heavy: it rests on the floor, supported by a short metal peg attached to the underside of its bulbous bell. An alternate second bell, called a "muting" bell, is also available, which serves to muffle the instrument for playing in a small ensemble. This arrangement is unique among double-reed instruments. It is played with a large double reed that more closely resembles a bassoon reed than an oboe reed.
Smaller piccolo- and terz-Heckelphones were developed, pitched respectively in (high) F and Eb, but few were made, and they remain very rare.
Corno Dolce
Admiral Honkenwheezenpooferspieler
It is a surprise to hear it in Jazz combos.............
Well, the links I posted may not quite fit the bill, I know (except for the second one), but I thought they'd still be worth at least mentioning, since they feature oboe. McCandless doesn't play strict, mainstream jazz, but I still find his improvisations to be very interesting. Though if he doesn't fit the thread, I won't mention him here.
Anyone care to comment on the English horn clip I posted on the previous page?
Anyone care to comment on the English horn clip I posted on the previous page?
OLDUDE
New member
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXAPzazTNsc&feature=player_detailpage
I think I have sussed the link business
I think I have sussed the link business
OLDUDE
New member
To answer my own question about the Flugel horn, here is a comment from the Wiki page. (The blue bits are not links)
Joe Bishop, as a member of the Woody Herman band in 1936, was one of the earliest jazz musicians to make use of the flugelhorn. Shorty Rogers and Kenny Baker began playing it in the early fifties, and Clark Terry used it with Duke Ellington's orchestra in the middle fifties. Chet Baker recorded several albums on the instrument in the 1950s and 1960s. Miles Davis helped further to popularize the instrument in jazz on the albums Miles Ahead and Sketches of Spain, both of which were arranged by Gil Evans, although he did not use it much on later projects. Other prominent jazz flugelhorn players include Chris Alexander, Mike Metheny, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Art Farmer, Roy Hargrove, Hugh Masekela, Tony Guerrero, Jimmy Owens, Maynard Ferguson, Terumasa Hino, Woody Shaw, Guido Basso, Kenny Wheeler, Tom Harrell, Bill Coleman, Thad Jones, Arturo Sandoval, Lee Loughnane of the rock band Chicago, and Harry Beckett. Most jazz flugelhorn players use the instrument as an auxiliary to the trumpet, but in the 1970s Chuck Mangione gave up playing the trumpet and concentrated on the flugelhorn alone, notably on "Feels So Good". Mangione, in an interview during an Olympic Games telecast on ABC, for which he had written the theme "Give it All You Got," referred to the flugelhorn as "the 'right' baseball glove."
Cheers John
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w5obcPhonE&feature=player_detailpage
Here is a link
Joe Bishop, as a member of the Woody Herman band in 1936, was one of the earliest jazz musicians to make use of the flugelhorn. Shorty Rogers and Kenny Baker began playing it in the early fifties, and Clark Terry used it with Duke Ellington's orchestra in the middle fifties. Chet Baker recorded several albums on the instrument in the 1950s and 1960s. Miles Davis helped further to popularize the instrument in jazz on the albums Miles Ahead and Sketches of Spain, both of which were arranged by Gil Evans, although he did not use it much on later projects. Other prominent jazz flugelhorn players include Chris Alexander, Mike Metheny, Freddie Hubbard, Lee Morgan, Art Farmer, Roy Hargrove, Hugh Masekela, Tony Guerrero, Jimmy Owens, Maynard Ferguson, Terumasa Hino, Woody Shaw, Guido Basso, Kenny Wheeler, Tom Harrell, Bill Coleman, Thad Jones, Arturo Sandoval, Lee Loughnane of the rock band Chicago, and Harry Beckett. Most jazz flugelhorn players use the instrument as an auxiliary to the trumpet, but in the 1970s Chuck Mangione gave up playing the trumpet and concentrated on the flugelhorn alone, notably on "Feels So Good". Mangione, in an interview during an Olympic Games telecast on ABC, for which he had written the theme "Give it All You Got," referred to the flugelhorn as "the 'right' baseball glove."
Cheers John
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w5obcPhonE&feature=player_detailpage
Here is a link
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