Matching Items (2)
Description
The ability of musicians to perform well in multiple musical styles is increasingly common and necessary. This paper profiles two trombonists who have gone well beyond the ability to function in multiple genres, and are instead considered significant artists. Tony Baker and Alex Iles were chosen to be profiled for this project because both have achieved recognition as solo artists in the genres of classical music and jazz and have performed on international stages as soloists. They also have significant ensemble experience in both classical and jazz settings and are active teachers as well. Both hold-high profile positions that have helped grow their reputations as performers: Mr. Baker as a professor at one of the largest music schools in the United States, the University of North Texas, and Mr. Iles as a highly in-demand freelance musician in Los Angeles. This paper presents interviews with both trombonists that investigate their development as musicians and soloists in both classical music and jazz. They are asked to describe the benefits and challenges of performing at a high level in both styles, and how these have affected their musical voices. Common traits found in their responses are examined, and recommendations are created for musicians seeking stylistic versatility.
ContributorsLennex, William (Author) / Pilafian, J. Samuel (Thesis advisor) / Bush, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Ericson, John (Committee member) / Hackbarth, Glenn (Committee member) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
ABSTRACT A cultural overview of the so-called "early music movement" in Arizona, specifically the musicians who performed early music in the mid-to-late twentieth century, has never been undertaken. In applying ethnographic methods to Western art music, Kay Kaufman Shelemay suggests, in her 2001 article, "Toward an Ethnomusicology of the Early Music Movement," that a musical anthropology "would seem to hold great potential for the study of `Western music.'" In this paper I analyze and discuss issues related to "early music" in Arizona from roughly 1960 to 2008. In focusing primarily on the musicians themselves, I address issues in three primary areas: 1) the repertory and the so-called "early music revival;" 2) specific types of early music which have been presented in Arizona and the effects of economic factors; and 3) Arizona musicians' attitudes toward the repertory and their motivations for specializing in it. I then analyze Arizona musicians' involvement with both the early music repertory itself and with the community, identifying how musicians were exposed to early music and whether or not those first exposures began a long-lasting involvement with the repertory. In this section I also describe ways in which musicians define early music for themselves as well as analyze more critical areas such as musicians' formation of an "early music identity." I also asked informants to discuss how they see early music as being fundamentally different from other types of "classical" music and how they view their own places in that community of "difference." Finally, I compare musicians' thoughts on the "transformative" effect that some early music can have on performers and listeners and how that effect compares with similar phenomena in other types of Western art music.
ContributorsDe Fazio, James M (Author) / Haefer, John R (Thesis advisor) / Solis, Theodore (Committee member) / Saucier, Catherine (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010