Ideas

Wynton Marsalis

Interview

At Montreux in 1987, Wynton Marsalis condemns commercial pop culture and defends the transmission of jazz traditions through education and close attention to its masters.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Can jazz performance be taught?

A profile of Charlie Shoemake

By Thomas Stevens

Editorial

Music teaching depends on more than routine: in 1984, Jean-Pierre Mathez argues that living contact with artists keeps transmission open to new generations.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Part 2

Sampling? A hard rality !

By Thomas Stevens

Why pretend to be Mozart?

Reply to Bernhard Krol

Should a cadenza imitate Mozart? Peter Damm argues for stylistic fidelity without imitation—at the heart of a debate with Bernhard Krol.

By Peter Damm

Comments on the First International Brass Congress

Montreux 1976

National styles or personal voice? Roger Bobo finds in Montreux that individuality prevails—yet notes the absence of key traditions.

By Roger Bobo

Part 1

Tubes - Tritones - Theses

By Patrice Sciortino

Editorial

Between disciplined practice and creative folly, musicianship emerges where scales and systems give way to imagination, instinct and the unsettling freedom to think.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Editorial

Mass media, record-industry economics and the return of cornet virtuosity collide in a sharp warning about fashion, manipulation and musical independence.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Why pretend to be Mozart?

The concerto’s cadenza: copy of style — or bold but true?

Should a cadenza imitate the past—or speak in today’s voice? Bernhard Krol questions the tradition of stylistic imitation and argues for cadenzas that bridge past and present with authenticity.

By Bernhard Krol

Scraps of Thoughts and Memories concerning “Passages” for trumpet and strings

Between waiting and movement, Passages reimagines soloist and orchestra—inviting exploration, listening, and the acceptance of the unexpected.

By Victor Fenigstein

Part 2

Tubes - Tritones - Theses

By Patrice Sciortino

Suppose they had an orchestra audition and nobody won?

By Thomas Stevens

Musical Piracy

Plagiarism, Photocopying

Long before digital piracy, publishers and performers were already confronting plagiarism, photocopying and blurred artistic ownership across the brass world.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Composer Interpreter Teacher Student

Clains and demands in musical life today

What is the musician’s role today? Willi Gohl questions creation, teaching, and society—and argues for a more human, free, and living music.

By Willi Gohl

Editorial

Between tradition and innovation: brass players must move beyond routine and embrace new musical directions to remain relevant in the music of tomorrow.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Editorial

An international brass congress exposes a deeper tension between global exchange, American influence and the need for musical cultures to preserve their identity.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Editorial

A life that shaped a century: Jean-Pierre Mathez introduces the extraordinary rise of Maurice André—an artist whose brilliance transformed the modern trumpet.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

A Trombone Martyr

Auguste Léonard de la Tuilerie

A Paris apothecary turned trombone evangelist challenges 19th-century musical habits, imagining the slide trombone as the future voice of harmony.

By Benny Sluchin

Editorial

When careers pause and certainty fades, real progress begins in private, where discipline, friendship and chamber music reshape what it means to be a musician.

By Jean-Pierre Mathez

Yes or no? Beware!

Do we or do we not play transcriptions?

“Transcriptions: yes or no? Beware.” Roger Bobo challenges tubists to rethink repertoire, taste, and tradition in a bold call for musical judgment and artistic freedom.

By Roger Bobo

Montreux 1976 - First international brass congress

Montreux 1976: beyond the spectacle. Between virtuosity, ego, and isolation, Alfred Willener questions the very meaning of the brass world.

By Alfred Willener

Serious Music this Side of the Ghetto

Between Darmstadt serialism and neo-tonality, the place of serious music in society is questioned through Berg, Schönberg and the post-war avant-garde.

By Rolf Urs Ringger

Individuality and Uniformity in Brass Players

As international standards reshape brass playing, musical individuality risks giving way to imitation, leaving tradition, ensemble work and personal conviction at stake.

By Hans-Joachim Drechsler