Barbara York, How Beautiful; Roger Kellaway, Dr. Martin Luther King, In Memoriam;; John Stevens, Monument; Meyer Kupferman, Sound Objects 1-3; Drew Bonner, Naptown.

Velvet Brown, Tuba; Ron Stabinsky, Piano; Amy Gilreath, Trumpet

Velvet Brown is no ordinary tuba player. This is her fourth disc on Crystal Records, and on it she presents a sequence of premiere recordings.

The first piece, Barbara York’s How Beautiful, is a song for tuba that has clearly gained traction in the tuba community The piano part is dominated by a slow sarabande chordal sequence, over which the tube plays its cantabile line. The title comes from a quotation from the biblical prophet Isaiah (“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good tidings”). The piece is both heavy with grief, and yet seems to hold seeds of hope within it. It is a truly lovely way to start the recital; both Velvet Brown and Ron Stabinsky are most sensitive interpreters.

Roger Kellaway's Dr. Marin Luther King In Memoriam …The first section, subtitled “He Calls to his Children” mixes New Orleans and smooth jazz styles before the section labeled “Rejoice in the Gospel.” Trust me, there’s no missing the shift. The second part, “The March of Freedom” and “Rejoice in the Gospel,” plays with… gestures to create something larger than the sum of its parts. All credit is due to Brown’s mobility here: Those passages at speed can’t be easy on the tuba. The opening of the finale, “The Pathway to Glory,” which moves to “We Shall Overcome” and ends with “Rejoice in Humanity” via “We Shall Overcome!”, is magical. It is not often one hears the tuba as joyful (comedic, yes, though that is a whole different ball game), but that is one of several emotions it is asked to convey here. All credit again is due to Brown here, not least for the final measures where the music goes from what sounds like the very top of the tuba’s range straight down to the very bottom. The piano part sounds fiendish; Stabinsky remains undeterred. This is a fine performance.

John Stevens (b.1951)His Monument lasts around nine minutes. It was commissioned by the tuba virtuoso Roger Bobo and is the most serious work so far in the recital, focused in intent and very tight compositionally. It is another in memoriam, this time for the tuba virtuoso Tommy Johnson (1935–2006). Stevens stated that Monument “conveys a timeless sense of dignity, humanity, and beauty, with an American flavor…

The use of a trumpet in Meyer Kupfermann’s Sound Objects 1–3 brings in a sense of timbral variety. Although there is Kupferman aplenty in the Fanfare Archive, this piece is new.

The parts are broadly equidurational; the first is slow, exploratory, and free. Both trumpet and tuba use mutes to fine effect in this piece. This is another work written for Bobo (in this case, with Thomas Stevens, principal trumpet of the Los Angeles Philharmonic). Jazz informs the second “object,” which is bright, breezy and dissonant. It is perhaps inevitable that the tuba will at some point get a walking bass (it does); the duet between Gilreath and Brown, minus piano, is fabulous. Amy Gilreath is trumpet professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and was a professor at Illinois State University for over 20 years. She, like Brown, is a mistress of her instrument, and the sense of equal dialogue between the two brass instruments is highly involving, to put it mildly.

Drew Bonner's Naptown does not take itself too seriously; and yet it is clear that Brown and Stabinsky approached it with a fine ear for detail. Stabinsky’s clarity of articulation, along with Brown’s agility and perfect intonation, conspire to create an experience that is more than the sum of its parts. At one moment, the music seems to turn into a blues song, and highly effective it is, too.

Colin Clarke Fanfare May/June 2024

“Velvet Brown is one of the best tuba players anywhere.” (Fanfare) “a very expressive player whose tone is focused yet robust and lively in all registers.” (American Record Guide)

It is a pleasure to listen to Brown’s beautiful tuba tone and excellent playing. Kilpatrick (American Record Guide)

The repertoire on Velvet Brown’s fourth recording for Crystal is of such absorbing interest and the playing of such high quality that in a parallel universe she might be the next Sarah Willis – the repertoire is not the same but the adventure is. (Gramophone)

Tubist Velvet Brown has been active not only in her native U.S. but also in international settings. She has made several recordings for the wind- and brass-specialist Crystal Records label; released in 2023. Brown has played jazz in addition to classical music, and several of the composers here nod in that direction. That includes Meyer Kupferman, the composer of the most contemporary-oriented work (and the most difficult one) on the album. Perhaps the most effective piece here is the concluding Naptown (the name refers to the city of Annapolis, composed by Drew Bonner, a tubist who was one of Brown's students. This exuberant piece …brings out Brown's facility in quick runs and her ability to keep them rhythmically clean. She is equally adept in other idioms, such as the broad, inspirational textures of Roger Kellaway's Dr. Martin Luther King In Memoriam and Barbara York's How Beautiful, a memorial for a child who lived only for a short time. Brown is an exceptional tubist, versatile and tonally attractive, whom lovers of brass music should get to know better.

James Manheim, (All Music Review, July 2024)