| I had a fantastic evening on Friday in the Recital Hall at ASU. Charlie Vernon began the evening with a recital performing the Trombone Concerto by Johan de Meij, the David Gillingham Sonata for Bass Trombone, and a piece by Sandstrom for Alto Trombone. His singing sound in the melodic sections of each of these pieces was without question, pristine. His range spanned from the bottom of the piano (in the Gillingham) to the trumpet range in the Sandstrom. Wow! This was some very challenging literature and Charlie said that this was a dry run in preparation for performing these pieces next year.
Charlie was at ASU for the entire week in a Residency that was organized so that the entire trombone studio could benefit from his vast knowledge and experience. He gave private lessons to 10 players in the studio, and 21 of the players participated in his master classes.
While I enjoyed the recital, the real treat for me was watching Charlie work with each of the students for the evening (six in all from 8 PM to 9:30 PM). The first student was Tracy, who I’ve worked with in various groups for the past 15 years. She is a very fine tenor trombone player! Apparently she had a private lesson with him the day before and Charlie had identified that she could use some work in the lower register.
Charlie had Tracy play a Rochut etude down an octave. He said, “Low notes teach the other notes how to sound”. Then he took Tracy’s horn and played the etude while Tracy buzzed it on her mouthpiece. He had her buzz and play melodies (short phrases from the etude) and commented that she should forget the rhythm when breathing and simply take in a full breath before starting the next phrase. He said, a deeper, richer tone on the mouthpiece transfers to improved sound on the horn”.
Then Charlie played the Rochut down two octaves on Tracy’s horn and sound GREAT! He said, “that’s a drag on tenor because it’s an inferior instrument!” He gave Tracy back her horn, picked up his bass trombone and said, “now this is the King of instruments”. He played it again in the same register and just amazed everyone.
Next up were other players from the studio. This was very reminiscent of the session that I attended at the Denver ITG conference with Michael Sachs. The big tenor solo in Mahler 3. The student had a very good sound, but he approached the entire thing in a very “staccato” style. Charlie played for him many times to instill a more legato approach and when I closed my eyes I could hear Jay Friedman coming through loud and clear (from a disk that I purchased last year). Eventually the student began to connect more, but he was still a long way from incorporating this style to this excerpt.
Another player came up and Charlie began playing accompaniment when he saw what was on the stand. It was Bolero. The student did a pretty good job and then Charlie took the students horn and began playing. It just amazed me how easily he could cover all ranges of the trombone family effortlessly. He then told a hilarious story about playing this part in a concert (on tenor).
After all of the students had played he had a question and answer period. He talked about equipment (he uses a lightweight bass trombone slide on his tenor), and talked about the number of brass auditions that he has participated in on the committee in Chicago. He said in the 20 years that he’s been with the CSO he’s heard about 2000 candidates!
I asked my question about mental imagery (the conceptualized “ideal” sound) and Charlie thought for a moment and then gave a demonstration. He talked about model sounds (Tommy Dorsey and George Roberts), Kleinhammer, Mr. Herseth, Arnold Jacobs. He then played some long tones to find that sound. All I can say is, OMG! He said that the key to these was maintaining concentration so that he would continue singing this sound in his head while he was resting. Then when he played his next note it was just a continuation of the ideal sound that he was singing in his mind. It was nothing short of amazing to hear his sound concept sitting about 20 feet in front of his bell!
One of the students there said, “Charlie, would you play some bass trombone excerpts for us. We haven’t hear you play any for the entire week, and I understand you’re pretty good at them!” What followed was excerpt after excerpt from Ein Heldenleben to The Ride and many that I had never heard before. This was simply stunning playing and was a treat that I never thought I would be privileged to hear in person.
I’m sorry to say that I was the only trumpet player in attendance until my instructor showed up after his concert. It was an evening that simply cannot be described in words.
To finish, Charlie talked about the recent trombone concerto that he premiered with the CSO earlier in the month by Christian Lindbergh. It was written especially for Charlie and utilizes the bass, tenor, and alto trombones. Apparently it was met with great reviews and Charlie invited us all back to hear this work in February 5, 2007 with the ASU symphony. If you are in the Phoenix area, you MUST attend this show. You will simply not believe that one person can have such command over so many different instruments.
I got home at about 11:30 PM after spending three and a half-hours being Wowed by one of the finest players around! What a great way to spend a Friday night!
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Derek Reaban
Tempe, Arizona |