Wilktone

Brass, jazz, and other things music related

  • New Orleans Brass Band History Videos

    I had bookmarked these videos a while ago and then forgotten about them. I finally got around to watching them. They are a great introduction to the history of New Orleans style brass band music. It was made as part of the Historic New Orleans Collection’s exhibit, Dancing in the Streets: Social Aid and Pleasure… Continue reading

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  • Glenn Libman Talks Donald Reinhardt

    I wasn’t familiar with trumpet player Glenn Libman prior to coming across this video. Libman studied with Donald Reinhardt for a number of years. In this video for the Trumpet Diagnostics YouTube channel Libman got together with Bobby Medina and Paul Baron to discuss Donald Reinhardt’s pedagogy. I don’t know exactly when Libman studied with… Continue reading

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  • General Principles of Effective Brass Embouchure

    Are there basic descriptors of what how an effective brass embouchure looks and functions? This is a very difficult question to answer, partly because an individual musician’s anatomical features will change around that particular player’s embouchure form and function. That said, there may be some specific features that we can look for that are common… Continue reading

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  • Brass Embouchure Aperture

    The embouchure “aperture” is defined as the hole in which air passes through as the brass musician plays the instruments, but there is a degree of controversy over what the aperture is doing while sustaining a pitch. More specifically, a number of players and teachers claim that the aperture is always open while blowing. Here… Continue reading

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  • History of the Real Fake Book

    When I was an undergraduate student I bought my first Real Book. This was back in the day before the legal copy was published by Hal Leonard. There was a music store local to my college that carried them, but they weren’t on display. You had to ask for them and they would go in… Continue reading

  • You’re Not An Auditory Learner

    One of the most persistent myths in education is that students have a “learning style.” This misunderstanding is so pervasive that most teachers believe that their students will learn best when materials are presented to them in a manner that matches their supposed modality (most commonly broken into visual, auditory, reading, and kinesthetic). Unfortunately, this… Continue reading

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  • Happy Independence Day

    It’s Independence Day in the U.S. The Asheville Jazz Orchestra performed our annual Patriotic Big Band Concert last night after a 1 year hiatus. He’s a chart we performed honoring all the men and women who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, a medley arrangement I wrote for the San Luis Big Band. We… Continue reading

  • J.C. Higginbotham’s Solo On “Mint Julep”

    Over a year ago I had started rehearsing with a band that was going to be performing Jelly Roll Morton’s tune, Mint Julep. I began transcribing J.C. Higginbotham’s solo from Morton’s recording, but when the pandemic hit we stopped getting together and I forgot to finish transcribing the solo. While recently going through some notes… Continue reading

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  • Memorial Day

    Here in the U.S. it is Memorial Day today, when we take time to remember the men and women who have died in service to the country. In honor of them, here is a video of the Asheville Jazz Orchestra’s recording of Armed Forces Medley. I wrote this arrangement back in 2006 for the San… Continue reading

  • Brass Embouchure Pedagogy Workshop 5/22/21 Info

    If you registered for this Saturday’s (5/22/21) brass embouchure pedagogy workshop I sent out an email with the Zoom info this morning. If you didn’t get it, please check your spam folder first and see if it didn’t make it through your filter. If you don’t see it, please contact me and I’ll send it… Continue reading

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