Genkin Philharmonic - on YouTube!

Jon uploaded some video clips from our first gig at Nietzche's in Allentown (Buffalo). Check it out!

Support Live Music

There's a special magic that happens between an audience and musicians that can never be reproduced on CD, mp3 or DVD. Music created by thoughtful musicians who play to express themselves provides an awesome experience for listeners.

Here's a quote from the Eva Cassidy website that I think is worth reading and pondering:

Support the hardworking musicians in your area by attending live performances. Go out to the little clubs and restaurants that offer live music, and if you like what you hear, tell the performers! Clap long and loud! And if they're selling CDs and tapes from their guitar cases, as Eva once did, support their talents and efforts that way too. As someone once wrote in the Guestbook, "There will never be another Eva Cassidy, but there will be someone else."

Solo Trumpet

One of the most challenging gigs for any trumpet player has to be the solo jazz gig, where one is faced with the daunting task of entertaining the masses without the support of another instrument, let alone a full rhythm section. Without the benefit of a rhythm section to help make sense of your playing, it's up to you to make a valid musical statement--no small feat.

Thanks to Wegmans Supermarket on Amherst Street in Buffalo, I have the opportunity to make two hours' worth of "valid musical statements", via a series (well, at least two so far!) solo trumpet gigs from 12:30 - 2:30 p.m., outside of one of the entrances. Two hours of nothing but ME - playing from my repertoire of memorized standards. Currently that repertoire is in the 200-225 range, which is a big bump up from past years, but is not yet halfway to my goal of 500 standards. But 225 is certainly not a bad number for a guy that grew up listening to disco and rock music (hey man, that's what they were playing on the radio in 1978!). These "standards" are not deeply rooted in my subconscious--unlike musicians 20-30 years older than me, who heard these tunes daily on the radio, films and television--then got to play them five nights a week in clubs for decades.

Does that mean that I can play all these tunes in all keys? Not yet. Can I rattle off the chord progression for all those tunes? Not really...but I'm working on it. Truth be told, these are all tunes of which I've memorized the melody, have checked out multiple recordings of, and can, under normal circumstances, take a solo over and sound pretty good. Put another way, my survival instinct as a jazz player has by default encouraged me to elevate my level of BS to a high degree, in order to keep getting hired for gigs. But I digress...

Now, I can discuss succeeding on a solo gig on several levels: from a physical/endurance point of view, from an artistic point of view, and from an entertainment point of view.

Just to be able to cover a gig like this, one must at the very least be able to physically endure two solid hours of solo trumpet playing. The name of the game here is comfort and relaxation. Both of these facets of playing must go hand in hand; in order to play comfortably, one must be as relaxed as possible...and I think technique on the horn can be a life-saver here.

But it's not all long tones, scales and arpeggios. Playing the trumpet well is, as many of us have discovered, largely a mental game. As a jazz player, I have to play with a high degree of feeling, rhythmic integrity, and creativity which requires a lot of emotional investment into my music--but on the gig, I have to convince myself that I really don't care what happens (or at least convince the audience and other musicians on the band stand!). The minute you start "caring" about what's happening around you, or coming out of your horn on the gig, bad things can start to happen. On a solo trumpet gig, this can be devastating!

As a jazz trumpet player, I'm trying to convey something deep to my audience. I am compelled to put something into everything I play, and I want the audience to experience some sort of feeling when they hear me. In the absence of other musicians, I can potentially deliver that message more clearly--all of my gestures and intentions can come through the singular voice of my horn.

As an entertainer, I can't claim any insights--I'm a natural introvert, but I suppose years and years of playing and practicing take over where "hamming it up" fails completely. As long as I'm able to clearly deliver what I feel through the sound of my horn, that's as much entertainment as I can hope to offer, and as much as people need to get from me.

Finding work as a trumpet player after college...

I copied this from a post I made on trumpetherald.com. The question was basically, "I'm about to graduate from college with a trumpet degree--how do I make a living doing this"? This is my two cents:

Here's what I would do:

Put together a band with other young cats who are motivated to rehearse, and start pounding the pavement for gigs. Give some thought to what would go over best in your area. Original jazz-funk? Organ trio with trumpet? Flugelhorn/guitar duo? Brazilian jazz quartet? Disco cover band? Instrumental pop? Could be anything. Do something you think musically will be rewarding for both you and a potential audience. Then spend some time every day working on the biz end of it. Get a friend who likes to record to engineer a demo, or record some live gigs. Do the mySpace and Facebook page, and get a website. Have everyone in the group do some guerilla marketing, emailing etc. No charts - try to memorize everything, and give thought to the presentation aspect.

While doing all of this, start building a private teaching studio, hopefully in your own space, since you won't have to pay the music store 50%, plus if a student cancels you can work on something else if you're at home. Call all the local middle school/high school band directors and offer to sit in with the band--you'll get some students that way. Give your name/contact info to local music stores too.

Sit in at any jam sessions happening in your town. Get to know the local players.

Get to know the local freelancers, so they know you can cover their gig if they get double-booked, or sick. Send for some cheap business cards with your name, what you do, your number, and email on them.

Give your name out to local churches that hire musicians.

Get a brass quintet going, give it a name and get in the university gig book, and union directory if you're in the AFM. Record a little demo and give it to churches, wedding shops, and wineries.

Try to cold call all the clubs, restaurants that have music, wineries, city arts council, small venues, etc. If you know of a venue that looks like it needs music, don't hesitate to bring it up to the management. If you have demo materials give them that as well.

Once you get this stuff rolling, you might have more work than you know what to do with!

In the moment...

I have been fascinated for the last 3 or 4 years with the jazz playing of Chet Baker. In fact, right now he is somewhere near the top of a short list of jazz trumpeters I can listen to for any length of time. Clearly I am very attracted to his way of playing---but I have to admit that until 5 minutes ago, I wasn't exactly sure why.

Obviously, there are many, many jazz trumpet players that can be considered technically superior to Chet - and yet, for me, listening to them for any length of time can be uninspiring. This is not the case with Chet. I can listen to just about anything he recorded and find it somehow refreshing, regardless of the tune he's playing or at what point in his career he recorded it.

From time to time, I've asked myself why this is. I have at various points in time come up with a variety of reasons - his tone, his timing, his melodic sense, the musicians he surrounds himself with - none of these answers seem to really get to the core of what I admire about his playing.

What occurs to me right now is that when he plays, he seems to be completely in the moment - unfettered by what's come before or what might come next. There is no worrying, or swaggering, or any other motive outside of the musical moment. He is not "trying" when he plays - it's as if, through the notes that come out of his horn, you can sense a zen-like state of mind; a concentration that is completely relaxed yet alert. This is what speaks to me, and perhaps the engine that is behind his tone, timing, melodic sense, etc. The resulting solos are complete musical statements, that have a brilliant simplicity, devoid of superfluous ornamentation.

Michael Feinstein @ U at B Performing Arts Center...

Friday night I had the pleasure of playing trumpet in a small band backing up Michael Feinstein, the popular singer/pianist considered to be one of the finest interpreters of popular American song performing today.

The show went extremely well considering most of us had not seen the music before the 3 pm rehearsal on the day of the show. My bandmates are among the best cats in Buffalo--Dave Schiavone on sax/flute/clarinet, Mike Moser on guitar, John Bacon, Jr. on percussion, and Jim Kurzdorfer on bass. Michael tours with his drummer, Albie Berk from Los Angeles. I played both trumpet and flugelhorn.

A nice write-up of the show can be seen here:

Al Tinney Jazz Festival

This past Sunday, I played an enjoyable 2-hour set with Sabu Adeyola's group "Oasis", featuring Sharon Bailey on vocals. The event is called the Al Tinney Jazz Festival, in honor of the late, great pianist Al Tinney, who made Buffalo his home some 30 years ago. The small audience was very enthusiastic, and the band sounded great! I hope to be a part of this festival next year as well.