Last thursday, I played with tuba player Patrick Votrian, an American tuba player living in Utrecht. It was a very good experience. We played the repertoire of our LBH CD. Patrick is a beast of a player, with a super groovy time and sound. That gave the band a totally different feel, which was a strange experience, because I thought the sound of the tuba determined the sound of the band, but that is only partly true. It is the sound of Daniel Herskedal that really determines (one third, hehe) of the typical sound of my trio. Patrick did a hell of a job, and he played his ass off, I really liked it, but it didn't sound like the trio I have with Daniel. Which made me think again of what makes bands sound the way they do. It is the bandmembers personality more than the instrument they play, I guess, at least if you assume that somebody's sound comes from ones personality, which I believe to be true. So, that brings up the question, if Daniel played the violin, would the band sound more like my trio than if Patrick played the tuba again? It's almost philosophy.
I had the same experience with my other trio. Trumpet, guitar, double bass. This trio also sounds totally different with another guitar or bass player. I sound different from the illustrious Chet Baker Trio, same instruments, different personality. That is something very obvious of course, but last thursday, it struck me, I think because the tuba is such a prominent instrument, I assumed that that determined the total sound of the band and made it what it was, but that just isn't true. I learn every day!
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