This sequence is based on the beautiful melody featured in the middle of Jupiter: The Bringer of Jollity from Gustav Holst’s orchestral masterwork, The Planets. This sequence is dedicated to the British Trombone Society. The Tune I have had the…
Honored to be a guest on Ryan Beach‘s podcast, That’s Not Spit It’s Condensation! I had the great pleasure of becoming friends with Ryan while we were both grad students at Northwestern University. You can hear us both on the…
This sequence is based on the first Piccolo Trumpet solo from Penny Lane by The Beatles. During a recording session on January 12th, 1967, Paul McCartney couldn’t stop talking about a “tiny little trumpet” that he had seen on a…
This sequence is one of my favorite themes composed by legendary film composer John Williams for the Star Wars movies. Leitmotif Similar to Richard Wagner’s compositional style in Der Ring des Nibelungen, John Williams masterfully connects characters and themes to…
This sequence is from the 2009 Pixar film UP, with music by Oscar-winning composer, Michael Giacchino. Powerful Music Before playing this movie with the San Francisco Symphony last week, I got to hear composer Giacchino and Director Pete Doctor address…
This sequence comes from Muse‘s song Hysteria from their 3rd album, Absolution. Big thanks to Bass Trombone BEAST Brian Hecht for requesting this tune. Talent and Self Belief I don’t believe in talent. The idea of Talent conflicts with my…
This sequence comes from Stevie Wonder‘s song Sir Duke, off of his iconic album, Songs in the Key of Life. History After climbing to the peak of the music industry with back to back top 5 albums in 1974 and…
This sequence is a tribute to James Pankow, one of the greatest trombonists of all time, and the title of the source song fits my life as the parent of a newborn. The Greatest? What does it mean to be…
One thing that is remarkable about orchestral music is its ability to create sounds that are perfectly suited to a story. A great example is Berg’s opera Wozzeck, where the atonal music is both beautiful and twisted, perfectly expressing the…
Inspired by the arrival of my son, Dante Rockwell Baker, this sequence comes from the hit song, Carry On My Wayward Son by the rock band Kansas.