The latest album by Gerry along with the book containing ten of the album's duets
Purchase the written duets and listen to the album for free.
Arrivo is Italian, and roughly translates to “I arrive”. This references my first solo recording, Departure. Starting back in 2008, I began my recording journey there, and now we arrive at a new destination. It’s also a nod to my arrival in Santa Fe, my new home, after 27 years living and working in St. Louis.
The first composition was a project that took place over many years, starting with the first piece on that Departure album. But the Bach Vivace is just one movement of a three movement work. On a later recording I did with Mr. Doug Yeo, entitled Fratres, we recorded the second of the three Bach movements, the Largo.
I was able to record the the last movement while I was still in St. Louis, and now we were complete. Mike Lake was kind enough to add some harpsichord on the Largo I did with Doug, and that made for a real different sound between the movements. Instead of adding more harpsichord, I rerecorded the Largo, sans keyboard. Now we’ve done, three movements, all in different places, at different times.
Late in my career I’ve started creating arrangements, mostly for trombone quartet. Along the way, I did write a few original duets for trombone, mostly for my students to play. Fast forward to life in New Mexico and retirement, and all kinds of inspiration came into my head.
I started with three duets to play with my colleagues at the Santa Fe Trombone Summit, back in 2021. As time went by, I got more ideas, often starting with a title. Sometimes having the name in mind would get the tune flowing. I think of these as a kind of homage to all the Tommy Pederson duets I played over the years, tunes with such names as, A Hog in the Fog, and The Vacuum Cleaner. I’ve got a long way to go to catch up to Tommy, but it’s a start. Whether you listen to them, play thru them, or both, I hope you find them enjoyable. And be warned, there’s always a chance more could follow….
$19.95
I had a few arrangements, and one original quartet for trombones that I’d never had recorded with my St. Louis colleagues. The opportunity presented itself to enlist the trombones playing in the Santa Fe Opera in the summer to get those pieces “in the can”. Additionally, I’d written three duets for the Santa Fe Trombone Summit of 2021, and this gave us the chance to get those recorded as well. So now the tune list is starting to grow.
Somehow I kept getting ideas for duets, and the list kept growing until I had ten. But now, the Opera gang is back scattered across the country. What to do?
Some of my old friends would know, back another lifetime ago I played some tenor trombone as well as bass, so maybe this was my chance to dust off the “high chops” and record both parts. Back into the Kitchen Sink Studio I went.
It was a challenge after the many years, but also fun. It brought back a few memories, and I’m glad I choose to do it this way. You see, most of this project was done for my own musical enjoyment, and continued musical growth. These days there is little need for me to produce any more recordings. I’ve made plenty But from the standpoint of keeping me exploring and creating a musical life outside the symphony orchestra, well this does that quite well.
Though the train has stopped at the rail yard and we take a moment here, there is every possibility that the journey is not quite over. Is there another destination up ahead, some new places to discover? Only time will tell….. but my bag stays packed, I’m ready to go.
Listen to the full abum...
This album cannot be bought. (THAT’S how generous I am!) Listen to it below or download the full MP3s here.