Keeping a Gig for 30 Years?

After all these years, a new post on B.B.B.B. and what's it about? Keeping the Texas Brass and Herald Trumpets employed at the Texas Renaissance Festival for thirty years this fall, 2014. Yep, we are doing it again. Some old timers like Matthew Jenkins, been playing out there off and on for 15 years. Steve Curtis, going on almost 10 with his tuba and me, Darryl Bayer, still doing the RenFest for more than half his life. So we wear costumes, play herald trumpets at the joust, do cheesy scenario snippets but...wait for it...three one hour shows of pure brass ensemble to the core kick butt hard chamber music - outdoors - in a gazebo - with thousands of people listening - selling CDs - making money - hiring new musicians right out of Rice and University of Houston Music Schools - for eight weekends without a break. Now that's a gig.

How did we keep it? Really, it's hard to say. I think it's the ability to play all day long without getting tired. A quick mind to improvise a theme song for the King on the spot. Only asking for a raise every couple of years and keeping the raise within reason. One more thing, it could be destiny.

Everyone has a place on this planet. A calling in life. Could it be that the Texas Renaissance Festival is the calling for this particular brass ensemble? Everyone that has ever played with Texas Brass at the festival looks back on the memories fondly. We also get plenty of residual gigs. In fact, about three weeks into the festival we are performing for a Fantasy Renaissance Theme Wedding in the Woodlands Texas. Two nights, three performances and it will pay quite well. Christmas parties in costume, madrigal dinners, theater performances during the year with the cast of characters and the list goes on. It's not bad. Sure, we should be doing more recitals, definitely need a Christmas CD (soon) and the occasional HS Clinic or College Master Class - which we do a few times a year. But - we have kept a gig for 30 years and 2014 marks a milestone for the Texas Brass at the Texas Renaissance Festival. 

Come hear us on the New Market Gazebo Stage at 10:00 AM, 1:30 PM and 3:30 PM during the months of October and November in Plantersville Texas.

The Chronicles of Bayer’s Brass Business TEXAS BRASS ENSEMBLE – ESTABLISHED 1986

The Chronicles of Bayer’s Brass Business
TEXAS BRASS ENSEMBLE – ESTABLISHED 1986

Darryl Bayer, trumpeter begins his twenty-first year at the Texas Renaissance Festival this fall, 2006 appearing with the Texas Brass and Herald Trumpets. The Texas Brass performs as you enter the gates on the Gazebo Stage. The Herald Trumpets fanfare the arrival of the knights at the jousting arena and also play a number of weekend weddings beneath the english ivy of the outdoor chapel. From the opening canon to the closing fireworks, you will hear resounding renaissance music and triumphant trumpeting from Texas Brass throughout the day. The following is a chronology of chapters in the career of Darryl Bayer from his first year at the Texas Renaissance Festival to the present time.

In 1986 Bill Hargrave from Kansas City called Darryl to trumpet alongside him at TRF playing at the jousts and chariot races. Immediately following his first year of apprenticeship at the festival, Darryl formed “Heralds for Hire”, an ensemble of two to eight trumpeters appearing in period costumes for events around Houston. They performed numerous times for the Houston Ballet’s Christmas Tree Lighting, Houston Grand Opera Annual Galas and the City of Houston Downtown Tree Lighting Ceremonies from 1986 to 1990. While completing his Masters Degree at University of Houston, Darryl expanded his knowledge base of authenticity in performance studying the music of Biber and Altenberg and completing a ten page research project in the area of renaissance heralding history.

In Austin, establishing themselves at the same time was the Texas Brass Quintet. Darryl auditioned for the group and became a founding member. In 1991, the Texas Brass headquarters were moved to The Woodlands and incorporated under the name Texas Brass Ensemble. By becoming a corporate ensemble, the group was able to flow more easily among genres and membership. In their debut, the Texas Brass performed with sixteen players for the dedication of the Houston Police Department Memorial, in their original quintet configuration for the Houston International Festival, joined Young Audiences of Houston bringing quality education to schools, and entertained at family concerts for Parks and Recreation programs from Galveston Island, up through Friendswood, Clear Lake and Pearland.

Requests for the Texas Brass to play entire concerts of Dixieland music, jazz and funk intrigued Darryl and friend Nelson Hatt (L.A. studio recording trumpeter) so along with Houston drummer, Joel Fulgum and saxophonist Martin Langford they formed one of the first hybrid brass ensembles in America, The Cadillac Brass. Again, this group’s popularity soared after their first concert for the Market Square Merchant’s Association groundbreaking event to revitalize downtown Houston. The Jazz Age Project, sponsored by Young Audiences brought Cadillac Brass into urban schools with their unique program, “A Jazz Odyssey” exposing thousands of students to history and sociology of jazz in America. Cadillac Brass performed twice at Ovations, a respected jazz nightclub in West University/Rice Village area along with receptions and corporate parties.

Texas Brass and Herald Trumpets was the next project on Darryl’s agenda. Feeling that “Heralds for Hire” was too commercial (although some agents still refer them) this more sophisticated name was chosen for the same group and also to tie the trumpets to the corporate identity. With this union, many clients were able to benefit by having Herald Trumpets greet the arrival of guests and Texas Brass perform dinner music. For weddings, Christmas parties, and fund raising gala events, The Texas Brass and Herald Trumpets played it all. At one point, Cadillac Brass, Texas Brass and Darryl Bayer’s solo Herald Trumpet act were all on the Young Audience Roster at the same time. Event coordinators such as Ward and Ames, Best Entertainers and Adams and Green were hiring the Texas Brass (in some form) for events around the state.

It was now time to do something big! Duration of ten years had brought much satisfaction to music lovers of all ages but only within Houston and parts of Texas. In order to reach a global audience, the group would either need to tour or produce a CD. In the light that all current members had established careers in Houston, we opted for the CD. David Kirk, principal tuba for the Houston Symphony was recruited along with cross-over musicians Eddie Lewis, Thomas Hulton and Stephen Hambright. Thomas and Eddie were not only respected jazz and classical brass players but were fine composers looking for an outlet to record their music. With Darryl as producer, they began rehearsals and recitals in preparation for a summer of recording sessions. It was decided early on that the album would have elements of classical and jazz but for marketing to dedicated brass ensemble purists, having a french horn rather than saxophone was more sensible and Alicia Watson was invited to join the team. “Sounds of the South” is a one- of-a-kind CD with music that takes you through a journey of music that remises on the style Texas, Louisiana and Mexico. All songs, except for La Virgin de la Macarena and Amazing Grace are originals by Thomas and Eddie and every one in the group has an opportunity to be showcased in a solo setting.

With airplay on the radio, a soundtrack to an independent movie and an award by K-ARTS the Texas Brass Ensemble had come a full circle. The group was back to the quintet roots of the early days with two trumpets, horn, trombone and tuba. Percussion was preferred by us and especially when promoting “Sounds of the South”. The group played back-to-back New Year’s Eve at the Cynthia Mitch Woods Pavilion and New Year’s Day for the opening of the Main Street Houston Light Rail Inauguration. The group also performed at the Red Hot and Blue Festival in The Woodlands and at Minutemaid Park for George Bush Sr. eightieth birthday party.

The future of Texas Brass Ensemble, Inc. includes two new CDs, an all renaissance album and a Christmas collection. The new TBQ (Texas Brass Quartet) features young talented musicians from Rice University and Darryl will continue to promote his solo and chamber music career with a passion. The Cadillac Brass, Texas Brass and Herald Trumpets continue performances throughout the year with High School and College Master Classes, education programs in grade schools, recitals, church ceremonies and events requiring dynamic brass musicians for excitement, entertainment and excellence.

For CD sales and booking information please call: 281.367.7112 or visit the Texas Brass website: www.texasbrass.com

A Popular Post about Practicing

Here is a reprint of my most popular posting on TPIN (Trumpet Player International Network) . After two intense days of working out on trumpet with Chris Scanlon and listening to his sound, I realized that I have not been practicing what I preach. I am putting this out on my blog as a reminder that as professional musicians we need to work on ALL aspects of playing our instruments (not just loud) ALL the time. Playing gigs makes you sound like a gigging musician but concentrated training on a daily basis makes you sound like a polished performer.

Date: Sat, 19 Jan 2002 09:54:48 -0800 From: "Darryl Bayer"
Subject: RE: [TPIN] Tips for staying in shape (long)
We have been discussing loud in the context of being in a rock band with electric guitars and the horn section miked. Yes the smart thing to do is get closer to the mike and play softer. A trick I do to sound men is play my flugel at the sound check. Then just before the first song, grab my Bb. (the sound man thinks you are a mellow player and adds some extra highs and more volume)
However acoustically speaking, playing loud only makes you sound like crap if you play loud incorrectly. Playing loud incorrectly comes from not doing any loud practicing. After studying at Tanglewood this summer and getting some excellent feedback after a Houston Symphony audition, I was inspired to improve my loud playing - without changing equipment. Of course that meant one thing, adding loud playing to my routine. Now, I am still not an expert at this but for those players that were asking, try a few of these...

1. AIR AIR AIR AIR and more AIR.
2. Visualize your sound touching the walls.
3. Keep your center and try to make the center big.
4. If the center breaks up, you went too far.
5. Your vision is your guide. Looking straight ahead equals your core, and at the same time think about your peripheral vision as the guide to filling up the room.
6. Record yourself to hear if you are getting blatty.
7. Use the thick underpart of your tongue, not the tip. (Ghitalla taught me this.)
8. Practice in a large room. Sneak into auditoriums when you are getting close to an audition.
9. Practice in different places, especially going from wet to dry rooms.
10. The ten minute rule. Work on your loud playing for ten minutes then rest and come back with some soft lyrical studies.

I also have notes from masterclasses with BSO trumpets Charlie Schlueter and Thomas Rolfs on general trumpet playing that I am working from too. I am sure that others can add to my Top Ten List and I hope they do since I am on TPIN more to read and learn rather than post a lot. Funny additions such as "hey Darryl, you forgot to say join a marching band" will not be taken personally.

BEFORE AMERICAN IDOL THERE WAS...

Star of the day, who will it be?
Your vote will hold the key.
It's up to you, tell us who
will be star of the day?

And this was how "Community Auditions" a local television broadcast in the 1960's from WBZ in Boston, Massachusetts began and ended. The show was hosted by week day radio celebrity Dave Maynard but on Sunday mornings, he was the man behind the original concept of American Idol. Okay, it wasn't national, in fact because this was before cable, the show only aired over a very small portion of New England. So how did it work?

First Dave and his crew would go out to local communities and have a talent search. I am not exactly sure how the winners were picked but at this level of the competition, the audience did not vote and you could not text message your favorite. The WBZ folks just picked a few singers, tap dancers, an occasional ventriloquist, and of course up and coming young musicians to journey to their studio for an on air competition that was shown Sunday mornings at 11:00 AM.
By the way, Dave had awesome studio musicians that could play any accompaniment you put in front of them. The show began with Dave singing the song and then along came the contestants to show their stuff. Everyone had a little pre-interview with Dave asking questions such as what you have prepared and how long you have been preparing for this day and then you strutted your stuff. Now here is where the real analogy to American Idol comes in. At the end of the program, each act did a 15-20 second reprise and Dave would ask you to vote - by post card - for your favorite. At this point, it really did not matter if you were the best, just as long as you had every person from your home town and all your family members loaded up with little white postcards and .8 cent stamps ready to barrage the address indicated on the screen. Two weeks later the winner was ask to return and do their act over, accept a $50 bond from WBZ and an invitation to the quarter finals. The quarter finals went to semi-finals and then finally a grand championship once a year. I believe the money was $250, $500 and $1000 for the champs. (Add a zero to each number to calculate the 2006 equivalent.)

How and why am I so qualified to write and discuss this piece of TV nostalgia? Well, these television appearances were at the very core of my road to becoming a professional trumpeter and performer. I appeared on Community Auditions numerous times, coming in third place on my first outing; winning on the "second chance" show and the quarter finals only to be eliminated in the semi finals when I was up against folks twice my age with years more experience. As I said, you could "rig" the results if you wanted to. I know that I had a cousin in Providence that sent in fifty postcards for me and I believe that my Mom sent in another fifty using various family names on ten each because she was son honest. By the way, I did all my appearances between the ripe old age of seven and nine years old and I believe that my two most popular songs were Georgie Girl and Fly Me to the Moon. They even did a where are they now? program when I was twelve or thirteen and I played a section of the Haydn Trumpet Concerto but it was only a showcase, no postcards please.

So don't you think that Simon should fork over some royalty money to Community Auditions? Sure you could debate a number of changes such as the not having the panel of judges or the fact that Idol is only open to singers but for me and my love of the trumpet, this was reality TV, 1960's style.

TRUMPET YODA AND YOUNG JEDI KNIGHT

Roger Voision and Chris Scanlon at Boston Univeristy. I almost don't want to write anything because a picture is worth a thousand words. This image sums up all that we strive for in being a musician. Learning from the experienced elders in the craft we wish to pursue for the rest of our lives. Follow the intensity of the master in his coaching and look at the determination in the face and eyes of the disciple. You don't get this from a book, or a website. I just can't believe how much Voision looks like Yoda (with glasses) or Chris doing the "Obi Wan" substituting trumpet for light saber. More about my experiences with Roger Voison and Christopher Scanlon another time. Right now, I am still awestruck by this amazing photo. Here is the link to the BU Bridge archive and credit to the photographer for capturing this trumpet icon and his apprentice in action. http://www.bu.edu/bridge/archive/1999/11-19/index.html

Welcome to my blog site. Like the title references, my primary goal will be to discuss business of music in regards to brass ensembles, herald trumpets, solo trumpet and chamber musicians. I also have a desire to express myself with some stories of the crazy things we have been known to do as musicians to make money and how to live a good life without the pie-in-the-sky dream of being principal trumpet in a major symphony orchestra. Feel free to post a comment in a forum like context however, please stick to the subject without flames and/or vulgarity.