Remote Recaps from ITF 2022 Day 1: Colors, Ice Cream, and Jazz

The first day of the 51st International Trombone Festival came to a conclusion with a resounding powerhouse of players. As I sat in my home office (in 83-degree Central Ohio), it is remarkable how much trombone is going on in Conway, Arkansas where the heat reached 96 degrees. Don’t worry tomorrow’s Conway temps will be a high of 97 and a low of 71. I hope there is a good ice cream shop in town.

Summer. Everywhere.

If you followed along with my live tweeting during the first day of the Festival, you’ll see that a lot of watching and listening involved Jazz. Below are some bullet points from almost everything I could watch on TromboneTV. The three words in the post title captured my experience on this exciting day of events.

Opening Ceremonies

• Contrabass was Crankin’ on Chris Sharpe’s Ceremonial Fanfare.
• Stephen Plate, Chairman of the Music Department at the University of Central Arkansas, concluded his remarks with a memorable quote:
  • “The only thing that ultimately matters is to eat an ice-cream cone, play a slide trombone, plant a small tree, good God, now you’re free.” – Ray Manzarek

Lantana Brass Trio

• Introduced me to some new repertoire that also brought new ideas for colors, such as flugelhorn/horn/trombone – an ultimate blend in Dorothy Gates’ Between Friends.
• I am anticipating their new album later this year.

Tony Baker (more to come on his playing…)

• This session was quite good with plenty of straight-ahead jazz, and showcasing musicianship in an environment that had no rehearsal or warmup.

Ido Meshulam

• From my tweet: “Ido Meshulam’s language through the horn… Sheesh.”

Michael Dease

• He is on another level in jazz artistry. His craftmanship through the changes is so effortless. The patterns he plays are so fluid.
• Did anybody catch the H/T to “The Ride” on his last tune?
• Check out his latest album, Best Next Thing, on Bandcamp.

Natural State Brass Band with Justin Cook and Doug Yeo

• Justin Cook’s rendition of Colors by Bert Appermont was beautiful.
• Hearing Doug Yeo performing two works from his Proclamation CD was very fulfilling.

UNT Trombone Consortium

• Water Fanfare by James Spaniola was particularly invigorating.

ITF All-Stars

• My tweet: “‘In Their Gentle Presence’ [is] another example of how the trombone can have such fluctuating colors.”
• I will need to spend some more time with Madeline Lee’s Le Cathédrale. There were some intricate cascading sounds that I loved.

Tony Baker…again

• I have known his name for a long time – back when he was teaching at Ohio University. But this 2022 Festival has introduced me to a masterful, cross-over artist. From his jazz set to the trombone choir conducting to the classical tenor and alto playing in the ITF All-Stars performance. I am thoroughly looking forward to hearing more of his playing throughout the Festival.

What a day on TromboneTV! I know there were many friends and colleagues giving performances and lectures not viewable on the live stream, but I look forward to catching what was missed at a later time

There is still time to register for the Festival.

Looking forward to Day 2 of this magnificent festival.

FYI – It was announced today that ITF 2023 will be in Salt Lake City, Utah. July 12-15, 2023, at the University of Utah.

That’s all for now.