Friday Feature: Aaron Ashton

ANNOUNCEMENT: Aaron Ashton, Ryan Tilby and Keith Sorensen (and possibly another special guest or two) will be performing an exclusive house concert in Cedar City this Saturday night, February 4, 2012. Details on the Facebook page.

Pretty darn excited to introduce you to one of the premier musicians in the intermountain area. Violinist Aaron Ashton has traveled many musical paths, and isn't afraid to blaze new ones. His repertoire ranges from classical to celtic, from folk to funk, and from jazz to just about everything else.

I first met Aaron when he was the concert master in the Utah State University Symphony Orchestra and I was the timpanist, circa 1999. It's sort of a funny/embarrassing story, actually. Aaron approached me after rehearsal one night and told me he was forming a band to play jazz and celtic music, and was looking for a drummer who might be interested. I pointed him in the direction of one of the guys in the department that I respected. (You know the closing scene of "Dumb and Dumber?" Yep, not so smart was I!)

Luckily for me, the other guy moved out of the area, and a couple of years later I ended up playing for Aaron's band, In One Ear. Not only did I get to know Aaron and his playing, I was introduced to many other great players and a mind set of playing, performing and composing both in and out of the box.

Since then, Aaron and I have worked together on a ton of projects, recordings, bands, shows, etc, including The Aaron Ashton Band, Hillside Nine, Lokalgrown and many more.

But all of that doesn't begin to scratch the surface of Aaron's career and accomplishments. He has played on countless film and TV soundtracks and video games, made cameo appearances on roughly a gazillion albums, and produced and engineered a gazillion more.

He was also a member of Enoch Train and founded Blue Sky Music Camps, a premier summer workshop for aspiring musicians.

Oh, and one more thing - Aaron is both an Aggie (Bachelor's degree from Utah State University) and a Cougar (Master's degree from Brigham Young University). True story.

By the way, I'm sorry if this sounds like a eulogy. Dude's not dead. In fact, he's well this side of forty, and still growing and evolving as a musician and as a person. I just respect the guy as a colleague and friend, and can't say enough good about him.

(I'd better stop myself. This is getting embarrassing.)

Just visit his webpage, buy his album and catch a concert. I'd say "or," but you should really do all three.

This was one of my favorite shows I've played with the Aaron Ashton Band. Great players all around.

The Gig Log: Lokalgrown in Boise, ID

As I've said many times, I'm very grateful to be a musician. In addition, I'm lucky to play with some very good musicians who have given me the opportunity to play at some very cool places and at awesome events.

Such was the case on December 17th, 2011. I played with Lokalgrown at Utah State University's pre-game party before the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise, Idaho. My Aggies actually made it to a bowl game! Although the football team lost the game in a heartbreaker, the party was a total success.

The party was held in Taco Bell Arena, where Boise State University's basketball team plays. Not only is it a pretty great venue, the staff there was perfect - accommodating, knowledgeable and friendly. They made it an absolute pleasure.

The bass player for this gig was my longtime friend and colleague Matt Redd. Not only is he a skilled musician, he's a heck of a great guy. We've been friends since college - we actually played together in the USU Jazz Orchestra.

Anyway, right before the downbeat, Matt started to get sick. His eyes went red, he was sneezing, congested and basically miserable. He didn't know it until he made it to the doctor the next day, but he had a cornea (yes, THAT cornea - in his eye!) infection, and the symptoms hit him in a matter of a few minutes.

Even though he was miserable and feeling pretty bad, he played the entire gig like a champ - and nailed it, at that. He also went and sat through the entire game and the five-hour drive back to Salt Lake City with nary a complaint. Amazing.

Matt Redd - Gig Hero of 2011

All in all, it was another great gig/roadie with the LKG boys.
















*The game was played on the infamous "Smurf Turf" at Boise State University. BSU's campus is absolutely beautiful, and even though it was a cold day, it was a lot of fun to be there for the FIPB.

Friday Feature: Casey Cangelosi

I'm happy today to feature a friend and colleague of mine, a fellow Utah State Aggie percussionist. Well, at least that's where I met him. I credit him with many of my best and most creative memories from my music experience at USU. When I first met and worked with Casey Cangelosi, I knew there would come a time when I'd be able to use the old cliche, "I knew him back when..."

Well, it didn't take very long. Click on Casey's name, above, and prepare to meet part of the future of percussion performance and composition. Then do yourself the favor of stopping by YouTube and typing in Casey Cangelosi. Just be prepared to blow off the rest of your schedule for a while.

As I always say, I'm not even going to attempt to tell Casey's story, just give you a taste and let you explore for yourself. I will say this, though: every time I see a college student preparing for a senior recital or final jury, I always see a Cangelosi composition (or two, or three) in the mix. 

Enjoy.

Keyboard Percussion 1: Marimba

In junior high, as beginners, we called them, "bells." Anything where you had to play actual pitches that wasn't timpani was bells, and only the weird kids played them.

Well, call me a weird kid. My favorite percussion instrument is marimba.

There are actually quite a few mallet instruments in the percussion family. Allow me to list the most common (and a few that aren't so common).

First, marimba. This is the largest of the keyboard instruments. The keys are usually made of rosewood, although some man-made materials (such as 'kelon' and 'acoustalon') and other woods (such as padouk) have been used to make the instrument a little more affordable.

Marimba is  played frequently with four or more mallets, and usually by soloists or in percussion-only groups. The amount of literature available for solo marimba has exploded in the last ten years, and it is considered to be one of the basic percussion instruments that every student must learn. It is also starting to be more commonly used in band and even orchestral music.

There is no way I can give even a cursory introduction to marimba in one blog post, so I'll just give you a little taste and let you explore away. And even if you're already familiar with the instrument, here are a couple of my favorite players.




And another, young marimbist and master percussionist, Casey Cangelosi, also a colleague of mine. He and I did our undergrad work together at Utah State University under the direction of Dr. Dennis D. Griffin.

As you can see, Casey has gone to other worlds. Enjoy!