Posted by Junior on March 13, 2000 at 15:53:23:
In Reply to: "Gravity" opinions posted by MG on March 12, 2000 at 21:09:21:
Alright, here is what I have gathered about this. I first of all do not have the album, so take that into consideration when reading this. You addressed the fact that Howard's solos on his F tuba made him sound like a trombone. This in itself, I feel would be a sort of accomplishment to him in fitting more to the nuances of the piece. Why? Because often tuba players in jazz are forced to double on trombone parts,(or actually play the part) and because of the conical shape of the instrument instead of the cylindrical shape, the player can often recieve grief for playing either too long or not enough like a trombone. So, this could be something that Howard himself went for in the sound of this album, and I would greatly admire this. Seeing that Tuba is not generally a solo instrument in jazz, and trombone is used just a little bit more, this could have just been something that the man strove for and accomplished quite nicely. Although I don't own the album, I have heard it at various times. Now, I listen to a lot of jazz, and not just tuba jazz, but some really swinging stuff like Miles, Coltrane, Basie, and I must tell you that I have always been somewhat impressed with the sound coming from this group. No offense, but a lot of the "jazz" tuba stuff is considered a mockery in the jazz industry, and frankly, is pretty square; However, there is some stuff on that album that I would not be embaressed to show some of my friends who know jazz. I myself am not exactly hip on too much tuba in jazz, because I am a traditionalist, and just don't dig a lot of the stuff except for Rich Matteson, but this album can really kick it, and I really dig some of the sounds blowin from old Howard there, and I thought that the F tuba played a lot better than would a BBb or CC horn, just because they have the more bright sound which compares to more traditional jazz instruments. I hope that some of this made some sense.
Junior