Rhythm and Brass
Can a Chopin theme be translated in a samba? Yes, when the group is Rhythm and Brass.
``In tune with the past, in sync with the future'' is how Rhythm and Brass, a brass and percussion ensemble, describes itself. ``We go far beyond what people usually think of in a traditional brass group,'' says trumpeter Wiff Rudd, a former member of the Dallas Brass.
Some of the special events where the group has appeared include a 1994 New York concert debut at Carnegie Recital Hall with celebrated jazz trumpeter Randy Brecker. Commissioned works by Dana Wilson and Daniel William McCarthy have premiered at Chicago's Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic and the Music Educators National Conference in Cincinnati. This group also was featured at the New York Brass Conference, the International Trumpet Guild Conference and the Raphael Mendez Brass Institute. They toured Japan during the summer of 1994 and traveled to South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Japan in 1996.
The group's first compact disc was a versatile program of works ranging from the 17th century composer Samuel Scheidt to the world premiere recording of ``Dance Suite'' by Leonard Bernstein. It was Bernstein's last composed work.
Its second album, ``Time in September,'' features the group's original jazz compositions.
As committed educators, Rhythm and Brass members stress the importance of sharing knowledge through clinics and university residencies.
Group members include Robert Thompson, who has been a symphony soloist, Broadway musician and guest with the Moody Blues; trombonist and euphonium player Mark Kellogg, who performed with the Rochester Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony; and Charles Villarrubia on tuba, Alex Shuhan on horn and piano, and percussionist and composer David Gluck, all three of whom, like Rudd, were with the Dallas Brass.
