Weedyweidenthal

I'm looking for some criticsm on this trumpet cadenza that we have in the mask of zorro. The cadenza starts around the 5:50 minute mark i think... actually if you want you can just listen to the whole zorro song which starts at about the 3:50 minute mark. I'm the one with the double g... not my best but enough to impress the judges. All the 4 trumpets are in high school and have been playing together for about 3 years in a jazz band. I'm a sophomore. The senior plays the real part of the cadenza and the juniors play the other 2 parts. Matt opens up with the solo and then there is a quartet. Another soli quartet... trading solos and then the cadenza. The correct link is "Peach Bowl competition" near the bottom with the new arrow pointing to it... let me know what you think.
http://www.bjhsband.com/page7.html
-Weedy

uatrmpt

Hey Weedy,

I didn't know you were in Alabama. Bob Jones has a good program.

__________________
--Matt--

Weedyweidenthal

lol... it's not as good of a program as you may think. We had a really good middle school director at Discovery Middle... the same can't honestly be said for the head director ad BJ. Don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy and he's a lot of fun... but i think he's gotten old and worn out. The assistant is the really good one. What part are you in?

bandman

As a band director who is getting "old and worn out" I'll give you a piece of advice -- never put on a public board that your band director is "old and worn out". More of us read these boards than you might guess!

There is a ton of good things happening in your band. For high school players I thought your trumpet feature was great! I also thought that there were several other outstanding sections in your band, and that the band as an entire ensemble was very fine. I didn't care for the show design, but that is personal taste, and nothing for which I could penalize the band (I judge them for what they do, not what I wish they would do).

One comment on your 4 trumpet players -- I like players who come out and act like they have been there before. I don't like all the styling to say, "Hey look how great I am!" Stand there and play your part, play it well, and turn around and rejoin the band. All the gyrations are not necessary if you do a good job. That's what I call allowing the tail to wag the dog!

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Eclipsehornplayer

Weedy,

First and foremost congrats. It must be quite a thrill to play in a big game. I used to march in Drum and Bugle Corps Uhh a while ago! (25 years ago)

Anyway, I felt the parts were all played together quite well. With specific regards to your trumpet section it's obvious you've played together for some time. Wow, is all I can say! Very impressive how the selection was articulated by not only your lead but all of you. It was a fantastic piece to listen to and it's again obvious that your section has good practice habits as it shows in your playing.

You have much to be proud of! Keep up the great work! I'll have to bookmark you site and keep tabs on your band. I still like to go to competitons and observe.

Best wishes,
John

__________________
Eclipse MHY Bb Trumpet with interchangable leadpipes
Bach 229 25A C Trumpet
Getzen Capri Bb Cornet
GR & Monette mouthpieces

Bill

Hello Weedy,

Nice job on the cadenza! I've had the pleasure of seeing the show before, in person. You guys (and the rest of the Band) did a first class job.

I'll second Bandman's comments - I would be selective where and to whom you post some comments regarding the senior Band Director. My dad taught me to be nice and respectful to people I meet on the way up the ladder to success because you never know when you might run into them on the way down!

I am thrilled to have 2 children in the Bob Jones Band program. Michael and Lauren did not always have the opportunity that they have now - we moved here from Panama City Beach Florida 3 years ago and the band programs back there were not very good at all.

What a thrill to have gone and played in the Peach Bowl!! It's an experience I never even had a shot at. You guys are very fortunate!

On a side note, I am expanding the Asbury Brass into a larger Brass Orchestra ensemble for some performance pieces later this year. I will be in the hunt for an additional 3-4 trumpet players who can play in a tight ensemble with a good ear for intonation. Arrangements will all be Classical...Gabrieli, Beethoven, Holst etc, so if you have a desire to play some great legit music let me know.

Once again, nice job on the performance!

__________________
Bill Mirrielees
Asbury Brass Ensemble
Wild Bunch Dixieland Jazz Band
Ovation Arts Orchestra
Madison (Huntsville) Alabama

bilboinsa

Weedy:

A tad friendlier over here, dontcha think? shhhh...don't tell DF

Weedyweidenthal

thanks for all the comments guys. Lol it is a lot friendlier here than at MF. Yeah the four trumpet players in the cadenza have been playing together for 4 years but the rest of the section changes each year. We all do work together as much as possible though and we all (for the most part) get along. Bill (sorry for calling you by your first name but i can't spell your last and i don't know if you want that released here), i think it would be cool to play with the Asbury brass band. I talked to Eric about it in orchestra a couple weeks ago. Another guy you might think of getting is Matt. What day do you practice?
-Weedy

oh yeah... i realized the other day that a lot more people read this stuff than i thought... Mr. Thornton got the message about what i said from one of his old friends. I hope they didn't leave out the part about me saying that he's a nice cool guy because he really is. I guess that he's just got a lot of different views of how a band should sound than my friends and I have got.

poppes

Hello

Nice playing!

I have played in the Finnish Conscription Band and we made some marching in shapes too. I have good memories about that time...

If you want here some pictures of those days:
http://users.tkk.fi/~juosukai/
(check the links)

It was nice cadenza.. The choir whoos was nice, and your playing too! The only thing I was disturbed about was the poor audio quality. Where was the microphone placed?