John Swallow Speaks About 

His Life In Music

Reflections on his sixty year career as a trombonist, 

in conversation with Abbie Conant on April 16, 2009.

Topics

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1.   How John started the trombone   0:00

2.   Early professional playing jobs   5:37

3.   John's teacher at Juilliard, Davis Schumann   6:17

4.   Some of John's first jobs, Utah Symphony, Ballet Russe, and others   7:12

5.   Discussion of commuting and his life as a very active freelancer   11:49

6.   His most influential teachers   13:59

7.   Davis Schumann and his pioneering work as a soloist   15:11

8.   John's study with De Biasi (first trb. in the NBC Symphony)   16:11

9.   The etude books John worked with as a student   17:16

10.  John's early work as a soloist   18:09

11.  Early days of the New York Brass Quintet and the origins of the genre   19:36   

12.  The NYBQ -- the origins and development of brass quintet literature   23:05

13.  The Alvin Ettler and Malcom Arnold brass quintets   24:28

14.  Gunther Schuller's Eine kleine Posaunenmusik   26:23 

15.  Luciano Berio's Sequenza V   33:49

16.  Sequenza V and learning the importance of stage demeanor   37:22

17.  New music and the importance of multi-metric etudes   40:01

18.  Early work with Arthur Weissburg's new music ensemble   42:07

19.  Darius Milhaud's Concertino d'hiver for trombone and string orchestra   43:17

20.  John's favorite pieces   47:39

21.  John's teaching philosophy   48:40

22.  Early advocacy of the alto trombone   56:53

23.  Pet Peeve #1: Unsophisticated attitudes about alternate positions   58:44

24.  The Chicago Experience and Fritz Reiner   1:00:02

25.  Thoughts about the "ideal" trombone sound and John's interest in jazz   1:05:31

26.  Getting students to play more musically   1:07:23

27.  What would you say to young trombone players today?   1:09:20

28.  Problems with the audition process   1:10:47

29.  More on alternate positions, and thoughts about a new Chinese trombone...   1:11:41 

30.  Pet Peeve #2: Predictability of articulation   1:12:37

31.  Pet Peeve #3:  Bigger is better   1:15:23

32.  Postscript:  Thoughts about being controversial   1:20:34

33.  Gallery of Smiles   1:20:52