A Blurry Shot of Barry Green Soloing with the Nashville Jazz Orchestra at The French Quarter (June 21, 2011)
So last night I had the great fortune to make it to The French Quarter (a music venue in East Nashville, not the one in New Orleans) and catch the unofficial opening of the 40th International Trombone Festival. Tuesday nights at The French Quarter is the usual weekly gig for The Nashville Jazz Orchestra (a group made up of the top-notch studio horn players in Nashville), but last night was truly special as they welcomed some of the ITF heavyweights to share the stage with them.
Hearing all of those guys (who play better on their worst night than I ever will on my best) was a great experience, but one truly stood out from the rest for me.
As this older trombone player came to the stage, the first thing I noticed was that he was wearing a fanny pack. Now, I’m no fashion guru, but it struck me as a mildly amusing accessory. As I was chuckling, they introduced him on stage and immediately I froze in my place and prepared to pay homage to a legend–at least to me.
As my brief bio states, I studied music at Tennessee Tech. In the trombone studio at Tech there was one former student whose name and accomplishments were simply legendary–Les Benedict. You’re probably thinking, “Who is Les Benedict?” The answer is you most likely have heard Mr. Benedict play even though you didn’t know it.
After finishing his undergraduate degree at Tennessee Tech, Les Benedict went on to play with people such as Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Beyond that he succeeded in Hollywood as a studio musician playing on such film scores as Rocky, Glory and The Hunt for Red October. See what I mean? You’ve heard Les Benedict even if you didn’t know you’ve heard Les Benedict. Legend.
I mean let me be real here for a minute, Tennessee Tech is a great school with a hidden gem of a music program–that’s why I chose to go there–but on the map of schools cranking out the top professional players its accomplishments are dwarfed by the North Texas’ and Eastmans and Berklees. Still, someone made it to the top who started in the same place I did–that is why it is special and a thing of legend.
My trombone teacher for my first two years at Tech was Larry Hoepfinger. Les Benedict’s teacher at Tech? You guessed it–Larry Hoepfinger. That’s one of the many beauties of being a musician to me. It’s like a family of sorts. We may have been students under Mr. Hoepfinger 25-30 years apart, but still we share that common bond and that to me is something special.
As for the lesson learned again that my headline references, it is this: There are so many different and varied “right” ways to play the trombone. Each soloist brought something different to the table. One didn’t sound exactly like the other as you might expect. It was the entire spectrum of tones, improvisational techniques, and overall style on display last night and the beauty of it all was that it was all “right”. We all have our preferences–a sound or style of playing that we are naturally drawn toward–but ultimately there was no “winner” or “star” or “best of the best”. It was all very different and very “right” and that to me is a beautiful thing.
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