Before joining the faculty at Ripon College in 1980, I was a "professional musician." For five and a half years I traveled the Midwest, and then the country, playing with the jazz group Matrix. Starting as a bar band in northeastern Wisconsin, Matrix developed into a major group, recording four albums for RCA, Warner Brothers and Pablo Records. The band played at major jazz clubs and festivals all over the country, including the Newport-New York, Monterey, Telluride, and Reno Festivals, and clubs such as The Other End, The Jazz Showcase, Concerts By The Sea, The Great American Music Hall, Donte's, and many others. When the band broke up, things changed. Before going on, however, I should mention the wonderful "reunion tour" that Matrix had in the summer of 1992, and another reunion at the Neenah (WI) Jazz Festival Labor Day weekend in 2000. That performance was so much fun that we got back together to record in the summer and fall of 2001. The result, Proud Flesh: A Matrix Reunion, is a nice musical document of where Matrix came from, and where the individuals developed, as writers and players. You can order Proud Flesh (http://www.summitrecords.com/product.tmpl?SKU=265) directly from Summit Records, or contact me through the contact at the bottom of the page to obtain a copy. Matrix also got together in the summer of 2002, with the "big" gig being an appearance at the Northern Aire Jazz Festival.
As for other work, playing trombone in rural Wisconsin is a pretty iffy proposition. That is to say, regular work is not easy to come by. If a trombonist wants to perform with any regularity, he or she needs to take just about any gig offered. Some years ago I passed the point of taking just any job, so needless to say, I don't work nearly as much as I once did.
"Regular" engagements are a thing of the past, except for Ripon College graduation and convocations. These I do with either a brass quartet or a trombone quartet. I occasionally get calls for small band engagements, which I usually play with my esteemed colleague from Matrix, John Harmon. John is one of the finest pianists anywhere, and despite my shortcomings as a player, the fact that we have made music together for over thirty years allows us to create some pretty nice stuff.
If someone calls for a big band job, I'll take it if it pays reasonably well, isn't too far away, and doesn't go too late (age has caught up with me). In the recent past, those engagements have primarily been with the Green Bay-centered Bay City Swing. I still nominally lead the Valley Jazz Orchestra along with Nick Keelan, low brass professor at Lawrence University. On occasion I get calls to supply an orchestra, which usually appears as the Valley Dance Orchestra. (Need a big band? Call me at (920)748-7481.)
Other calls come occasionally. Most recently I enjoyed playing two weeks for the show Hairspray at the Performing Arts Center in Appleton, Wisconsin. Over the years I have played for the Frankie Valli Show twice in the last couple of years, in Wisconsin Dells and Oshkosh. Another "moldy oldie" show, Bobby Vinton, came after that. This is a show I did years ago, about the same time I played backup for the Mills Brothers, Sandler and Young (remember them?), Debbie Reynolds/Donald O'Connor and Johnny Mathis.
It's been a long time since I felt I had the time to play regularly in an orchestra, although I used to do it on a regular basis. The void was filled somewhat by my performing quite a few summers in the Green Lake Festival of Music Orchestra, under the direction of the esteemed Sir David Willcocks, who came over from England every year. During the last few of years I have been receiving calls to fill in with area orchestras, particularly the Oshkosh Symphony and the Fox Valley Symphony (in Appleton).
A recent addition to my playing opportunities has been offered by the Wisconsin Symphonic Winds. Formed in 2004 by Rand Skelton and Rob McWilliams (music director), this excellent group is made up of band directors, private teachers, a few college types, and free-lancers from the whole east-central and northeast part of Wisconsin. We have completed three summer seasons, playing the highest quality (and in some cases highest difficulty) music available to our kind of group.
Need a trombonist?