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The History of Jazz Tuba and Euphonium

I recently published a new article tracing the history of the tuba and euphonium in jazz. The piece follows their development from the acoustic bass foundations of early jazz through their later roles as solo instruments, ensemble voices, and vehicles for improvisation.

It considers major figures including Bill Barber, Ray Draper, Howard Johnson, Rich Matteson, Bob Stewart, Dave Bargeron, and Michel Godard, while also examining lesser-known performers, recordings, and instrumental experiments that helped expand the possibilities of low brass in jazz.

The history is far broader than the familiar story of the tuba being replaced by the string bass. Tuba and euphonium players continued to shape jazz through orchestral color, technical innovation, distinctive approaches to phrasing, and increasingly prominent solo work.

You can read the full article here: https://marctgaspardbolin.substack.com/ ... he-tuba-in

Great read! Nice to learn about some folks I hadn't heard of before or was not aware of who it was performing.

I noticed neither Harvey Phillips nor the Matteson-Phillips Tuba Jazz Consort are mentioned. He recorded with a ton of folks: Gil Evans, Sauter-Finegan, Gus Vali, Kenny Burrell, Curtis Fuller, John Lewis, Dizzy Gillespie, Wes Montgomery, Cannonball Adderly, to name a few. I think we forget he was more than just Tuba Christmas and the list seems incomplete without him.

Pretty thorough, well-written essay. As for Harvey, as far as I know he didn't improvise at all. If the goal is to include everyone who's ever played written-down swung figures, the list would go on forever.

Also: nary a peep about Don Butterfield, who could improvise. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Butterfield

Wonderful article!