collapse

* Member Info

 
 
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?
I've had the blues so long they done turned into the blacks - Yank Rachell

Author Topic: tuba as blues instrument  (Read 8364 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Stefan Wirz

  • Member
  • Posts: 253
  • Tach-chen!
    • 'American Music'
tuba as blues instrument
« on: June 17, 2006, 08:27:59 AM »
gathered what I could find about the tuba as blues instrument and fumbled a new page at http://www.wirz.de/music/tuba.htm

If there's anything missing (and I'm sure there is!), don't hesitate to tell me ...

Stefan

Offline Bunker Hill

  • Member
  • Posts: 2828
Re: tuba as blues instrument
« Reply #1 on: June 17, 2006, 11:17:53 AM »
Knowling's tuba playing on the Dr Clayton recordings were originally listed in the company ledgers as 'brass bass". Can anybody hazard a guess as to why this might have been?

Afterthought edit:
A quick skim through the index to accompanists in B&GR4 offered up another accompanist who doubled on bass and brass bass, Wellman Braud.

He accompanied Blue Lu Barker; Lee Brown; Rosetta Howard; Alberta Hunter; Frankie "Half-Pint" Jaxon; Lether McGraw; Ozie McPherson; Tiny Mayberry; Helen Proctor; Ollie Shepard; Eva Taylor; Leola B. Wilson And Kid Wesley Wilson.

Haven't got the energy to look up each artist to discover which sessions had the bb accompaniment.
« Last Edit: June 17, 2006, 12:20:37 PM by Bunker Hill »

Offline Slack

  • Administrator
  • Member
  • Posts: 9213
Re: tuba as blues instrument
« Reply #2 on: June 17, 2006, 02:01:27 PM »
The CD "Boom Chang" by Steve James has blues tuba by Mark Rubin (who also plays a bowed 3-string cello) - one of the tunes with tuba is Bo Carter's "Country Fool".

Tuba works surprsingly well!

Offline phhawk

  • Member
  • Posts: 97
  • Howdy!
Re: tuba as blues instrument
« Reply #3 on: June 17, 2006, 07:36:33 PM »
Brian Rust, and Dixon & Godrich use the term "brass bass" for tuba or Sousaphone in their discogrophies.

The blues record that uses brass bass that first comes to my mind is Emma Wright, "Lonsome Trail Blues", Columbia 14413, Dallas, Tx. 12/7/28. I know there is brass bass on some of Rev. D. C. Rices' records. I'm sure there are quite a few blues records that use brass bass, I just can't think of them at the moment.

Offline Stefan Wirz

  • Member
  • Posts: 253
  • Tach-chen!
    • 'American Music'
Re: tuba as blues instrument
« Reply #4 on: June 18, 2006, 10:08:31 AM »
thanks to all that have responded - meanwhile I found a few others and will add some of your findings asap ...
and Bunker Hill: I went through those Wellman Braud accompaniments (in my 3rd ed.) 'by hand' and found that except for Ozie McPherson all others were sb, not bb (and I won't add those because in connection with the Duke Ellington Orchestra I doubt that bb is more than a background noise - the big fat tuba solo is what I crave !!!

Offline phhawk

  • Member
  • Posts: 97
  • Howdy!
Re: tuba as blues instrument
« Reply #5 on: June 18, 2006, 02:41:05 PM »
One more guy who played brass bass on blues records was Ocatve Gaspard (cool name, huh?) of Texas. He is listed in Dixon & Godrich as playing  on records with Lillian Glinn, Biliken Johnson and Gertrude Perkins. I think all were recorded in Dallas Texas for Columbia.

Phil

Offline MTJ3

  • Member
  • Posts: 172
  • Howdy!
Re: tuba as blues instrument
« Reply #6 on: June 19, 2006, 08:38:40 AM »
Ry Cooder's version of "Pig Meat" on his debut album, Ry Cooder, includes tuba accompaniment.
« Last Edit: June 27, 2006, 07:42:46 AM by MTJ3 »

Offline NevadaPic

  • Member
  • Posts: 81
Re: tuba as blues instrument
« Reply #7 on: February 02, 2008, 04:10:01 PM »
Let us not forget the fantastic tuba work by Howard Johnson accompanying Taj Mahal on 'The Real Thing' album and others...

Pic
If I don't meet you no more in this world, I'll meet you in the next one so don't be late...

Offline Rivers

  • Tech Support
  • Member
  • Posts: 7274
  • I like chicken pie
Re: tuba as blues instrument
« Reply #8 on: February 02, 2008, 04:39:59 PM »
..and Ransom Knowling, fabled bass sideman, who played tuba on many of his earlier sessions.

[edit: whoops, should have checked, Stefan has RK in there]
« Last Edit: February 02, 2008, 05:08:14 PM by Rivers »

Offline NevadaPic

  • Member
  • Posts: 81
Re: tuba as blues instrument
« Reply #9 on: February 02, 2008, 05:25:34 PM »
That's cool!  It just goes to show, it ain't the tool it's the craftsman!
If I don't meet you no more in this world, I'll meet you in the next one so don't be late...

Offline Richard

  • Member
  • Posts: 2416
  • Drove this for 25 years!
    • weekendblues
Re: tuba as blues instrument
« Reply #10 on: February 04, 2008, 02:59:57 PM »
Cyrus St.Clair  played BB in many of Clarence Williams washboard\band permutations starting in '27.
(That's enough of that. Ed)

Offline mr mando

  • Member
  • Posts: 254
Re: tuba as blues instrument
« Reply #11 on: February 07, 2008, 01:02:22 AM »
The band Sons of the Desert out of Munich, Germany has great blues sousaphone playing on all their records!
http://www.sons-of-the-desert.de/CD_bestell.htm

Offline Parlor Picker

  • Member
  • Posts: 1672
  • Aloha
Re: tuba as blues instrument
« Reply #12 on: February 07, 2008, 01:32:49 AM »
The band Sons of the Desert out of Munich, Germany has great blues sousaphone playing on all their records!
http://www.sons-of-the-desert.de/CD_bestell.htm

I can vouch for that having seen them live and heard their recordings.  The modest Mr. Mando does not mention that he also makes a great contribution to the line-up, being a superb instrumentalist himself.

There's quite a thriving country blues scene down there in southern Germany. Apart from the Sons of the Desert, there's British ex-pat. Barry Denyer, plus the likes of Willie Salomon, Hannes Gerber and Rainer Brunn.
"I ain't good looking, teeth don't shine like pearls,
So glad good looks don't take you through this world."
Barbecue Bob

 


anything
SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2024, SimplePortal