MASTERS OF THE SLIDE:

TROMBONISTS CHANGING THE TROMBONE WORLD ONE POSITION AT A

TIME

Blaine Brubaker

SMU 270: Music from 1750 to Present

Dr. John M. Seybert

April 23, 2015

 Brubaker 2

The trombone is not an instrument that comes to mind when one thinks of quickly

moving passages and extremely high notes. Trombone is often thought as the lumbering

bass line or being the comical instrument due to the nature of the slide apparatus. High

virtuosity is thought of when speaking of trumpets or saxophones. Instruments such as

these can use their valve or key systems to quickly move through scales and octave

jumps, seemingly soaring over any style of music. However there were some trombonists

who gave the trombone its metaphorical wings through compositions that made the

instrument soar. In the twentieth century, Arthur Pryor (1870-1942) and J. J. Johnson

(1924-2001) both influenced change in the way the trombone is performed through high

levels of technical and stylistic ability.

Finding the dictionary definition of what virtuosity is a simple search, but it is

more difficult to explain what virtuosity means for a specific instrument, such as a

trombone. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, virtuosity is great ability or

skill shown by a musician, performer, etc.1 On the trombone, great skill is shown by

being able to play the full extended range of the instrument, being able to cleanly tongue

in single, double or triple patterns, having full control of flexibility between notes, and

playing with a beautiful and rich tone. Most of the time, it takes many years to develop

these skills to a virtuosic level through daily practicing. However, there are some

trombonists who develop their virtuosic skills early and pushed the trombone to the

musical limit. One of these trombonists was a young man by the name of Arthur Pryor.

Arthur Pryor, heavily influenced in his early years by classic musical teachings,

lead the trombone to a high soloistic position in the John Philip Sousa band. In 1892,

1 Merriam-Webster Dictionary, s.v. virtuosity, accessed February 18, 2015, http://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/virtuosity.
 Brubaker 3

Pryor was invited to join the newly formed Sousa band after former Gilmore band

members heard him play with his fathers band in St. Louis and quickly informed Sousa

of Pryors advanced technique. Pryor was only 22.2 Pryors first solo with the Sousa

band, Love Thoughts Waltz, was performed at his first concert at the Columbian Expo in

Chicago, IL. It was highly successful and secured his position as a soloist and trombonist

within the Sousa band.3 Pryor stayed with the Sousa band from 1892 to 1903.4 From 1895

to 1902, he also served as assistant conductor of the band, second only to Sousa himself.5

Throughout most of his life Pryor looked towards his father, both a bandleader

and professional musician, as a main source of inspiration. Many of his decisions on the

jobs he took are assumed to be based on his fathers past job experiences.6 Some of his

fathers job experiences include being a bandmaster and opera director. Pryor may not

have been a bandmaster when he first began playing with Sousa; however, Pryor spent

some time as an opera conductor with the Stanley Opera Company during his time before

the Sousa band as a piano accompanist. He claimed that accompanying for the opera

singers and becoming proficient on the piano aided him on becoming a composer.7

Pryor was known for playing with a high level of technique, a wide, yet rapid

sounding vibrato, multiphonics, and rich pedal tones.8 He also had an extraordinary four-

octave range, a technical feat that had not been accomplished on the trombone before.9

2 William Joseph Frye, A Biographical Study of the Trombone Soloists of the John Philips Sousa Band: 1892-1931.
(PhD diss., Florida State University, 2007).
3 Ibid.
4 Paul E. Bierley, John Philip Sousa: American Phenomenon (Miami: Warner Bros. Publications,2001), 177.

5 James M. Burk and Raoul F. Camus, Pryor, Arthur (Williard), In Grove Music Online, Accessed February 3, 2015.
6 Daniel F. Frizane and Frederick P. Williams, Arthur Pryor Biography, last modified 2002,
http://www.wgpark.com/page.asp-pid=22.html.
7 Frye, A Biographical Study.
8 Bierley, John Philip Sousa, 177.
9 Frye, A Biographical Study.
 Brubaker 4

One story told about Pryor is when he first began playing the slide trombone, the slide

was poorly kept, and Pryor could only move out two positions. After hearing that there

could be up to seven positions on the trombone, Pryor quickly cleaned up the slide and

searched. This self-taught method led Pryor to find false and other alternate positions

on the instrument. These alternate positions helped Pryor with his speed on the slide

because he could quickly find notes in different positions instead of having to make wide

movements on the slide to find the true position of each note. It was also claimed by a

childhood friend that Pryor, when first obtaining his first slide trombone, was so inspired

by the instrument that he practiced ten hours a day perfecting his technique.10

Pryors Love Thoughts Waltz is categorized as a valse de concert, also known as

concert waltz, and was written by Pryor to show off his technical ability in front of

Sousas band. In this solo, Pryor includes a copious amount of technical ability for this

purpose. By using a diminution of the Waltz #2 melody, Pryor is able to show off his

quick use of single, double and even triple tonguing.11 The ability to tongue at such a

quick tempo takes a large amount of breath support. When playing in front of a large

outdoor audience, trombonists must make their sound travel to those sitting in the back of

the audience. To be able to play quickly and loudly so everyone may hear is a statement

of the amount of air Pryor could take in and also conserve through the solo. Also at the

beginning of the Coda section, Pryor shows off his technical ability even more using a

cadenza.12 The cadenza shows the extent of Pryors range and flexibility as he quickly

moves through triple tongued arpeggios in the full range of the trombone at the time.13

10 Ibid.
11 See Appendix A.
12 See Appendix B.
13 Arthur Pryor, Thoughts of Love (New York: Carl Fischer, 2009).
 Brubaker 5

Born in 1924 during the height of Pryors professional experience, J.J. Johnsons life

was centered around a different style of music popular at the time called Jazz. Even with

a traditional musical background, Johnson reached out to a subgenre of Jazz named

Bebop by the time he was graduating high school. Johnson got his professional start right

out of high school with the Clarence Love orchestra, directed by vocalist Pha Terrell in

1941. Johnsons time with Terrell was short-lived as Terrell moved on to working with an

all-girl orchestra and settled in Tulsa not long after.14 Johnson moved on to working

with the Snookum Russel Orchestra in 1942. For eight months, Johnson stayed on with

the band, improving his own arranging styles. However, in the beginning of October

1942 the band disbanded, leaving Johnson without work once again.15 Benny Carter was

in Indianapolis at the time of the disbandment of the Snookum Russel Orchestra. Due to

some unforeseen events, Carter was short a trombone player for his own orchestra. By

recommendation, Johnson played a few sets with Benny Carter Orchestra and ended up

staying with the band until March of 1945.16 Playing with Benny Carter would be the big

break Johnson needed to launch into the professional world.

Many different people and instruments influenced Johnsons playing style. From

trombone to saxophone players, bebop to traditional swing, Johnson absorbed many

different styles of playing. While playing with the Snookum Russel Orchestra, Johnson

got the chance to perform with trumpeter Fats Navarro, a famous Jazz trumpeter. They

became dear friends and Johnson was deeply impacted by Navarros playing.17 Johnson

14 Joshua Berrett and Louis G. Bourgois III, The Musical World of J. J. Johnson (Newark: Scarecrow Press, 2001),
22.
15 Ibid., 23.
16 Rodney Allen Lancaster, Transcription and Analysis of Selected Trombone Solos From J. J. Johnsons 1964
Recording Proof Positive (PhD diss., University of Miami, 2009).

17 Lewis Porter, Johnson, J.J. [James Louis], in Grove Music Online, accessed February 3, 2015.
 Brubaker 6

only gave credit to two primary influences: trombonist Fred Beckett and saxophonist

Lester Young. Johnson once said about Beckett: Beckett was the first trombonist I ever

heard play in manner other than the usual sliding, slurring, lip trilling, or gutbucket style.

He had tremendous facilities for improvisation; in general, Becketts playing made a

lasting impression upon me.18

Johnsons style evolved from his beginnings in the 1940s to his return to the bebop

style in the 1980s due to changes in musical styles and his life. His technical style was so

advanced that in early recordings during the 1940s, many reviewers believed that he was

performing on a valve trombone, a common replacement for the slide trombone in early

Jazz.19 In Johnsons earliest recorded solos, he also played in an aggressive style with a

large sounding tone. By 1947, he developed a lighter tone with a vibrato only used for

special effects. This style of playing was also enhanced with the use of a felt mute.20 The

late 1950s were a time of maturity for Johnsons playing: he began relying more on scale

patterns and the development of musical motives in his solos rather than Bebop formulas

and the speed in which he played.21 Bebop style had returned back to the musical

forefront by the 1980s and Johnson, who had taken a step back from Jazz to compose,

also returned to the solo trombone with a mellowed and matured tone.22

Blue Trombone is a hard bop Jazz composition of Johnsons own creation, released

on an LP of the same title in 1957, and shows many of the improvisational styles and

18 Lancaster, Transcription.
19 Porter, Johnson, J.J.
20 Ibid.
21 Ibid.
22 Joachim-Ernst Berendt, The Jazz Book: From Ragtime to the 21st Century (Chicago: Chicago Review Press,
2009), 269.
 Brubaker 7

techniques Johnson typically used in his solos.23 The solo is in the key of B-flat major,

focusing on the 12 bar blues chord progression of that same key.24

Repetition of rhythm was a typical technique Johnson used, and can be seen in the 2nd

chorus in part I of Blue Trombone.25 Johnson begins at the end of the first measure of the

second chorus with a three eighth-note pick up into measure two outlining the B-flat

major chord. This same pick up figure is used again at the ends of measures three, seven,

and nine. Repetition like this is normally looked down upon in Jazz soloing, however

Johnsons use keeps a listeners interest in the solo.26

Another technique Johnson used was a quick technical ability with the slide. In the

fifth chorus of Blue Trombone, Johnson starts in on the third measure with a quick

chromatic eighth-note pattern, traveling quickly down the slide in the higher slide

positions of the instrument.27 Patterns such as these require quick movements on the slide

to cleanly attack each note and precision on finding the exact note on the trombone.28

Pryor and Johnsons solo trombone-playing styles contrasted highly; however, both

shared similar features even when soloing on different styles of music. One immediate

difference they had was in their use of vibrato. Pryors vibrato was wide and rapid

sounding, caused by a muscle paralysis in his lower jaw due to a childhood accident.

Johnson tended to stay away from any sort of idiomatic device, including vibrato.

23 Blue Trombone, All Music, accessed February 18, 2015, http://www.allmusic.com/album/blue-trombone-

mw0000829169.
24 John Leisenring and Hunt Butler, Blue Trombone, Part I in J. J. Johnson Solos: 13 Personal Favorites
(Indianapolis: Jamey Abersold Publications, 2010).
25 See Appendix C.
26 Ibid.
27 See Appendix D.
28 Ibid.
 Brubaker 8

Johnson preferred a straight, clear tone rather than one filled with vibrato so each note he

played was clearly heard.

Both Pryor and Johnson skillfully used their technical ability to its full potential. Even

though they played in two different styles of music, both mastered the art of single,

double, and triple tonguing and made sure to show their use of it through either cadenzas

or improvised solos. Halfway through Love Thoughts Waltz, Pryor would always make

use of a cadenza to further express his style and high level of technical ability. For

example, a transcribed cadenza from Pryors early recordings with the Sousa band shows

the use of 32nd note runs, a rhythm normally unheard of coming from the trombone.29

However, the use of double and triple tonguing made the feat possible for young Pryor.

Cadenzas are not typically used in the Jazz genre, so Johnson used the improvised solo to

show his technical finesse. While soloing over a Blues chord progression for Blue

Trombone, Johnson did not use 32nd note rhythms to show technical grace as Pryor did.

Johnson effectively used quick bebop jazz patterns, also known as licks, to emphasize

significant notes in the chords he was improvising over.

Using a certain type of horn also influenced the tone produced by Pryor and Johnson.

Pryor used a Conn trombone with a six and a half inch bell size and .458 bore diameter,

about the same size as an average B-flat trumpet bell today. This size of horn was not one

typically used during this time, as it was difficult to produce a beautiful tone.30 Although

many trombonists during Pryors time would look down upon this type of horn, Pryor

used the horn to its full capabilities, producing a tone as beautiful as a trombonist using a

larger bore horn. Johnson used a couple different horns during his professional career, but

29 See Appendix B.
30 Frye, A Biographical Study.
 Brubaker 9

primarily used a King custom trombone. King, a company that makes brass instruments,

helped Johnson make a custom horn after sending him and fellow trombonist Kai

Winding an invitation to visit the King factory. The custom horn had a King 3B trombone

bore diameter of .508, but a King 2B trombone slide. The large bore size of the 3B

trombone bell gave Johnson a bigger and richer sound, while the 2B trombone slide gave

the instrument a lighter feel and quicker movement.31

Todays trombonists owe a large amount to Pryor and Johnsons influence on the

technical and stylistic ability of the trombone. Some of the abilities that both pushed

during their lifetimes, such as quick tonguing, smooth legato playing and large air

support, are now needed to play the contemporary solos of today. Bert Appermonts

Colors for Trombone is an example of this. Published in 1998, this four-movement,

fifteen minute long piece uses a different color for each movement, each representing a

different technical ability and style on the trombone.32 Colors for Trombone is normally

performed as trombone solo with wind ensemble, a feature that Pryor made prevalent by

being a major soloist with the Sousa band. Also, at the end of the movement entitled

Yellow, the trombone soloist faces a transitional section that focuses a lot on technique

including multiple styles of tonguing.

Before Pryor and Johnsons time, the ability required to perform this technically

difficult section of music would have been only a figment of imagination. The trombone

would have been stuck playing the bass line or quiet harmonies in the background of

wind ensembles, jazz bands and orchestra everywhere. Johnson and Pryor both started

31 Berrett and Bourgois, Musical World, 228-229.

32 Bert Appermont, Colors for Trombone, Bert Appermont, accessed March 24, 2015,
http://www.bertappermont.be/en/index.php/colors-for-trombone.
 Brubaker 10

like most instrumentalists do: young. However, being young during their perspective eras

in the 20th century molded their resulting sounds young trombonists strive to emulate

today. Because of these two hardworking men, the trombone earned its place on the shelf

with quickly moving melody instruments such as the trumpet and saxophone.
 Brubaker 11

Appendix A

Diminuation of the
Waltz #2 melody starting at the repeat in Pryors Love Thoughts Waltz.

Appendix B

The cadenza after the Coda section in Pryors Love Thoughts Waltz.
 Brubaker 12

Appendix C

The 2nd chorus from Johnsons Blue Trombone.

Appendix D

The 5th chorus from Johnsons Blue Trombone.

 Brubaker 13

Bibliography

All Music. Blue Trombone. Accessed February 18, 2015.

http://www.allmusic.com/album/blue-trombone-mw0000829169

Berendt, Joachim-Ernst. The Jazz Book: From Ragtime to the 21st Century, Edited by

Gunther Huesmann. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2009.

Bernotas, Bob. An Interview with J. J. Johnson. Online Trombone Journal. Last

Modified 1999. http://trombone.org/articles/library/jjjohnson-int.asp.

Berrett, Joshua, and Louis G. Bourgois III. The Musical World of J. J. Johnson. Newark:

Scarecrow Press, 2001.

Appermont, Bert. Colors for Trombone. Bert Appermont. Accessed March 24, 2015.

http://www.bertappermont.be/en/index.php/colors-for-trombone.

Bierley, Paul E. John Philip Sousa: American Phenomenon. Miami: Warner Bros.

Publications, 2001.

Burk, James M., and Raoul F. Camus. Pryor, Arthur (Williard). In Grove Music

Online. Accessed February 3, 2015. Oxford Music Online.

 Brubaker 14

Frizane, Daniel F., and Frederick P. Williams. Arthur Pryor: Biography. Willow

Grove Park. Last modified 2002. http://www.wgpark.com/page.asp-

pid=22.html

Frye, Joseph William. A Biographical Study of the Trombone Soloists of the John

Philips Sousa Band: 1892-1931. Doctoral thesis, Florida State University, 2007.

Lancaster, Rodney Allen. Transcription and Analysis of Selected Trombone Solos

From J. J.Johnsons 1964 Recording Proof Positive. Doctoral thesis, University

of Miami, 2009.

Leisenring, John, and Hunt Butler. J. J. Johnson Solos: 13 Personal Favorites.

Indianapolis: Jamey Aebersold Publications, 2010.

Porter, Lewis. Johnson, J.J. [James Louis]. In Grove Music Online. Accessed February

3, 2015. Oxford Music Online.

Pryor, Arthur. Thoughts of Love. New York: Carl Fischer, 2009.

--------. Trombone 1897 1911. 1997 by Crystal Records. Compact disk. Liner

Notes.
 Brubaker 15

Wolfinbarger, Steve. The Solo Trombone Music of Arthur Pryor: Chapter 1 The

Life of Arthur Pryor. International Trombone Association 11, no. 1 (1983): 13-

15.