5 Great Books for Musicians

Here are 5 great books for musicians on your gift list.

Colin Oldberg: Principal Trumpet, Hong Kong Symphony Orchestra

Colin Oldberg is a stellar musician. He plays principal trumpet for the Hong Kong Symphony Orchestra and is a founding member of Axiom Brass, a brass quintet out of Chicago. Colin has toured with the Chicago Symphony and earned a spot in the first YouTube Orchestra. He was gracious to talk about his own experience with practice for over an hour. Thanks, Colin!

Opening excerpt: The Axiom Brass Quintet: Colin Oldberg, trumpet; Dorival Puccini, Jr., trumpet; Matthew Oliphant, horn; Kevin Harrison, tuba; Brett Johnson, trombone.

here’s the mp3 of Wapango, one third of Pacquito D’Rivera’s Three Pieces for Brass Quintet, courtesy of Axiom Brass Quintet. If you like it, support these fantastic artists and buy the whole CD or mp3. It’s great stuff! Go see Axiom Brass live, too, for an even better musical experience.

The Fruits of Practice Sound Like This: Maurice André

One of the most foolish and embarrassing musical moments for me came in my senior year of high school at a music festival in Alaska for which I played (mangled is a more appropriate term) this piece that Maurice André plays below so beautifully below: The Concerto in Eb by Johann Nepomuk Hummel . I was unprepared for the demands of this very difficult piece, attempted it without help or a teacher (there were no accomplished classical trumpet players in Sitka), and with inadequate practice (I was still flailing away at the piece just before the performance, yet another lapse in judgment). Anyway, the poor adjudicator complimented my accompanist, the wonderfully helpful Peggy Brandt, but that’s about all he could say. It still stings. The only good thing is that I learned a thing or two in the process. It reminds me of a hilarious recording of the Hummel sent in for pre-audition to the Boston Symphony. Hear it here. (from trumpet bloopers)

A Small Pond in a Big Fish. Place and Music Practice

There’s a reason jazz musicians (and other musicians, and actors, chefs, etc.) move to NY City, Chicago, or other large metropolitan areas. They are places, as Russell Malone says in this short vid, where there are more opportunities to get your behind kicked. And when you’re learning and striving to get better, that’s exactly what you need.

Jazz Guitarist Bobby Broom Talks Practice

Bobby Broom Interview on Practice (mp3)

Bobby Broom is a jazz guitarist you should know about. He’s a great guy and a fantastic musician, but you don’t need to take my word for it. His latest album with The Deep Blue Organ Trio, Wonderful!, celebrates the music of Stevie Wonder and has been at the top of the jazz charts this fall. Musicians with more street cred than me also like his playing. Bobby Broom has played with several of the grand-masters of jazz: Sonny Rollins, Art Blakey, Miles Davis, Kenny Burrell, and a lot of others.