Ohio Brass Arts Festival…….Park St. Tavern………4-2-11……..set lists

Saturday at the Ohio Brass Arts Festival we played a power set of 50 minutes of music in the wonderful Weigel Concert Hall at the school of music on campus. The festival was real cool because it featured English brass band music. These brass bands that played would have sometimes more than 4 tubas, 5 trombones, probably 8 cornets, baritones horns and many other English horns. They are Big brass bands that play English concert band music. This music goes back to very old European roots of brass band music. They don’t do any parading around like we do in N.O. Which leads me to say that the N.O. brass bands are derivatives of this European brass band music that was brought over to America, but the music that was being played in early N.O. had the amazing African drum beats mixed together with this European brass band music. N.O. was the only city in America that let the African slaves play drums, sing and dance in an area called Congo Square on Sundays. That’s why N.O. has the best drummers and has turned out some killer brass players.

The music that was played this weekend was bright and very brilliant sounding. The musicianship was on a super high level so the bands sounded really good. These people can play and they truly work at it so it sounds fabulous. It’s well written music and no doubt, brass instruments are better heard live because the sound is generated from deep inside each persons body who plays them. Air coming from your lungs blowing through the lips which vibrate and make a sound on an instrument made of brass. The vibrations it sends forth is stupendous (that’s why hearing live bands with lots of brass instruments is quite the experience

The last song of the Brass Arts Festival show was “Bap Bap” and we invited all the trombone player who played with us the day before in the master class plus 10 more to come up and play “Bap Bap” with us. I counted 30 trombones! Really. Hope fully some pics will make its way forth. I stood next to a young lady who was playing a valve trombone (I wish I would have caught her name) that was her great-grandfathers horn. Her mother was standing next to her playing a slide trombone! It was truly amazing. These two ladies standing next to me playing “Bap Bap” were the coolest ever. So, that makes her a fourth generation trombone player. Sweet.

(for maximum bone effect, try full screen!)

The music in the room that night was vibrating like crazy. I’ve never experienced anything like that before, partly because the concert hall was so killer, and also because all those bones playing “Bap Bap” at the same time……man, that was something else.

From there we went to the Park Street Tavern for a down and dirty funky club show. Columbus, Ohio, wow, who would have ever thunk it that y’all would jam out with us like that. It was extremely impressive fun and again the vibrations were vibrating in that somewhat smaller but livelier room. The place was packed with lots of family, friends and fans so that added to the good vibrations. Andy Seymour, who orchestrated getting us up to the OBAF, came out and jammed on a couple of songs with his trumpet. That was nice. Also had lots of bone and other assorted brass players there that we met at the festival checking us out. Thanks to everyone at the Ohio Brass Arts Festival and OSU for taking real good care of us.

It was also great to have The truly talented Joe Ashlar playing organ with his right hand and running the bass with his left hand and the amazing Terence Higgins on drums. Very nice!

And on a footnote: There was a Jack Daniels guitar in a glass case hanging on the clubs wall that Bert had his eye on.
And a trivia question — Which rock star said: “I sweat for you and your original music.” ????
(and for bonus points, who did he say it to???)

One set at the OSU Weigel Concert Hall:
Hero
Shake Your Rugalator
I’m Tellin’ Ya
And I Know
Dee
Down By The Riverside
The Ocean
Bap Bap *

Notes:
* With 27 other trombone players from the Ohio Brass Arts Festival. Possibly a new Bonerama record!

Park Street Tavern club sets……………….

Set One:
By Athenish
What You See
MR GO
Less Is Moore
Christiania
On Your Way Down
Funky Liza #
Baronne
Close The Door

Set Two:
Funky Brown Shorts
Lost My House
Whipping Post
I’m In Love Again
Cissy Strut >
Funky Miracle
Hard Times
I’m Walkin’
Folly
The Ocean

Notes:
# with Andy Seymour from Central Ohio Brass on trumpet