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Mark Hetzler
Mr. Chair: Better Days
by Geannine Reid
In the perpetually evolving landscape of fusion music, Madison, Wisconsin's own Mr. Chair introduces another compelling chapter with their latest album Better Days. A quintet with a diverse sound palette, Mr. Chair's idiosyncratic mix of jazz, classical and prog-rock opens up endless possibilities for musical genre blending. Before we dive into the heart of this auditory journey, let's take a moment to introduce the ensemble. On bass, we have Ben Ferris laying the rhythmic groundwork. José Guzmán is ...
read moreMark Hetzler: Blues, Ballads, and Beyond: Influences Outside the Concert Hall
by C. Michael Bailey
The trombone has proven not so an elusive lead instrument in jazz. But what of moving beyond jazz. There is classical literature addressing the instrument. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's bastardly father, Leopold, composed the first classical trombone piece, Concerto for Alto Trombone in 1756. Josef Haydn's brother, Michael, composed Concerto shortly after in 1764. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Jan Sandstrom, Arvo Part, Ernst Block, they all tried their hand at taming the beast so masterfully wielded by Ory, Teagarden, Johnson, and Fuller in ...
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