Brass Chats

You wouldn't know it, but don't be fooled by his mild-mannered, well-temperamented exterior; but Jim Wilt? Associate Principal Trumpet of the Los Angeles Philharmonic?  That guy is MAD at you. He told us, in this interview. We're talking really, really angry. Especially because of that time you met him at an audition. You may not have noticed at the time, but he was literally quivering with rage, speaking every single syllable through clenched teeth, furious at every word. Just needed you to know that. Hey, look! A video interview! Right there! 

Quiz time: which number is bigger: number of calendar years A.D., or number of movies Malcolm McNab has played on? ....I'll give you a hint: the answer is the part about the number of movies. Give up? No, I'm sorry—we were looking for "the number of movies Malcolm McNab has played on, which currently stands far above 2000 and is certainly more than I can even begin to fathom." Nice try—here's a consolation prize: a great interview with Malcolm McNab! Welcome back to Brass Chats.

LA Studio and Jazz player Carl Saunders has been described as "the best trumpet player you've never heard of." Well, we hope to change that with this month's Brass Chat because he's ridiculous. The guy can do anything with a horn, was generous with his time and talents, and plays a lot of trumpet during this interview, which was a real treat for us; hearing Carl solo is like...uh...pouring melted chocolate into a glass of red wine, them mixing that with honey and pouring it over some ice cream or something. It's a terrible analogy, just ignore us, you're not here for the blogging skills anyway; just believe us when we say that he is good at soloing. Welcome to sunny California for this month's installment of Brass Chats! 

You asked for it? You got it: Here's the three handsomest members of Monster Oil, giving you an inside look at their streams of consciousness as they test themselves during the Monster Round. So many of you asked for this we had to do it. Our inbox was overflowing. For weeks on end, maybe months, all communications to us were along the lines of "sure, it was nice to hear Ray Mase's thoughts on what makes a great student, and yeah, listening to Mike Martin tell stories about his early Boston Symphony days was good, but what I'd really like to see is more of you guys asking each other stupid questions and giving stupid answers in return." ...well, your wait is over—so you can stop emailing us about it now. We hope that you, our adoring public, enjoy this rare offering. Cheers!

Go to college. Graduate. Win job immediately. Win bigger job immediately. This is more or less the musical equivalent of the LeBron James career track, followed in this instance by the phenomenal Ethan Bensdorf, who made the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra the Cleveland Cavaliers of the Orchestral World by taking his talents to the Big Apple, where he's now second trumpet for the New York Phil. Easy-Peasy, Lemon-Squeezey. Touching on topics ranging from his unconventional teaching style to what it was like to sit next to Phil Smith, this is an unmissable Brass Chat for sure.

This is the Brass Chats Interview you watch if you want to pick the brain of a man who likes hats, likes music, has an INSANE historical instrument collection (in the video, don't worry), provides musical goods and services to the greatest musicians in New York (and the rest of the country), and has built a multi-million dollar musical operation from scratch with nothing but his bare hands, ingenuity, and elbow grease. One of the most interesting guys alive today: Steve Dillon, owner of Dillon Music! Only on Brass Chats. Also Joel plays his best Herseth impression on a Mel Broiles' old piccoliccolitissimito trumpet. 

Charlie Schlueter, principal trumpet of the Boston Symphony Orchestra for an iconic 25 years, now enjoys a quiet retirement at his home in Massachusetts. ...except for when three fools like us come pounding down his door demanding to be seen and asking him a bunch of rude questions about how to get better at trumpet. Fortunately, he acquiesced to these aforementioned demands and we scored an hour of knowhow out of this trumpet giant. Someday, we'll be back for more—you can talk to this guy all day. Enjoy!

What to say about Terry Everson, other than the fact that he's an internationally renowned trumpet soloist, educator, clinician, composer, conductor, and church musician? He's also a darn-tooitn' nice fella. His students are thriving in today's trumpet world, including Brass-Chatter Karin Bliznik, and if gentle dominance is even a thing, this guy has it in spades. K-Bliz tells us that she learned a lot from him on trumpet, but it was really T.E.'s hip-hop skills that helped her hone her dope beats and sick rhymes; but what else can Mr. Everson teach us? ....watch the video and you'll see that the answer is: a. lot.

Finally! A NON-trumpet player on Brass Chats. We know what you're thinking: "what does a NON-trumpet sound like? who makes them? how much do they cost? what size mouthpiece am I supposed to use? Will it help me with my double high-C?" Ha, ha, smart-alec, very funny. Tell your jokes to your mom why don't you, she always laughs at me. I... ...wait a minute, who was I insulting again? Boy, what a digression—back on topic, Monsters: TUBA great Mike Roylance joins us this month! He's principal tubist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, played with our very own Tom Brown when they were both in the Chicago Civic Orchestra, and has an instrument rating. Find out why that has absolutely nothing to do with music—and many more tips, tricks, stories, and more—on this month's Brass Chats!

Two things to learn about Mark Gould, if you don't already know them. 1: He was principal trumpet of the Met Opera for an absolutely staggering 29 years; and 2: He's a man that says what he means, and means what he says. This makes for a veritable storm of interestingness constantly surrounding him, from his side project Pink Baby Monster (performances sometimes usually NSFW), to running for president in 2012, to his students' total infestation of the professional trumpet scene (obviously in large part wrought by his teachings), and NOW—to one of our best Brass Chats yet. To preserve the integrity of our interview subject, this interview has NOT been edited for foul language or content. Parents, your kids have heard these words before, we promise (Joel, for example, learned the F-word in—wait for it—Sunday School, from his cousin...when he was six. Your kids know the words.)—but all the same, heads up!