Alessi

Last night, my parents and I had the pleasure of going to see Joseph Alessi in concert with the Brass in Blue. I was looking forward to hearing the band play, as I'm a big fan of the brass band style, but as a trombonist, it was pretty amazing to see one of the best in the world. Alessi played some pretty great repertoire, including Blue Bells of Scotland (the link takes you to Jorgen Van Rigen playing Blue Bells, plus a whole lot of schtick), an old standard that I've played in the past (though not anywhere near the level I saw last night). The show was great all around; all of the musicianship was of very high quality, and now I can say that I've seen one of the greatest ever, live in concert. Here's a short clip of Alessi playing the solo from Bolero (which is fiendishly difficult to play well), followed by a clip of him playing one of my favorite short solos, Malcolm's Fantasy. Both were performed at masterclasses, so they aren't really indicative of just how dominant a player he is, but they're fun clips. I'm still a nerd.