The Trombone

The trombone, in the history of improvised music, has played many roles – there’s a romantic element (a la Tommy Dorsey), there is a gospel element (Lawrence Brown), a clown element (Roswell Rudd), and – among other things – there’s also an autochthonous element (Tricky Sam Nanton).  I’m a student of that history. 

 One role that the trombone has never been a big part of is the history of the heroic/canonic element of jazz music – like from Armstrong to Parker to Coltrane.  I like that the trombone has never fit comfortably into the jazz hagiography, and my motivation in music is to strive towards an aesthetic that includes impotence (like Beckett), alienation (in the Brechtian sense), and humor as viable choices as well as regards canon formation with a large degree of incredulity.