“TBC Music” (PDF) from the TBC Brass Band album, To Be Continued.

Please contact TBC Brass Band regarding official sheet music.

Here, we get two trombone solos for the price of one, however due of the album’s limited release and insufficient metadata on streaming platforms, it is unclear as to which trombonists are featured on this version.  According to trombonist Edward “Juicy” Jackson, the entire album was recorded in one studio session, much like their previous live albums, so we have an idea of the personnel involved (Jackson, Joseph Maize Jr. & Devin Vance) but can’t say with certainty whose playing we are studying.

Both trombone solos make use of some interesting ideas, given the room to explore within two choruses before the background horns enter to support the third chorus.  The first solo relies on arpeggios and the blues scale over the Bb minor riff but then explores the minor melodic ideas over the Eb minor change.  In the second solo, the intent appears to be on a grittier tone and the syncopated punches.  The chord change allows for some brief tension to build and resolve, and then also teases a couple diminished patterns over the Bb minor, as well.  Both trombonists wail in the “gospel shout” range when the backgrounds enter by squeaking out those high D’s and Eb’s.

Here’s a YouTube video of the incident where TBC were shut down by the New Orleans Police in 2010:

Recommended viewing: From The Mouthpiece On Back. Dir. Jason DaSilva and Colleen O'Halloran. Perf. To Be Continued Brass Band. Awl Films, 2008. DVD.