Guide to the Euphonium Repertoire: The Euphonium Source Book

19. The Euphonium in Jazz

Rich Matteson (1929–1993) was the most noted proponent of the jazz euphonium. He was best known for conducting clinics, directing jazz ensembles, and arranging jazz charts for big band. He studied piano from the ages of three to eighteen. His father was a band director and needed a baritone horn in his school band and had Rich play that instrument. Matteson grew up in Ada, Minnesota, where touring jazz bands would stop at the local fairgrounds . Rich would frequently listen to the famous bands of the day live and on the radio. He attended Augustana College from 1947–1949. In 1950, he joined the Army and was assigned to an Army band in Colorado Springs, Colorado. There he played tuba in concert band and valve trombone in dance band and began writing and arranging for the dance band. He was discharged in 1952 and traveled with a touring band for a short while. Influenced by his father, Matteson then attended to the University of Iowa and studied tuba with Bill Gower. At that time there was no such thing as a baritone or euphonium major. He earned a bachelor of music education in 1955 and taught high school music for two years. In 1957 he decided to move to Las Vegas and try to earn a living as a full-time professional musician. He worked for comedian Ish Kabibble in 1957 and joined the highly regarded Bob Scoby Dixieland Band in 1958 playing tuba and an occasional bass trumpet solo. His tuba was an antique BB
helicon tuba, which he had purchased from a music store in Rock Island, Illinois. He developed a unique style of tuba playing that imitated the sound and feel of a string bass. On September 18, 1959, Matteson joined the Dukes of Dixieland, the most popular and wellpaid Dixieland band in the nation. They played six or seven nights a week at nightclubs, appeared on television shows, and recorded regularly. One of the people he met was Louis Armstrong, with whom he recorded the album Satchmo and the Dukes of Dixieland (1960). This recording session had a great impact on Matteson’s career. When Matteson asked Armstrong how he could play with such emotion (as if an audience was there) during a recording session, Louis replied, “Play for someone you love.” Matteson would use Armstrong’s advice as one of the cornerstones of his clinics in his later years. Matteson felt that students playing for someone they loved, rather than playing for critics or juries, would put the performers at ease and help them concentrate on the sheer pleasure of music making. Matteson passed away in 1993. As of today, no player has emerged that has been as successful in promoting the jazz euphonium as Rich Matteson. Nevertheless, euphonium has still not been accepted as a mainstream jazz instrument. For example, it is not even listed in the miscellaneous instrument category in the annual Downbeat Magazine reader’s poll. There are some world-class performers who double on the instrument, most notably the trombonists John Allred (New York City) and Bill Reichenbach (Los Angeles). Jazz trombone legend Frank Rosolino played I Thought about You on an American bell-front euphonium at a recording session in 1972 for the USAF Serenade in Blue radio show. Jack Teagarden was a Conn instrument clinician toward the end of his life and performed a few tunes per evening on a Conn baritone that was given to him. Teagarden recorded Old Man River on July 1, 1959. Gus Mancuso and Bernard McKinney were the most active euphonium players in the New York City jazz scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s. McKinney appeared as a sideman with Freddie Hubbard, Slide Hampton, Sun Ra, and others. Gus Mancuso recorded some albums under his own name that have recently been re-issued (see Discography). Betty O’Hara (California) was a multi-instrumentalist who played euphonium part-time. She was known on the west coast and performed at many festivals. The euphonium has been used in the recording studios sparingly. The limited use has not started any sort of trend for studio trombonists to always bring a euphonium to the session just in case. 19. The Euphonium in Jazz Marcus Dickman Recommended Course of Study There are many ways to go about becoming more proficient at jazz improvisation. These are recommendations only. Each person should feel free to alter or add anything. Most brass players in the United States...