Local Spins reveals the recordings and artists that inspired northern Michigan trombonist Chris Glassman, from Leonard Bernstein to Steve Davis to Rodney Whitaker. Listen to tracks from all of them.
From Drums to Loving the Trombone: Chris Glassman) Courtesy Photo)
EDITOR’S NOTE: All musicians can trace their inspiration to key recordings that influenced their careers. Writer Ross Boissoneau today showcases music that changed the world for jazz trombonist and Interlochen interim jazz director Chris Glassman. Scroll down for a Spotify playlist of his picks.
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Bass trombonist Chris Glassman, the Interim Director of Jazz at Interlochen Center for the Arts, says trombone wasn’t his first choice of instruments. He wanted to emulate his father and siblings.
“I grew up playing drums (like) Dad and my brothers. My mom said I can’t have you playing drums. It’s too darn loud.”
So he moved to trombone in high school. It turned out to be a felicitous choice.
Chris Glassman (Courtesy Photo)
“I fell in love with it. I realized trombone had vocal qualities. In chamber music it was the choral double,” he says. He also managed to exact some revenge for being forced to change from his original preference. “It (trombone) is the second-loudest instrument after piccolo.” Take that, mom.
These days he favors the bass trombone, and has performed with the likes of Michael Bublé, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Diane Schuur, Kurt Elling and others. He’s also released three small-group jazz recordings. In addition, he has written arrangements for Bublé, the Airmen of Note, Rodney Whitaker (director of jazz studies at Michigan State, where Glassman earned his master’s in jazz studies degree), David Sanborn and others. “I’ve been very, very blessed to have these opportunities,” Glassman says.
It’s all led to his taking over the position of Interim Director of Jazz at Interlochen Arts Academy when the previous director left with little notice, just prior to the start of the school year. He and his wife had just moved back to Denver five weeks earlier, where he was originally from and had gone to undergraduate school.
“I got a call (Interlochen) was looking for a director to start as soon as possible,” he says. So they packed up and moved back to Michigan. “I started in August, full steam ahead with amazing students. I’m getting to work with them in in a facility that values arts,” he says.
1. Leonard Bernstein, “West Side Story” (Original Cast Recording, 1957) – In high school I got to play in the pit orchestra. It was the first time being a musician made sense to me. I had an amazing band director, but the abilities (of all the players in school) was mixed. It’s a triumph of American music. It combines jazz and classical, the style of Bernstein and Copland with the story of Romeo and Juliet. Something about the harmony and how many rhythms (there were): bossa nova, mambo, swing, waltz – it’s got everything, so many different things at such a high level. Getting to play a musical in high school really clicked.
Listen: “Act I: Jet Song”
2. Steve Davis, “Eloquence” (2009) – For sure I’ve listened to it more than any other album in my life. It’s standards – “Road Song,” “When The Saints Go Marching In” done in a very hip way. It’s the first (album) where I learned every one of Steve Davis’s solos. He is a textbook example of someone who is a melody maker. Eveything he plays has a wonderful sound, is dynamic, in just the right spot. It’s like eating kobe beef – it’s pure protein.
Listen: “When the Saints Go Marching In’
3. Rodney Whitaker, “All Too Soon: The Music Of Duke Ellington” (2017) – There’s a Clark Terry quote: You imitate, you assimilate, you innovate. “All Too Soon” is all three. Hearing every solo, it feels just right. It’s the (jazz) tradition to change up songs. (On) “Cotton Tail” Michael Dease plays all crazy stuff. Brian Lynch picks it up. It gives it a whole new life.
Listen: “Cotton Tail”
Currently Loving: Johnny Griffin, “A Blowin’ Session“ (1957) – It’s my new thing I’m wearing out. The thing I really love about Johnny Griffin’s playing is the clarity of ideas, the clarity of playing. Everything makes sense, with a ton of sound and spirit. “The Way You Look Tonight,” the opening track, is a jam session with John Coltrane, Hank Mobley, Wynton Kelly, Lee Morgan. It was his bag to play at a great tempo.
Listen: “The Way You Look Tonight”
ALBUMS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD: Chris Glassman’s Playlist on Spotify
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