TromboneChat

Just noticed Stephen Sondheim died a few hours ago aged 91. A legend in his own time is really true in his case surely?... I wonder how many trombonists have played in the orcehstra of one of his musicals over the years?

First time I played Sweeney Todd, was as a last minute dep for a Saturday matinee got to the theatre with 5 mins to spare, nothing like sight reading Sondheim

DougHulme wrote: ↑Sat Nov 27, 2021 2:21 am Just noticed Stephen Sondheim died a few hours ago aged 91. A legend in his own time is really true in his case surely?... I wonder how many trombonists have played in the orcehstra of one of his musicals over the years?

Hi Doug, Jay Shanman, who lives in New Jersey, was in the original orchestra of Company. The cast recording was the subject of a documentary which is on YouTube and in the first segment there's a shot of Jay at @1:25 -



I don't know who the bass trombonist is - Jay didn't recall his name but thought he moved to play in the Honolulu Symphony.

This documentary is a great way to see how recordings were done back then.

Joe

JoeStanko wrote: ↑Sat Nov 27, 2021 9:20 am
...
This documentary is a great way to see how recordings were done back then.

It's a wonderful film, and if you enjoy this sort of thing I'd also recommend the Documentary Now! parody "Original Cast Album: Co-Op".

Joe - I shall watch with interest, thanks for that... Doug

ithinknot... intriguing I shall investigate!

So I watched both the films. What an insight, full of admiration for the musicians and still going at 4am+ so versatile and so quick on the uptake. The same could be said for the spoof too - I wonder if they rehearsed for the rehearsal? Helen Mirren just set it off a treat.

To other matters a British Trombonist Jane Salmon just spotted this picture in a tribute to Sondheim. She posted it on her Twitter account with the catchline - "What on earth is the trombonist doing?" or something like that anyway.