Fine Classical, Instrumental, and Specialty Recordings
Label: Soundset Recordings Item Number: SR1070 Format: CD Year Recorded: 2014 The Great American Songbook Harry Watters Salt River Brass Patrick Sheridan - Music Director, Salt River Brass
Harry Watters  Jazz Trombonist Harry Watters travels nationally and internationally as a Jupiter Artist. His numerous Summit Records releases include the popular Love Songs and the three critically acclaimed Brothers discs with trumpeter Ken Watters. After graduation from the University of North Texas, Harry spent four years touring and recording with the renowned Dukes of Dixieland. While working at night on Bourbon Street, a sleep-deprived Watters attended the University of New Orleans by day, serving as the graduate assistant to Professor Ellis Marsalis. Watters has performed with Doc Severinsen, Al Hirt, Pete Fountain, Erich Kunzel, Kevin Mahogany, Wycliffe Gordon, Lou Rawls, Maureen McGovern, Bill Watrous, Carl Fontana, Jiggs Whiggam, James Moody, Peter Erskine, Conrad Herwig, John Fedchock and the Boston Brass. In addition, Harry has appeared as a featured soloist with the Syracuse Symphony, the Baton Rouge Symphony, the Louisiana Philharmonic, the Tulsa Pops, the West Virginia Symphony, the University of North Texas One O'Clock Lab Band, the Janacek Philharmonic, the Moldovan Festival Orchestra and the U.S. Army Orchestra. Harry is constantly in demand as a Jupiter Artist and Clinician. He has presented his "Power Practicing" seminar at the American Band College, the Jazz Education Network National Conference, the Association of Concert Bands' National Convention, the University of North Texas, New Mexico State University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Tennessee, East Carolina State University, Texas Christian University, Baker University, the University of Central Florida, Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of New Orleans, Louisiana State University, the University of Montana, Utah State University, Kent State University and in high schools throughout the United States. Harry is married to violist and keyboardist Holly Watters of the U.S. Army Strings. They reside in Alexandria, Virginia with their three children Harry V, Katherine the 1st & Lady Caroline. Salt River Brass  Founded in January 1988, the Salt River Brass has become a staple of the Phoenix area arts scene while regularly playing to sold-out houses at the Mesa Arts Center. In addition to programs that feature brass band compositions, symphonic masterpieces, opera, jazz standards, and the music of Broadway, the band has presented world-renowned soloists such as Rex Richardson, Jens Lindemann, Martin Hackleman, Peter Wilson, Dan Bukvich, steven Mead, Roger Webster, David Childs, Les Neish, Margo Reed, Joe Corral, Rich Ridenour, Carole FitzPatrick and many others. Most recently SRB performed at the 2013 Texas Bandmasters Association Convention with guest soloist Harry Watters. SRB hosted the opening gala c:oncert at the 2010 International Tuba & Euphonium Conference. The band has also performed for the Kappa Kappa Psi-Tau Beta Sigma National Convention. The Salt River Brass is a community music ensemble that is dedicated to supporting local organizations. SRB has proudly supported community festivals and high school fundraisers, provided high school musicians with opportunities to attend concerts and participate on stage, and welcomed hundreds of military veterans with complimentary tickets to its concerts. The Salt River Brass encourages the pursuit of life-long learning in music and currently has a membership that ranges in age from 16 to almost 80. Nearly half of SRB's members are music educators, a quarter are non-music professionals, and the remainder are college and high school students. For more information on SRB, please visit www.SaltRiverBrass.org. Patrick Sheridan - Music Director, Salt River Brass  PATRICK SHERIDAN is one of the most celebrated tuba soloists in his instrument's history. He has performed more than 3,000 concerts in over 50 countries in venues ranging from the White House to NBA half-time shows to the Hollywood Bowl. He is a former member of "The President's Own" United states Marine Band and has been featured on NBC's Today Show and NPR's All Things Considered. Patrick has served on the music faculties at Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, The Rotterdam Conservatory, The Royal Northern College of Music and The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. He most recently served on the music faculty at UCLA where he conducted The Wind Ensemble and Brass Ensemble and taught tuba/euphonium. Along with Sam Pilafian, he is the co-author of the world's best selling method for instrumental improvement, The Breathing Gym•, which has been used by more than a million music students and professionals. As a composer and arranger, Patrick's music and arrangements have been performed internationally by symphony orchestras, concert bands, marching bands, jazz bands and drum corps. Patrick's music, arrangements, CDs, DVDs, and books are published by Focus on Music, GIA Publications, De Haske Music, Mythen Hollanda, and Dillon Music Publishing. Patrick has over 20 years experience in the music industry as a design consultant. Instruments influenced by Patrick's designs are played in hundreds of professional orchestras, military bands and chamber ensembles around the world. Thousands of university, high school, middle school and elementary school students play on instruments in which Patrick has been involved in the design process. He currently works as the Chief Design Consultant for X0 Brass and Jupiter Band Instruments as well as Hercules stands. In the the Phoenix community, Patrick has been the Music Director of the Salt River Brass since 2003. Patrick also frequently works across the United states as a guest conductor with university bands and orchestras as well as high school and middle school all-state and regional honor bands and orchestras. Patrick is a member of ASCAP and an Honorary Member of Kappa Kappa Psi. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree with an emphasis in finance and marketing from the University of Michigan and is the founder of the Band Director Academy, a continuing education program for music educators. THE SOLOIST I have known Harry Watters for nearly 20 years. In that time, I've seen him perform with the U.S. Army Band in numerous capacities from soloist to chamber musician and from jazz band to concert band. When you find out that Harry Watters is the son of rocket scientists, it is no surprise that his trombone playing is fueled with an energy that burns brightly in the musical galaxy. Harry is basically Red Bull• with skin. His effervescent personality is ever present in his up tempo improvisations, and his zeal for life is the fabric that makes his ballad playing so touching. As the Salt River Brass evolved into a professional-level community ensemble, Harry was always on my list of favorites to invite as a guest soloist. His first appearance with the band in 2010 was kismet. Harry was an instant favorite with the band and the audience, and we've been lucky to work with him several times since then. THE BAND During my early years as a soloist I was fortunate to travel to Europe frequently to perform with wonderful brass bands and concert bands. The most memorable parts of these trips - beyond the outstanding musicianship of the members - was witnessing the care and nurturing the conductors and musicians gave to each organization to make them function. I was struck that musicians came together with great fervor not only for the joy of making music but also for the purpose of enriching culture in their towns. As a traveling musician for more than 25 years, I yearned for an opportunity to do the same for my community. The work I've been fortunate to do with the Salt River Brass has been a wonderful musical home in between world tours. While the organization started out as a British-style brass band, it is now an American hybrid brass band with horns (and sometimes mellophones) instead of alto horns and trumpets occasionally instead of cornets. And when we play jazz ... sousaphones instead of tubas can be seen and heard! One of the hallmarks of the band's performance history is its commitment to being fluent in many musical styles. While the majority of the music performed each year is classical, the Salt River Brass has been presenting a big band themed show every season for more than 15 years. This show brings sell-out crowds for concerts with great jazz artists from the Phoenix area like Joe Corral, Margo Reed and Bill Moio as well as internationally-renowned artists like Rex Richardson and Harry Watters. Growing up in a house where dance music was played everyday, I heard the orchestras of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Woody Herman and Stan Kenton fronted by the greatest singers of the 20th century like Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday. This is woven deeply into my musical DNA. Harry's roots run through history's best trombonists and the birthplace of jazz, New Orleans. THE SONGBOOK With this background, the opportunity to visit compositions by Cole Porter and George Gershwin as well as the writing teams of Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe and Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart was a love affair from the start. Getting to re-create the classic sounds of Nelson Riddle and Billy Byers as well as performing pieces by modern big band writers like John Clayton, Wycliffe Gordon and Bill Reichenbach was a thrill and a wonderful style trip for a brass band. Dan Bukvich, Sam Pilafian and I all contributed ballad arrangements that made perfect settings for Harry to weave his sonic imagination! The journey to work with Harry on these particular songs with this band of great musicians was pure joy! I hope you enjoy listening to this music as much as we enjoyed making it! -Patrick Sheridan Producer, Performer, Arranger and Conductor
Label: Soundset Recordings Item Number: SR1070 Format: CD Year Recorded: 2014 The opportunity to visit compositions by Cole Porter and George Gershwin as well as the writing teams of Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe, and Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart was a love affair from the start. Getting to recreate the classic sounds of Nelson Riddle and Billy Byers as well as performing pieces by modern big band writers like John Clayton, Wycliffe Gordon and Bill Reichenbach was a thrill and a wonderful style trip for a brass band. Dan Bukvich, Sam Pilafian and I (Patrick Sheridan) all contributed ballad arrangements that made perfect settings for Harry Watters to weave his sonic imagination! The Great American Songbook Harry Watters, trombone Salt River Brass Patrick Sheridan, Music Director Having heard and experienced the amazing playing of Harry Watters on many occasions with the United States Army Brass Quintet and also as a soloist and a duettist, I couldn't wait to play Harry's latest CD, The Great American Songbook, which was passed to me by Patrick Sheridan on a recent visit I made to the USA. Actually I remember Harry and Patrick duetting a couple of years ago in Chicago - it was a fantastic experience for all who were there. The various high class - or should I say world class - elements showing on this CD make its appeal pretty irresistible: a truly wonderful soloist in Harry Watters; Patrick Sheridan, tuba virtuoso, fantastic musician, brilliant band leader and music director; a phenomenal band in Salt River Brass, which Pat directs; and a host of star names who have provided the arrangements for the CD. Harry performs in numerous capacities with the United States Army Band, the full Ceremonial Band, the Brass Quintet, the Jazz Band and the Concert Band. Many readers will know that Harry has numerous recordings to his name with Summit Records, but for this CD it is Soundset Recordings who have had the privilege of recording and producing The Great American Songbook. So, into the laptop goes the CD and out come the most amazing sounds, the finest jazz trombone playing you can imagine. Thirteen classic American jazz tracks and from the first bars of the opening track to the closing bars of the final track this is the most fantastic jazz trombone playing. The arrangements have been made mainly by Patrick Sheridan and Sam Pilafian (all very classy indeed), with the exception of Laura by David Raskin which has been arranged by Dan Bukvich (another fine arrangement) and a truly brilliant arrangement of St. Louis Blues by Wycliffe Gordon. There's about a one minute intro before you hear the Blues in the form we know it and then with wonderful syncopation Harry takes it away! All the way through the CD from the first track, You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To, to the final track, Happy (both Patrick Sheridan arrangements), Harry Watters thrills with his solo playing. It sounds totally effortless - his lyricism, the way he glides around the instrument - it really is a total joy to listen to and experience. Harry has to be one of the finest brass players - without doubt. The band needs and must have a special mention. It's a very well oiled machine; the top end sounds like an Aston Martin, with the bottom end sounding like a gleaming and shiny juggernaut. Put the whole together with conductor and ace driver Patrick Sheridan and then you have the most tuned and immaculate limousine. The band itself is a joy to listen to. This CD - The Great American Songbook - is a must for any collector. Philip Biggs. Brass Herald | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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