TromboneChat

I've been reading through the ridiculously long "Who in their right mind plays a 1 1/2G??" thread in the archives and I stumbled on the name Ed Anderson... So I looked him up and saw he was the bass trombone for Cleveland from 1964-1985!

I've always had a soft spot for the old Tchaikovsky recordings from that period of Cleveland. I also found his solo album "The Occasional Clam". What a great album and what a fantastic sound from Ed!!!

It has been nice to put a name to a bass trombone idol of mine!

Any other Ed Anderson fans out there?

I was a classmate of Ed Anderson in an 8AM music theory class at The Eastman School of Music back in 1956-57. The instructor had us write a four part exercise which I assumed would be played by a pianist, but when it came time to audition our assignment, he decided to use the instrumentalists in the class to play them. Ed got my bass line to play which consisted of non-stop eighth notes and nowhere to take a breath throughout the entire piece. He "Knocked it Out of The Park" without breaking a sweat ! He was amazing even back then. Afterwards, he did ask what I could have been thinking to have written such a ridiculously difficult bass line but I was too amazed at his ability to sight read the miserable thing to be able to answer ! I don't think he became great gradually ---- I think he was ALWAYS great ! He and Ron Bishop [CO tuba] made a formidable pair !!

And a true gent as well. As a humble student, I met him once and I couldn't been nicer.

I'm a tenor player, but have always been a fan of Ed Anderson's playing. Those Cleveland recordings on Telarc are worth a listen for his sound which blends so perfectly with Ron Bishop. I also have a favorite recording of Prokofiev 5 (Maazel), that pretty much defines what I think that piece should sound like. Not sure what label that was on - I might only have a tape of it at this point.

Our Bass Trombonist here studied with Ed at IU, and he tells me that although Ed did famously play on a 1.5G and stock valves during his Cleveland years, he changed to Thayers and a large mouthpiece (Schilke 60 I think) when he was teaching, after trying the equipment of his students. He would have been playing that larger equipment on his solo recording.

My colleague (who was still a tenor player when he was at IU) tells a story about playing next to Ed Anderson in a performance of Prokofiev - Romeo and Juliet excerpts. He says in the Dance of the Knights, when the whole trombone section plays the tune starting on low F, the tenors just felt like they were there for show - they didn't hear a note that they played. Anderson, meanwhile wasn't just loud, but had the biggest, broadest sound he'd ever heard. He also said that on the archival recording, it sounded like it was tenuto throughout, and in one breath, but he knew that in reality, Anderson was breathing every couple of notes. His sound was so sustained and ringing, and his fast breaths were so efficient, that it sounded like a seamless phrase. A giant of the orchestral world.

Jim Scott