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Woodbridge News
WHAT: World premiere of new German tuba in Woodbridge
WHEN: Saturday, Mar. 4, 3-5 p.m.
WHERE: Dillon Music, 325 Fulton Street, Woodbridge
WHO: Featuring jazz tuba virtuoso Howard Johnson
. . . with Howard Johnson and rhythm section performing a free concert at J.J. Bitting Brewing Co, 33 Main Street, Woodbridge from 6-8 p.m.
Mar. 4 unveiling, concert features jazz tuba virtuoso Howard Johnson
This weekend, Woodbridge will be the epicenter of the professional tuba world when the latest state-of-the-art offering from German brass manufacturer Meinl-Weston is officially unveiled: the 4/4 BBb-Tuba series 2011 Heritage Howard Johnson Gravity model.
Attending will be jazz tuba virtuoso Howard Johnson and Meinl-Weston owner Gerhard A. Meinl. Meinl is also the Vice Mayor of Geretsried, the small Bavarian town where his family’s company has been making quality musical instruments since 1810.
“We are pleased Woodbridge has been chosen as the site for this important recognition of artistic achievement,” says Woodbridge Mayor Frank G. Pelzman. “It is an honor to receive personal visits by a performer of Mr. Johnson’s caliber and the chief representative of Meinl-Weston.”
The tuba unveiling takes place Mar. 4 from 3-5 p.m. at Dillon Music, 325 Fulton Street, Woodbridge. From 6-8 p.m., Johnson and friends will lead a free concert at J.J. Bitting Brewing Company at 33 Main Street, Woodbridge. Call (732) 634-3399 for information on both events.
“Some of the top tuba players in the country will be here to see the horn, play the horn and ask questions of Howard and Mr. Meinl,” says Dillon Music’s events manager Jim McCombs.
The new horn is an upright four-valve piston model, designed to the unique specifications of Howard Johnson, an internationally-renowned performer, composer and arranger who emerged onto the jazz scene in the early 1960s and pioneered an innovative six-tuba ensemble called Gravity in 1968.
Howard Johnson has performed and recorded with virtually every major jazz musician of the last 50 years – John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Carla Bley, Thelonious Monk, Cannonball Adderley, Gil Evans, Archie Shepp, Buddy Rich, Freddie Hubbard, McCoy Tyner, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Quincy Jones to name a few – along with pop standouts The Band, Taj Mahal and Marvin Gaye.
Mr. Johnson was a performer in and conductor of the original Saturday Night Live Band from 1975-80 and performed on the soundtracks of several Spike Lee movies (School Daze, Mo' Better Blues, Malcolm X, Clockers). A talented multi-instrumentalist, he has spent the last four years based in Germany playing baritone sax and bass clarinet in North German Radio’s NDR Big Band.
For information about the Heritage Howard Johnson Gravity model tuba, seehttp://www.meinl-weston.com/2011.htm.
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MIS Department
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