FRANK STEMPER, COMPOSER
Three Pieces for Solo Trumpet (1989)
1. Archie 2. Finale 3. Rooftop
for trumpet in C [6 mins.]
Premiered 16 April 1990 by Robert Allison in Riga, Latvia.
Also performed for the SCI (Society of Composers, Inc.) and in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Opus 23 — A.S.C.A.P. work I.D. 504028411
SCORE
Also performed for the SCI (Society of Composers, Inc.) and in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Opus 23 — A.S.C.A.P. work I.D. 504028411
SCORE
Three Pieces for solo Trumpet was written for Robert Allison, a trumpet player who specializes equally in Jazz and Classical music – although he’d refer to the later as “legit music.” He asked me to write this piece for a residency he was planning in Riga Latvia, not too long after the USSR imploded. These three pieces are meant to portray a lone jazz trumpeter, playing his horn in the wee hours of the morning, somewhere in New York City — hence the title of the 3rdpiece, “Rooftop.” The music is of course not jazzy at all, but rather firmly rooted in an atonal harmonic indifference and an overly complex narrative. However, my idea was to have this modern legit musical statement performed by an experienced jazz player, using all the nuances and articulations associated with jazz. I’d hoped that it would be another way of combining or blending the two genres (my two musical worlds) in an intiguing way. Bob and I discussed various trumpet jazz articulations. However Bob, at that time, didn’t seem to think there was any difference, except for one: Jazz trumpet players tongue rather than slur just about every single pitch, giving different kinds of rhythmic accents. As a jazz pianist, I was/am sure that articulation plays the lion’s share of the style of any music. Playing Bach, Beethoven, Webern, and/or main stream jazz on the piano is loaded with articulation differences and mastering them is very important.
Bob’s multi-tonguing does bring up an interesting story. While I was writing this piece, my younger sister was married. The wedding was in New Orleans, in Jackson Park. During the prewedding festivities, she and her future husband enlisted nonother than the Preservation Hall Marching Band to play while the wedding guests arrived and milled around the park. And then they were also to perform one song, Just a Closer Walk with Thee, with my mother – a dynamic jazz singer. While I was waiting for the wedding to begin and the Preservation Hall band was taking a break, I approached the trumpet player, a rather elderly guy, and asked him a question: “Hey, do you tongue all your pitches?” His response agreed with Bob: He looked at me somewhat bewildered and answered, “Is there some other way?” Info from the horse’s mouth.
And then it was time for my mother to sing with these fairly famous musicians – earlier that very week they had been on THE TODAY SHOW. As my mother, a not very tall, aging woman, mother of seven children, with a pleasantly polite and demur smile, approached the band, the musicians began rolling their eyes in an unfortunately pompous and ridiculing way. They didn’t seem to be happy being forced to perform with this amateur white lady from Wisconsin. She saw their eye rolling, too, but carried on. The way my mother always performed Just a Closer Walk with Thee was to begin the verse slowly, quietly, and without a beat, and then, when the main song begins she suddenly lets go. And let me tell you, my mom knew how to let go. Whenever she performed with new band members, and they asked about tempo or feel of an upcoming song, they were told to “just watch Gert’s foot.” My mother not only conducts with that foot, but she pulls the musicians into an entirely new place — she leads them, and they always follow – they can’t help it – her dominant sense of rhythm sucks the musicians like a magnet, and they know exactly what to do. It’s a gift. Well, needless to say, my mom, Gert, felt her way through the verse, with the Preservation Hall band members continuing to roll their eyes and looking rather snooty. But then…then….THEN… THEN--Gert’s foot hit Jackson Park’s concrete walkway, and suddenly the Preservation Hall musicians were dragged into her sphere! She hypnotized them and was now dragging them through the world of music – Gert was playing CRACK THE WHIP with these famous musicians AND they were absolutely loving it. Their eyes, all 16 of them, were no longer rolling but were wide and laughing and these guys were dancing as they played with my mom. The Preservation Hall jazz band MEETS Gertrude Stemper!!! When she finished, the band crowded around Gert, nearly hoisting her up and carrying her like a victorious football coach. My sister was lucky the wedding continued, because the band wanted to keep playing with Gert.
(And as I recall, my mom and dad left the reception slightly early, because my mom had been invited to join these guys, after the reception, at a few choice jazz spots in the Latin Quarter!!!)
Unfortunately, I do not seem to have a recording of Bob Allison’s performance of this piece in my vast vault of tapes, cassettes, CDs, videos, etc. However, remembering the couple of times that Bob Allison performed the piece, I can say that he was able to really meld the atonal modern music with his honed jazz trumpet playing. The recording that I do have, the one on this web site, is by a performance in Europe by the Austrian trumpeter, Lothar Hilbrand, who confessed he did not play and really knew nothing about jazz. He was an outstanding performer, who specialized particularly in Baroque music. I heard him perform Bach, and it was mouth-watering! I did try to coach him in preparation for this performance, and I can hear him trying to execute jazz – through his baroque trumpet. Very interesting.
Bob’s multi-tonguing does bring up an interesting story. While I was writing this piece, my younger sister was married. The wedding was in New Orleans, in Jackson Park. During the prewedding festivities, she and her future husband enlisted nonother than the Preservation Hall Marching Band to play while the wedding guests arrived and milled around the park. And then they were also to perform one song, Just a Closer Walk with Thee, with my mother – a dynamic jazz singer. While I was waiting for the wedding to begin and the Preservation Hall band was taking a break, I approached the trumpet player, a rather elderly guy, and asked him a question: “Hey, do you tongue all your pitches?” His response agreed with Bob: He looked at me somewhat bewildered and answered, “Is there some other way?” Info from the horse’s mouth.
And then it was time for my mother to sing with these fairly famous musicians – earlier that very week they had been on THE TODAY SHOW. As my mother, a not very tall, aging woman, mother of seven children, with a pleasantly polite and demur smile, approached the band, the musicians began rolling their eyes in an unfortunately pompous and ridiculing way. They didn’t seem to be happy being forced to perform with this amateur white lady from Wisconsin. She saw their eye rolling, too, but carried on. The way my mother always performed Just a Closer Walk with Thee was to begin the verse slowly, quietly, and without a beat, and then, when the main song begins she suddenly lets go. And let me tell you, my mom knew how to let go. Whenever she performed with new band members, and they asked about tempo or feel of an upcoming song, they were told to “just watch Gert’s foot.” My mother not only conducts with that foot, but she pulls the musicians into an entirely new place — she leads them, and they always follow – they can’t help it – her dominant sense of rhythm sucks the musicians like a magnet, and they know exactly what to do. It’s a gift. Well, needless to say, my mom, Gert, felt her way through the verse, with the Preservation Hall band members continuing to roll their eyes and looking rather snooty. But then…then….THEN… THEN--Gert’s foot hit Jackson Park’s concrete walkway, and suddenly the Preservation Hall musicians were dragged into her sphere! She hypnotized them and was now dragging them through the world of music – Gert was playing CRACK THE WHIP with these famous musicians AND they were absolutely loving it. Their eyes, all 16 of them, were no longer rolling but were wide and laughing and these guys were dancing as they played with my mom. The Preservation Hall jazz band MEETS Gertrude Stemper!!! When she finished, the band crowded around Gert, nearly hoisting her up and carrying her like a victorious football coach. My sister was lucky the wedding continued, because the band wanted to keep playing with Gert.
(And as I recall, my mom and dad left the reception slightly early, because my mom had been invited to join these guys, after the reception, at a few choice jazz spots in the Latin Quarter!!!)
Unfortunately, I do not seem to have a recording of Bob Allison’s performance of this piece in my vast vault of tapes, cassettes, CDs, videos, etc. However, remembering the couple of times that Bob Allison performed the piece, I can say that he was able to really meld the atonal modern music with his honed jazz trumpet playing. The recording that I do have, the one on this web site, is by a performance in Europe by the Austrian trumpeter, Lothar Hilbrand, who confessed he did not play and really knew nothing about jazz. He was an outstanding performer, who specialized particularly in Baroque music. I heard him perform Bach, and it was mouth-watering! I did try to coach him in preparation for this performance, and I can hear him trying to execute jazz – through his baroque trumpet. Very interesting.