Beers and Brass

  hey-o, time for another one of these I suppose. I want to talk about what I see is a strong undercurrent of craft beer lovers and brass musicians. (maybe all musicians??).  Lately I have been seeing a lot of concerts advertised as beer and brass events. Which I love. There are three that recently come to mind just in the past few months.

1. Orchestra Iowa brass quintet plays two shows a year at the Lions Bridge Brewery where they play mostly entertaining transcriptions for a high energy crowd. I tried to find a fun video I had seen recently of the whole bar singing along with the quintet. It was cool.

2. The low brass section in Des Moines played a pre-concert event in January called Brahms and Beer before they joined their colleagues on stage to play Bruckner's fourth symphony.

3. Gaudete Brass Quintet recently did a recital that was sponsored by a Brew company where they played their new music repertoire.

4. Temperance Brass (a brass quintet in Chicago) is also doing an upcoming concert at Empirical Brewery May 14th. ( I know I said three, I set the bar low and then over deliver.)

To me this is heaven. What more could one want than to be among the brass loving public, witnessing brass music performance, while drinking a beer???

But seriously, I think the reason this works so well for me, brass players, and maybe my generation, is that is takes some of the stuffiness out of classical music scene. I think a lot of people get turned of by a lot of the concerts we present, because we are asking too much out of them.

Asking someone who is not an avid listener of classical music, to sit still, not talk, and clap only when appropriate for two hours can be a daunting task to the uninitiated, and even for those of us that know the drill. Adding beer to the mix, I think not only adds something loved and familiar, but also can form a connection between the musicians and the audience. Plus it'll get you where you want to go regardless of the performing act!

Do string players put on beer centric concerts? I don't seem to see as much of these. I bet we'll see more string players jumping on this band wagon. Peace everyone!

Special Talents

As I have been sharing my love of beer and brass with my friends and colleagues the suggestions for upcoming posts have been pouring in.

Have you ever googled "Man playing trumpet while balancing beer"??? Well if you haven't you are in for a treat. This my friends is dedication meets talent in a nutshell.

This is a one man trumpet ensemble. Happy Beer drinking friends!

I will say that apart of me really likes what this guy is doing. I think it is easy as music students and professional musicians it is easey to get caught up in taking everything too seriously. I've seen many talented players put their horns away the day they graduate because they lost sight of why they went into music in the first place. They get burned out on all the pressures of attending school for a music degree. 

 I find it refreshing when I talk to people that have no other ambitions in their brass playing but to have fun and enjoy playing. 

Due to the German, polka type vibe happening in this video I feel it is appropriate to throw out one of my favorite German beers

Hofbrau! I went to Germany in 2012 with Axiom and was introduced to how Germans drink their beer. I loved the glasses you order your beer in have lines indicating where the glass should be filled up to. (I think this is actually required by law) We would order beer by the liter. Either .3, .5, or 1.

New Chicago Brass

Hey there friendos,

 This post is about yet another Chicago brass ensemble, the New Chicago Brass. In their own words:

 "A fresh take on the classic style, New Chicago Brass (NCB) represents the cutting-edge generation of high-quality brass performance in Chicago. Since its inception in 2012, the ensemble – in various combinations of trumpets, horns, trombones, and tuba – has amazed audiences throughout the Chicagoland area with its resplendent sound and virtuosic playing." 

New Chicago Brass is taking the torch from the another Chicago based brass ensemble, the Millar Brass and carrying on the tradition of brass ensemble to the next generation in a fresh, more hip kind of way. New Chicago Brass was originally made up entirely of Civic Alumni, but has since had some members move out of the area. They are not afraid to put on a concert of modern works by composers such as Sampson, Premru, Berezowsky, Plog. 

They have not produced much in the way of recordings yet but you can check out a cool promo video of them and their story at:

http://newchicagobrass.com/

speaking of upcoming events; your beloved author will be joining the New Chicago Brass on March 5th for a great concert of brass ensemble music in Arlington Heights, Il. 

you can check out the events page on FB at this link

https://www.facebook.com/events/358843297833015/

The New Chicago Brass has regularly exploits peoples love of brass music and want of beer. They have held fund raisers at Revolution Brewery in Logan Square, and regularly through beer centric receptions post concerts when allowed. I love both ideas. Nothing seems to go better than world class brass playing and fantastic beer. Cheers to Revolution Brew, and to the New Chicago Brass!

I use to be obsessed with IPA's when I first moved to Chicago and often turned to Revolution Breweries flagship IPA when I felt the need to quench my thirst with something more hoppy and less stouty. So here ya go.


  

This is the one and only Anti- hero IPA. It's tasty... on a side note this is also the beer my girlfriend's mom orders when we go out. BOLD.

Gaudete Brass Quintet

     This blog post is on the Gaudete Brass Quintet based in Chicago, Il. Gaudete was founded by mostly grad students from Roosevelt University in 2004.

     Their mission statement is as follows:

     "Founded in 2004, the Gaudete Brass Quintet is devoted to presenting serious brass chamber music at the highest level of excellence and to encouraging worldwide appreciation of the art of brass chamber music through live performances, recordings, education, and the creation of new works.
The quintet has been featured on concert series, radio broadcasts and at universities throughout the country."

     I have had the pleasure of playing with all of the members of Guadete at one time or another freelancing in Chicago. Scott, Paul, Brian, and their former trumpeter Ryan Berndt and myself were part of the founding brass section for the Chicago Composer's Orchestra that formed in 2010. Please check them out if you are inclined. They are an orchestra devoted entirely to performing works by living composers. Their website is http://www.chicagocomposersorchestra.org/

     Speaking of performing works by living composers; this is largely how Gaudete has laid their foundation. To me, their name is synonymous with commissioning new works for brass quintet by established composers (like David Sampson), to composers just getting their careers started. Their was a period when I was living in Chicago that every concert they played seemed to have a new piece on it. Around 2014 they did a concert at Roosevelt that had four newly composed fanfares.I will be interviewing Paul Van Hoff (the trombonist in the group) to discuss more about why they decided to take this approach. I will say brass quintets everywhere are lucky to have Gaudete leading the charge in getting new works composed for brass quintet.

     Most people do not understand the huge undertaking of starting a brass quintet for purposes other than  gigging. The idea that you can start a chamber group that is taken seriously by chamber music presenters around the country/world is not an easy task. For those that are uninitiated, the chamber music scene is largely filled with string quartets and piano trios. When I talked with presenters during my time in Axiom we were usually the first brass quintet they had ever booked, and they were always concerned that their audiences would not show up due to the lack of familiarity.

     The reality of the situation was that most of the presenters simply did not believe that their audiences would be interested in an entire evening devoted to brass music. Presenters often had very little knowledge of the repertoire out their for brass quintets and generally associate them with loud raucous playing. I would often get comments like "I can't believe how soft you guys could play".

I'm very much looking forward to interviewing Paul later in the spring, and until than I leave you with a video of Gaudete performing a fanfare by Joan Tower.

   


My beer pairing for Gaudete is

   Goose Island was the first Chicago brewery that I heard about when I moved to Chicago in 2007. I love Matilda, but the first beer I ever had by Goose Island was their 312. It was after a concert at Harris Theater in the loop, and I ordered it at a swank down town bar with no prices listed on the menu. As a sophomore at Roosevelt with no money I can say that was a learning experience. I think I spent all my money paying for that pitcher. Cheers!

Welcome!

     Hi Everyone, and welcome to my new blog; Brass Ensembles and Everything Related (B.E.E.R). This blog's genesis is from the Advanced Brass Ensemble Literature class taught by Professor Manning at the University of Iowa. (I also need to credit the title of my blog to Professor Manning, clearly a gifted individual). I will be talking about all things brass ensemble related and throw out a solid beer recommendation at the end of each blog.

     So, I thought I would kick off my very first blog post ever introducing myself. My name is Caleb Lambert and among other things I am a trombonist and beer enthusiast currently enrolled in the D.M.A program at the University of Iowa, and a member of the trombone section in Orchestra Iowa. BUT.....  before living this sweet Iowa city lifestyle my first steady gig was playing trombone, euphonium and bass trumpet with the Axiom Brass Quintet in Chicago, Il from 2012-2014.

     Playing in Axiom exposed me to a lot of different types of playing and traveling opportunities that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Highlights of my tenure include winning the Passau International Brass Competition in Germany (first American ensemble to do so), spending a week in the Dominican Republic, touring the western united states culminating with a week residency in the Grand Tetons in Jackson hole, WY, spending a month in the Berkshires at the Tanglewood Festival, and many more.

     For me, one of the greatest joys playing in Axiom brought into my life was the direct connection I felt I was making with the audience. When you play in a brass quintet you are 1/5 the ensemble. You play every movement of every piece. Especially, speaking as trombone player here, unless you are playing the tuba solo in Pictures at an Exhibition, or the trombone solo from Mahler's third symphony it is pretty common to go unnoticed in an orchestra concert. Is this an ego thing? Most definitely. But isn't that why we all got into music in the first place? To connect with people, to share our talents, and express ourselves? I should mention now that I love my job with Orchestra Iowa. It is deeply rewarding work on many levels, and my colleagues are truly wonderful. But I loved it when people came up to me and talked about the solo I had in the second movement of Malcolm Arnold's quintet, or asked me what the hell a bass trumpet is, or commented on how surprised they were when I started playing sixteenth notes. It's a different world from my orchestra life.

     On that note, I will leave you with this video that was recorded in the Dominican Republic in 2012.  The piece we are playing is one every child in the Dominican Republic knows by heart, so they are singing with us. Also super funny at the end when the girl covers her ears as the trumpets fanfare it up... because trumpets...gross.

     As promised my beer pick for this post is.....................................................................

 
      PRESIDENTE! They love this stuff in the Dominican Republic. They served them ice cold and with a napkin around the bottle so your hands didn't warm the beer.You can find it stateside, but something tells me it won't be as good as actually drinking one when you are sweating your ass off on the beach in the DR. Cheers!

     Thanks for checking out my first post. I am feeling oddly nervous/excited for everyone to read my writing (sorry about the typos, I swear I proofread this post 1,000,000 times.)  Also please comment with either brass ensembles I should be checking out and what beers are catching your fancy. My next post will be on my good friends and former fellow Chicago brass quintet; Gaudete Brass Quintet.