"No Home No" by Rita Payés & WDR BIG BAND, Reaction/Analysis by Musician/Producer

[@paulkossak7761]

Been following Rita for a few years. Multi talented artist. Besides playing the trombone she has an amazing voice.

[@arminsteinke2301]

What a talent Rita is. Another top shelf audio/video production by WDR Big Band and audio/video crew. And Jeff, for a non brass player your observations of embouchure and stylistic of Ritas trombone playing is on point. Impressive! You are a profound Music Master.

[@StrateleStudios]

Ah man thank you so much my friend 😊👏

[@pepevisedo7304]

Great and insightful analysis, Jeff. The WDR from Köln (Germany) is currently, in my opinion, the most solid and brilliant Big Band in Europe. A band full of excellent musicians. He frequently invites established jazz figures and young people who have especially stood out to his sessions. As for Rita, she has many musical faces and is credible in all of them. His technique and instrumental flavor are fantastic, with those details that you tell in your analysis,

[@askelehrmann7636]

you should listen to the tiny desk concert that just released with her! It's incredible

[@richardtodd7295]

WDR is a public radio station in Germany. Not only do they support a great jazz band, but a full Symphony orchestra and chorus! When I see WDR, I am almost always pleased by what I hear. This was no exception. I love the sound of a big band, and this one is great. Rita Payes composed the piece and then played beautifully! Thank you for sharing this bit of big band jazz!

[@paulfredericksen6565]

Ah, trombonist here! Really enjoyed your observations, Jeff! Slide vs valve - it's a common double because in a band or wind ensemble, baritione horns and euphoniums are the same fingerings as the valve trombone, and are lovely instruments to play. Not sure if I could call one easier than the other, but you can only ever be perfectly in tune with the slide. Valves are a compromise. Having said that, the slide also allows you to wander way, way off the pitch, so there's your double edged sword, I guess. Now you need to check out Rita's other musical personas, she is a great singer, as you know, and an absolute chameleon. She just a week ago did a Tiny Desk concert, it was great! Her husband and her mother were both playing guitars in the band. My favorite performances of hers are more flamenco songs, she and her mother cover Alfonsina y el Mar beautifully. kzbin.info/www/bejne/eWnaoZmHatWXnNE

[@StrateleStudios]

Very interesting, thank you! 😃👏👏👏🫶

[@fliprim]

Rita composed this piece and the conductor arranged it. The point here is that Rita now is going everywhere in music. Great straight ahead big-band jazz like here , wild experimental Jazz with Kaleidoscope at Recoletos Jazz Madrid, Whitmanesque songs to her own string quartet music like early Bartok (Tantas Cosas), classic ballads, milonga, boleros, Sephardic folk song. We Ritaphiles fall out over her not doing enough of the stuff we particularly like, but the truth is she seems nourished by so much, none of us could begrudge her her extraordinary journey. Her philosophy of life as a series of potential gifts, the journey not the destination, lies behind her third album De Camino al Camino (The way to the road.) Paul Heller's solo was magnificent, one of his best ever. Rita's trombone playing is unconventional in that it is low pressure, because she can get lip tension and length and slide position exactly right at the start of the note. She can play as softly as she often sings with none of that razzing, fat, fake-note tone some players need to conceal a mismatch. She plays two thirds the way up a large mouthpiece which gives her the ability to better control lip tension and length, either pushing the mouthpiece down with a finger (shorter length, higher tension, higher pitch) or pointing down more with a head nod for the reverse. Thanks for noticing Rita, Jeff. I think she's proving to be increasingly important. Subscribed.

[@chanelops]

Thanks for another great comment, fliprim. And I didn't know you knew so much about 'bones! (but glad you do)

[@fliprim]

@@chanelops Decades ago I briefly taught the physics of sound production to a mixed bunch of musicians at the Guildhall in London. I wanted to make the instruction match an image of the actual physics rather than the usual just so stories teachers often used. I don't think it makes a huge difference as most mental models of how you use your muscles to get a result get adapted by experience and its just a tool to allow you to practice by thinking, which is how much training is achieved. Sportsfolk imagining their training can get almost half the benefit of actual physical training. However, for musicians I suspected a more realistic mental model coupled to an understanding of dumb physics (vibration modes, acoustic impedances, system coupling etc.) might smooth and finesse the process. Afterthought: Have you seen Rita play a plastic trombone? (Instebilidad with La Blanco) I thought its quality was amazing for a near toy.

[@kellycoleman715]

She plays a mean guitar and sings too!

[@martinbreslow1401]

The entire concert is available under the title The Spanish Trombone - kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5yxfomXm9Cbq80si=6ykLU9zR3jogcC-L

[@davidlevine1697]

i love it when they go far out on a limb and you think they're never going to find their way back. they just keep swinging. this would make great road trip music, what a cruise. ☮❤🙏

[@StrateleStudios]

@@davidlevine1697 👏👏👏

[@pepevisedo7304]

As for the title of the tune, it is not in English but in Catalan (one of the 5 co-official languages ​​in Spain). "No home no" means "No man, no"

[@alanlevin167]

Further comments: Valve trombone allows trumpet players and baritone horn players to play trombone. It helps when there are not too many 'bone players around. Slide trombone shares the technical issues with intonation with orchestral strings (including string bass), also fretless electric bass and dobro and pedal steel guitars. In all of these instruments, if you don't listen and correct yourself, you'll be off pitch.

[@michaelgwfrogwelge]

The first thing a trombonist learns is the slide positions---playing them again and again until it starts becoming natural. Valve trombone is for playing bebop that you can't move the slide fast enough to play normally--- a cheat. (Unless you're a Bob Brookmeyer, who admitted that it was a cheat, but he was so good it didn't matter.)

[@KennethMatsutani]

I don't think the tone is as rich with the valve trombone as it is with the slide trombone.

[@alanlevin167]

You finally discovered Joan Chamorro's 'kids' . I'm going to check out your comments on Eva Fernandez next. Anyway, Rita is on her way to a Latin Grammy, I am certain. She was just flown to New York for an NPR 'Tiny Desk' Concert---kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6q2c4N5oKysr7ssi=I3zw-Sg3z8ZALJuGh with her entire family band and a Mexican string quartet: kzbin.info/www/bejne/kIeolnSumt50hrcsi=RWrDCliLrDhvtqY9 Anyway, have you checked out Rita and her mom? Try this, it has 7.6 M views and about a dozen covers by other people: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6q2c4N5oKysr7ssi=I3zw-Sg3z8ZALJuG. Another group to check out is the Sant Andreu Jazz Band, where Rita learned her jazz chops: They are doing soul here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5zJqaGAhpiio6Msi=7ul1iblci3Z_2PuE with Rita on lead vocal. Here is an earlier version of this band playing for a swing-dance festival. When the 10 year old gets up for the trumpet solo, you know somethings going on! Of course, there is then Andrea Motis: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hGjXkmRtpKepaNksi=pLrKtvX10Z6NMq9f Start here, when she meets J S Bach. Have fun and let's see what you think.

[@fliprim]

The Tiny Desk concert was a great success. I urge all to sample it. But I would also ask folk to note this 15minute piece to understand the breadth of her musical tastes. Miguel Villar on sax plays a key role in the jazziest track on De Camino al Camino. kzbin.info/www/bejne/r2Xao2WujJ6NkLM