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| Odissey of a Jazz Tuba Master |
| 19-02-2005 00:00 |
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Bob Stewart entrevistado por www.sergiocarolino.com Bob Stewart: Odyssey of a Jazz Tuba Master Interview by Sergio Carolino
Howard soon formed "Sub-Structure", now called "Gravity", a jazz tuba sextet with rhythm section. I started rehearsing with them that same winter. So, now I’m driving to and from N.Y. twice a week as well as teaching 5 days a week. As you can probably tell I really wanted to be in New York. By July of 1968 I moved to New York and continued to work at the Mustache and by September I also started teaching. It was during this period that I accompanied Howard to the band rehearsals of Carla Bley, Gil Evans, and McCoy Tyner. There were times when Howard couldn’t make some gigs or rehearsals with these groups so he would send me in to sub for him. I call these bands the "new big bands" due to their size. The instrumentation was usually one or two trumpets, trombone, french horn, tuba, two saxophones, and rhythm. They were all about 9 or 10 pieces and a lot more financially mobile than the 18-piece formula. At this time the Mustache and the "Red Garter," another Dixieland club, were the only steady tuba gigs in N.Y.. Matter of fact Dave Bargeron was working at the “Red Garter” on tuba and trombone and teaching public school. His life was about to be forever altered when he accepts the "Blood Sweat and Tears" gig. By 1971 Howard, Joe Daley, Earl McIntyre, and myself join Taj Mahal’s blues/rock band, he had 4 tubas plus rhythm in the band. All the horn players doubled either on trombone, flugelhorn, and baritone sax, my double was flugelhorn. We toured for about 4 months hitting such spots as the Filmore East in New York, Filmore West in San Francisco and everything in between. We also recorded 2 albums for Columbia called "The Real Thing" and "Stealin." (January 2006 there will be a reunion of this band on a "Blues Cruise", leaving from Florida for 7 days in the Caribbean). Soon after the Taj Mahal gig ended Howard and I both were in Charles Mingus’s big band on baritone sax and tuba respectively. That basically was my first four years in New York and it has continued to develop, shift and grow to present. The tuba jazz scene is a little more obscure now. There is no more Mustache and Garter gigs and the “new big band” I spoke about doesn’t work so much anymore. Tuba players are starting to form their own possibilities with creative ensembles. SC: With whom else have you worked since 1971? BS: By 1976 I went to Europe on tour for the first time with the Gil Evans band and soon after with the Carla Bley group. In the 80’s I also worked with Charlie Haden’s Liberation Orchestra, Globe Unity Orchestra (a European free improvisation group), Don Cherry Quartet, Dizzy Gillespie’s 71st Anniversary big band and last but not least Lester Bowie’s Brass Fantasy. Of all the groups mentioned Lester Bowie and Don Cherry were the only groups to use the tuba in a bass role. There were other 18 piece big bands in New York like Frank Fosters big band, Collective Black Artists Big Band, Charlie Persips big band and the Sam Rivers 10 piece band and I had the pleasure to work with all of these wonderful band leaders. They taught me how to be a bandleader. By their example they would hire people they trusted musically so they never had to second guess their musical judgement. As a result the bands I worked in all felt like my own group, which is a wonderful way to play. All the rehearsals didn’t always result in work but it helped formulate my future even though I didn’t know it at the time. There were great bass players in these bands the likes of Buster Williams, John Lee (Dizzy’s bassist) and Reggie Workman (Coltrane’s last bassist). They inspired me to believe it might be possible to play the bass function on tuba in a contemporary ensemble, having worked in that capacity in a traditional band at the Mustache. The "Loft Jazz Period" in New York was very important to many young jazz musicians in the late 70’s and early 80’s. "Loft Jazz" (as named coined by the European Jazz Festivals) gave opportunities to musicians, artists, creative performance spaces, young record companies, and generally spawned the entreprenures spirit. An independent musical and business spirit not offered by the established jazz community. Most of this “Loft” activity took place in lower Manhattan in an area now called Soho (South of Houston). I met Arthur Blythe (alto sax), during the Loft period, while we were working with the Gil Evans band. In 1977 he asked me to play tuba bass in his new quintet with cello, guitar and drums. An instrumentation I recently saw trumpeter Dave Douglas use. We recorded a number of albums with this instrumentation on Columbia and Indian Navigation Records. There were no bands using the tuba as the bass so I had no one to ask about: breathing, how to build up my endurance, backing up the horns or piano, or many other questions that would have helped me to play constantly during an hour set. So I had to pay the “swollen lip dues” a song that I’m sure many of you know.  SC: What advice do you have for tuba players? BS: 1) Be as prepared as possible! Whether your interests are in playing bass lines or melody or both. Choose a number of musicians to listen to and as you grow your list will change. 2) Develop an understanding of harmony through your instrument and or on the piano. It will help you play what you hear with greater ease. 3) Try to start your own ensemble from your point of view. You may want to wait and tell yourself you are not ready yet or any number of other reasons. Even if it’s a duet, try to play with others and begin to develop musical relationships; which will help you develop a point of view. 4) Be as flexible as possible (technically, musically and scholastically) and use as many of your skills as possible. There is no one way to get through this very circuitous career path. Analyze, identify and establish what your skills are and use your “whole brain” to make them work your way. I retired from the New York City Board of Education recently but my performance and tour schedule continues. My interests in jazz education vary from: consultant work at “Jazz At Lincoln Center” in New York, teaching a Masters level jazz history course at the Juilliard School and conducting jazz big bands at Lehman College and the Juilliard School. As I answer these questions I am in Japan on tour with “The Juilliard School” jazz big band. My role is assistant conductor to Victor Goines, Director of Jazz Studies at Juilliard. All of this is a very long way from driving to and from Philadelphia/New York during the winter of 1967. How much do you really want it? It’s all about desire. 
SC: Do you have any books to recommend?
BS: Everyone works differently. Some would prefer to listen to and play with recordings. This I recommend highly for everyone in order to learn jazz inflexion and phrasing. Others feel more comfortable working out of a book. I would suggest a combination of the two would give you the best results. There are many books by jazz bassist that give you the notes to help you evolve a bass line through a composition or form (blues, rhythm changes etc.), Ron Carter or Rufus Reed for example. The one thing those books don’t have to deal with is the breath. A book designed specifically for tuba players to help them develop breath control and rhythm section breathing techniques is “The Breathing Bass Line”. I wrote the book having experienced first hand the problems, difficulties, and responsibilities of playing tuba bass in the rhythm section. “The Breathing Bass Line” is a guide: giving musical suggestions that describe how to prepare musically and physically for the tuba bass position but leaving room for you to create your own ideas. SC: What do you think are options for Modern or Contemporary tuba? I believe the tuba has more options in terms of function than most might imagine. All of the instruments you mentioned including tuba can work as ensemble instruments but the tuba has the option to function in a bass capacity. With adjustments by the player, in breath control techniques and musical/conceptual approach, it can be done. Our need to take a breath must not interfere with the rhythmic flow with-in the rhythm section (drums and piano or any other chord instrument). Conceptually listening is most important. Choose a number of bass players to listen to and figure out what’s similar and different about what they are doing. You can mix and match what pleases your taste. Be prepared for what you learn to be altered drastically upon application with a rhythm section. It’s interesting that saxophone, trumpet, piano and other more accepted instrumentalist don’t question themselves concerning what they will play on their instruments, even though there are already innumerable performers on those instruments. They all have their own voice, whether they know it or not, and the same could be true of tuba players. Tuba players have yet to scratch the surface of what is available in jazz. I encourage and challenge you to investigate what your voice might be. Most of all enjoy the journey.  SC: What equipment do you use?BS: Tuba: Yamaha #621 Silver – I’ve played it since 1984 when it first became available. I believe its price has gone up tremendously since '84. Microphone: Audio Tech - I suspend it in the middle of the bell with hooks, a ring, and a pair of suspenders cut in 4 pieces. The sound might be much better a bit higher than the level of the bell but you run the risk of feed-back when using an amp. Mine is slightly below the level of the bell and it never feeds back. Amps: I prefer a cabinet with 2 or 4/10inch speakers. You can always add bass EQ to it but it’s difficult to take it away from a 15inch speaker. I like to push the low mids which help give clarity to the sound. For more information, Bio, Photos, Recordings, Reviews and Agenda/Concerts, visit Bob Stewart’s Web Site at: www.bobstewartuba.com |
Sergio Carolino |
SC: When did you start to get into the Jazz scene?| Escritos e entrevistas | ||
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