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TR583
Songs, Dances & Incantations
American Music for Trombone - John Marcellus
Concertino for Trombone and Woodwinds (1954) 11:55
1.Soliloquy
2.Pastoral
3.Toccata
Raymond Premru (1934-1998)/Publisher: Musica Rara
Bonita Boyd, flute; Richard Killmer, oboe; Kenneth Grant, clarinet; John Hunt, bassoon
4. Mission Red for Trombone and Electronics (1995) 7:01
Michael Davis, 119 W. 71st St., New York, NY 10023
Publisher: Hip-Bone Music
5. Eternal Winter for Trombone and Electronics (1985) 14:16
T. Rex for Trombone and Electronics (1996) 15:25
Mark Phillips, School of music, University of Ohio, Athens, OH
Publisher: ITA Press
6. Movement I
7. Movement II
8. Movement III
9. Movement IV
10. Tara's Theme from “Gone With the Wind” 3:34
Max Steiner/Adaption by Vern Kagarice/ESM Manuscript
John Macellus, soloist; Bionic Bones: Matt McConcie, Dana Landis, Chirs Beaudry, Noel Wallace, John Widmer, Robert Kastner, Mike Selover.
Recorded May 17-18, 2000 in Eastman Theatre, ESM Recording Services.
Songs, Dances and Incantations for Trombone, Tenor Saxophone, Cello, and Piano 17:26
Bill Dobbins/Composer: Manuscript
John Marcellus, trombone; Ramon Ricker, saxophone; Ron Gardiner, cello; Bill Dobbins, Piano
11. 1. Warm, lyrical
12. 2. With Drive
13. 3. Somewhat freely
14. 4. Wistful
A Message From The Director
The Eastman School of Music is please to partner with Albany Records in the production of this series featuring American composers. Beginning with the appointment of Howard Hanson as director in 1924 and proceeding consistently ever since, the Eastman School has stood for innovation in American music. While the Hanson era was characterized by consistency of genre as he established his concept of American music, succeeding generations of Eastman leaders and composers have promoted diversity in expressive means. These recordings are a fine example of this latter principle of exploration and discovery.
The series follows in Eastman's spirit of promoting opportunities for artists wit significant voices to be heard in a society increasingly seduced by clutter. I salute Albany for its commitment to higher ideals.
James Undercofler
Director and Dean, Eastman School of Music
About The Music
Concerto for Trombone and Woodwinds (1954)
Raymond Premru (1934-1998)
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Soliloguy
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Pastoral
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Toccata
Concertino is dedicated to Dale Clark, for whom Raymond Premru composed the piece in 1954. As Dale mentioned to me in an interview, he wanted something to play with woodwinds for a recital while he was completing his master's degree at the Eastman School of Music. Dale had studied with Ray when he was in the Preparatory Department at Eastman and also at the Tallyho Music Camp in Livonia, NY. At Dale's request, Ray agreed to write something for this combination of instruments.
Dale went on to play principal trombone for the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra for many years. Premru, a student of Emory Remington, graduated from Eastman in 1955 and was a longtime bass trombonist with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London and the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble. In 1988, he was appointed professor of trombone at Oberlin College Conservatory of Music, where he served until his death in May 1998.
The performers on this piece are all professors at the Eastman School: Bonita Boyd, flute; Richard Killmer, oboe; Ken Grant, clarinet; and John Hunt, bassoon.
- John Marcellus
Mission Red for Trombone and Electronics (1994)
Michael Davis
Mission Red, commissioned by John Marcellus, originally was a duo for trumpet and trombone with tape, and was premiered at the 1994 New York Brass conference by John Marcellus and his son, Fred. This version is for solo trombone and explores the lyrical and crossover possibilities of the trombone in a contemporary setting with sounds produced on a synthesizer. The middle section features the “Marcellabone,” a trumpet bell attached to the “F-attachment” tubing.
Michael Davis, a graduate of the trombone class of the Eastman School of Music, is a trombonist, clinician, composer, and arranger in New York.
- John Marcellus
Eternal Winter for Trombone and Electronics (1986)
Allan Schindler
Eternal Winter, composed for trombonist John Marcellus and supported by a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, is one of a series of works the composer has realized for Eastman and other American and European soloists and chamber ensembles interacting with the composer-generated sounds. The title and musical qualities of the piece were suggested by a winter landscape by Sesshu Toyo, a 15th century Japanese painter. In Sesshu's hanging scroll, stark, geometric images of a house, mountains, windswept trees, and a brook are set off in high relief against blurred images and textures.
The composer has attempted to convey some of the same powerful sense of solitude, of mystery and expanse, of icy beauty but also unleashed energy, within the interwoven trombone and computer parts.
The computer part was realized at the Eastman Computer Music Center (ECMC) by means of Csound, linear predictor programs to produce hybrid sounds (e.g. cross-synthesis between snug tones, chimes, and blowing through glass bottles), and various software utilities written by the composer and ECMC staff members.
T. Rex for Trombone and Electronics (1996)
Mark Phillips
T. Rex (Rex means “king” in Latin: but does the ambiguous initial “T” stand for tyrannosaurus or trombone?) is in four connected movements contrasting in dynamics, rhythm, and tempo: soft and slow, with much rubato; loud and rhythmic, in a moderate tempo; soft and slow, with much rubato; loud and rhythmic, in a fast tempo.
When I came up with the idea of doing a trombone and tape piece (with all the sounds on the tape derived from recordings sent to me by various trombonists around the country), I first approached John Marcellus, who gladly agreed and gave me names of other trombonists to contact. IN the end, I recruited four more: Andrew Glendening, Kevin James, Roger Oyster, and Tom Plsek.
All five artists submitted DAT cassettes with an astonishing variety of trombone sounds, which became the source material for the tape music. All sounds heard on the tape come from these recordings and from noises made with my own very old bass trombone.
Dozens of individual sounds were selected transferred to a Kurzwell smaping synthesizer to facilitate filtering and pitch shifting, which can be extreme in some places (Movement 3) or rather slight (Movements 2 and 4). Another technique used extensively in Movement 4 involved digitally compressing and stretching the duration of a sound byte without altering the pitch, which allows loops of bizarre rhythmic trombone noises to be synchronized to a Latin-influenced dance beat.
This piece was premiered at Eastman in October 1996.
Tara's Theme from “Gone With the Wind”
Max Steiner
Adapted by Vern Kagarice for trombone ensemble. Performed by Bionic Bones, the trombone jazz ensemble from the Eastman school Trombone Choir. Soloist: John Marcellus. One of my favorite movies of all time, and a melody that shows picture.
- John Marcellus
Songs, Dances and Incantations for Trombone, Tenor Saxophone, Cello, and Piano (1993)
Bill Dobbins
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Warm, lyrical
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With Drive
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Somewhat freely
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Wistful
The great lead trumpet player and jazz musician Jimmy Maxwell, with whom I had the pleasure of plying frequently during the 1970s and early 1980s in the National Jazz Ensemble, used to say, “If a piece of music doesn't make you want to sing, dance, or pray, there ain't nothin' happenin'.” The thought recurred so often during the composition of this new work that it seemed to suggest thee title. The piece is dedicated to John Marcellus. This is the premiere recording.
About The Musicians
John Marcellus*
John Marcellus is the current chair of the woodwinds, brass, and percussion department at the Eastman School of Music, and has been professor of trombone and director of the Eastman Trombone Choir since 1978. He was formerly principal trombone of the National Symphony Orchestra and adjunct professor of music at Catholic University, where he was founder of the Catholic University Trombone Choir in 1969.
He has been a soloist and clinician with orchestras, music festivals, and college and high school bands, and has led many brass workshops and master classes throughout the world.
Marcellus has premiered numerous contemporary works for trombone and trombone ensemble. He is a member of the Eastman Brass Quintet and principal trombone of the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra. As an educational specialist for the United Musical Instruments Company, he performs on the Conn 88H trombone, 36H Conn alto trombone, and the King 2280 euphonium. He also is past president and a founding board member of the International Trombone Association.
Bonita Boyd, flute*
Bonita Boyd's teachers included Maurice Sharp of the Cleveland Orchestra; Roger Stevans; and Joseph Mariano, principal flute of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and legendary pedagogue at the Eastman School. Boyd succeeded Mariano in both posts-becoming the youngest woman to hold major academic and orchestral appointments as noted by Glamour magazine in its Outsanding Career Women feature.
Serving as principal flute with the Rochester Philharmonic from 1971-1984, and an Eastman faculty member since 1977, Bonita Boyd also performs with the Aspen Festival Orchestra and the Aria International Festival. Boyd's recording, Flute Music of Les Six, was honored by Stereo Review in its 1983 Record of the Year awards, and cited by High Fidelity magazine in its “Critics Choice” column.
Michael Davis, composer (track 4)
Since graduating from the Eastman School of Music (BM'83), Michael Davis has established himself as one of the leading and most distinctive voices of contemporary trombone playing and composition. His numerous touring and recording credits include the Rolling Stones, Frank Sinatra, Michael Jackson, Sting, Sheryl Crow, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Tony Bennett, Areosmith, and Buddy Rich. In 1994, Davis founded Hip-Bone Music with the intent of publishing and recording contemporary music for brass. Davis' six solo CDs, released on his Hip-Bone Music label, have received both critical and popular acclaim and have featured guest performances by the brass sections of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmoinic, the Grammy Award-winning group Yellowjackets, as well as a host of other luminaries.
Bill Dobbins, piano and composer (tracks 11-14)*
Bill Dobbins was on the faculty of the Eastman School of Music from 1973-1994, where he and Rayburn Wright designed the jazz studies and contemporary media master's degree program. After moving to Cologne, Germany to work as principal conductor of the WDR Big Band and professor at the Hochschule fur Musik, Dobbins rejoined the Eastman faculty in 2002.
Dobbins has written music for leading jazz artists including Dave Liebman, Peter Erskine, Steve Lacy, Bob Malach, Paquito D'Rivera, and Kevin Mahogany. Recent recordings include Jazz Sonata, with Ramon Ricker (Albany Records), Preludes and Predilections, Vols. 1-4 (Advance Music), and Prism: The WDR Big Band Plays the Music of Bill Dobbins and Peter Erskine (Advance Music).
Ronald K. Gardiner, cello
Ronald Gardiner earned his bachelor of music and master of music degrees from the Eastman School of Music.
Gardiner is a former prizewinner of the Midland-Odessa National Young Artist Competition held in Midland, Texas. He has performed as soloist with several regional orchestras in New York and Pennsylvania, and was featured in a concerto performance with the Heidelberg Castle Festival Opera Orchestra in Heidelberg, Germany, of which he was principal cellist and orchestra manager from 1994-1997.
Currently a member of the United States Air Force Concert Band in Washington, DC, Gardiner previously performed full-time with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and part-time with the Pittsburgh Symphony and the Rochester Philharmonic orchestras.
Kenneth Grant, clarinet*
Kenneth Grant serves a dual musical role. As associate professor of clarinet, he ahs taught at the Eastman School since 1988. He also joined the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in 1987 as principal clarinet after almost 15 years in the same position with the Columbus (OH) Symphony.
Grant, who studied with James Pyne and D. Stanley Hasty, also is active in chamber music performance.
John Hunt, bassoon*
John Hunt has served as associate professor for the Eastman School since 1991. He also is a faculty member at the international Festival-Institute at Round Top. Prior to his appointment at Eastman. Hunt taught at West Virginia University and Florida State University, and was a member of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Hunt has held principal bassoon positions with the Naples Philharmonic, Aspen and Colorado Music Festival Orchestras, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, United States Army Symphony, and Orquestra Sinfonica del Palacio de Mineria (Mexico City). He also was a soloist with the Louisville Symphony Orchestra. Arlington Symphony Orchestra, and Southeastern Music Center Festival Orchestra.
Richard Killmer, oboe*
Richard Killmer, concert oboist and professor of oboe at the Eastman School of Music since 1982, is the recipient of Eastman's 1984 Eisenhart Award for Excellence in Teaching. In addition to teaching at Eastman, Killmer joined the faculty of the Yale University School of Music in fall 2000 as visiting professor of oboe.
Before his appointment to Eastman, Killmer performed as principal oboe in the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. He also has been principal oboe of the Aspen Festival Orchestra, Lake Placid Sinfonietta, Oklahoma City Symphony, and the NORAD Band.
Mark Phillips, composer (tracks 6-9)
Mark Phillips won the 1988 Barlow International Competition with his orchestral composition Turning. Phillips, a faculty member at the Ohio University School of Music since 1984, was recently appointed to a 5-year term as one of three university-wide Presidential Research Scholars. From 1982-1984 he was a visiting instructor of composition at the Indiana University School of music. Born in Philadelphia, he holds a BM degree from West Virginia University, and both MM and DMA degrees from Indiana University.
His Rain Dance for flute and Electro-acoustic music won the 1994 Newly Published Flute Music Competition and has been recorded by flutist Jill Felber on the Neuma label. Other awards and distinctions include the 1990 Delius Chamber Music Award, ASCAP standard Awards, an ASCAP Raymond Hubbell Award, grants from Meet the composer, and fellowships from the Ohio Arts Council, the Indiana Arts Commission, Ohio University, and Indiana University.
Ramon Ricker, saxophone*
Ramon Ricker is professor of saxophone at the Eastman School of Music. In addition to a career as a performing artist and studio teacher, he also is director of Eastman's Institute for Music Leadership.
He often is a featured saxophone and clarinet soloist and chamber musician in venues throughout Europe and North America. His books on jazz improvisation and saxophone technique as well as many of his compositions are looked to as standards in the field, with over 125,000 copies sold worldwide and translations in French and Japanese. As a professional musician and music contractor he has performed on hundreds of television commercials and program themes including national accounts for NBC, ABC, Cinemax, HBO, and Arts and Entertainment.
Allan Schindler, composer (track 5)*
Allan Schindler is professor of composition and director of the Computer Music Center at the Eastman School of Music. His compositions, evenly divided between purely acoustic works and those employing computer sound generation or processing, are widely performed throughout North America and Europe, and are available on several commercial compact disc recordings and in score publications, Schindler is a co-producer of the yearly Image-MovementSound festival of innovative, collaboratively created multimedia works. He also has served as music editor and consultant for several text, trade, and music publishers.
*Additional biographical information for these performers can be found at
* & © 2002 Eastman School of Music
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