Downstream

Tune in for interviews with some trombone greats.

Downstream Ep. 14: David Cantero 07/11/2020

Downstream Ep. 13: Elijah Cornish 04/23/2020

Downstream Ep. 12: Brad Edwards 02/22/2020

Downstream Ep. 12: Brad Edwards With a style that has been described as “passionate,” “fiercely vigorous,” and even “humorous,” Brad Edwards has appeared as a soloist before audiences in the United States and Europe. His solo credits include radio and television broadcasts, premieres of new music, guest recitals at colleges and regional workshops, and concertos with student and professional orchestras and wind ensembles. He has twice been featured as a soloist with “Pershing’s Own” Army Band at the American Trombone Workshop in Washington D.C. As a member of the Air Force Concert Band he was twice featured as a soloist. His CD, “Trombone And…” features concert duets pairing the trombone with other instruments. It includes several works written for and premiered by him as well as one of his own compositions, Five American Folksong Sketches. Of this recording, Audiophile magazine wrote, “Trombonist Brad Edwards is an accomplished musician. The performances are all excellent, and the pairings with other instruments, particularly the marimba are quite interesting.” Dr. Edwards began teaching trombone at Arizona State University in Fall, 2016. Previously, he taught at the University of South Carolina and the University of Northern Iowa. Other teaching positions have included Franklin and Marshall University and Kinhaven Music School. Reecently, he has begun teaching at the Raphael Mendez Brass Institute and performing there with the Summit Brass Ensemble. He is best known for his pedagogical books including Patterns and Snippets, Lip Slurs, Lip Slur Melodies as well as the Trombone Craft and Simply Singing for Winds series. His latest book is The Intermediate Trombonist. He has published a number of pieces through the International Trombone Association Press (available from Warwick Music) including Blue Wolf which has been recorded three times and Four Impromptus for Low Bone Alone, which was selected for the national solo competition of the American Trombone Workshop. He has composed a set of 176 one-minute audition solos for all woodwinds and brass. These solos have been adopted for all-state auditions in South Carolina and Utah. These solos are available for free download at the his companion website, AuditionSolos.com. In 2018 he composed a set of 24 concert pieces for trombone and piano targeted at the intermediate-advanced ability level. His recordings of these pieces, play-along including versions with the piano part alone, will become available in 2020. In addition to the Air Force Band, Dr. Edwards has held positions as Principal Trombonist of the South Carolina Philharmonic, Symphony Orchestra Augusta and the Waterloo/Cedar Falls Symphony. He has also been the bass trombonist of the Cedar Rapids Symphony and the Arlington Symphony in Virginia. He has performed with such ensembles as the Phoenix Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, the Kennedy Center Opera Orchestra, the brass choir of the National Symphony, Hartford Symphony, the Charleston Symphony, the Charlotte Symphony and the Baltimore Opera Orchestra as well as the Wintergreen and Cabrillo Festival Orchestras. He has shared the stage with such diverse artists as Al Jarreau, Ray Charles, Dave Brubeck, Wycliffe Gordon, Ben Folds, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Olivia Newton John, Bela Fleck, the Gatlin Brothers, Robert Merrill, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Roger Daltry. In 2007, he was selected to be participant at the prestigious Alessi Seminar in New Mexico. Dr. Edwards holds degrees from the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and the Hartt School of Music. His primary teachers have been Jim Olin, Tony Chipurn, Ronald Borror and Henry Schmidt. He has also studied with Joseph Alessi, Arnold Jacobs, Dave Fedderly and Milt Stevens. /episode/index/show/downstreamtrombone/id/13254203

Downstream Ep. 11: Double Header! Jay Cook & Seth Vatt 08/30/2019

Downstream Ep. 11: Double Header! Jay Cook & Seth Vatt For your consideration: Two great names in the trombone world. Justin (Jay) Cook is the Assistant Professor of Trombone at the University of Central Arkansas where he teaches studio trombone, trombone choir, brass ensembles, and low brass methods. He also serves as the Exhibits Director for the International Trombone Festival. Justin Cook holds a Bachelor of Music Education and Bachelor of Trombone Performance degree from Northern Arizona University, a Master of Music in Instrumental Conducting from Northern Arizona University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of North Texas. During the summer of 2009, Mr. Cook was chosen as one of 18 international tenor trombonists to attend the Alessi Seminar where he had the opportunity to work with Joseph Alessi and Peter Ellefson. Equally at home as an educator and performer, the UCA trombone studio has seen tremendous success since Dr. Cook’s arrival. The studio has tripled in size and now features two trombone choirs: The BearBones Trombone Choir, and the Natural Slides Trombone Choir. The trombone choirs have performed at the American Trombone Workshop in Washington D.C., the Big 12 Trombone Conference at Texas Tech University, the Arkansas Music Educator’s Conference, and the Texas State Trombone Symposium. Dr. Cook’s students have graduated and been accepted to some of the nation’s most prestigious universities. For more information about the UCA Trombone Studio please click . Dr. Seth T. Vatt has travelled the United States extensively, and is currently a freelance bass trombonist and music educator in Dallas, TX. He has served on the performance faculty at Arizona State University with Ralph Sauer and Sam Pilafian, and has performed with the Phoenix Symphony and Scottsdale Arts Orchestra. While living in Phoenix he was also on faculty teaching music humanities at Phoenix College and within the Maricopa Community College System. In 2010 he earned his Doctor of Musical Arts in Trombone Performance while serving as a graduate teaching assistant to Ralph Sauer at Arizona State University. He also holds a Master of Music in Trombone Performance degree from ASU and a Bachelors of Music in Music Education from the University of Kentucky. There he was a founding member of the Momus Trombone Quartet, receiving a prestigious research and creativity grant to fund their first CD, "The Lexingport Project" and to compete as a finalist in the 2002 ITF Trombone Quartet Competition. Other performance credits include the DiMartino/Osland Jazz Orchestra, Kentucky Jazz Repertory Orchestra, Mesa Symphony, Tucson Symphony, New England Brass Band, Arizona Musicfest, Phoenix Theater, Texas Music Festival, and Victory Brass Quintet. Seth also maintains an active low brass studio with students ranging from 4th grade to college level. An active arranger, his music can be found published with Kagarice Brass Editions and Momus Music Editions. His teachers include Ralph Sauer, Dale Warren, Scott Hartman, and Gail Eugene Wilson. /episode/index/show/downstreamtrombone/id/11048933