Since their inaugural season in 1993, Rhythm & Brass has lived up to the ideal of a musical presentation that is not bound by time, geography or culture. With the unique ability to incorporate influences as divergent as Josquin Des Prez, Pink Floyd, John Coltrane, Johann Sebastian Bach, and of course Duke Ellington, Rhythm & Brass searches for the commonality in these influences and fearlessly weaves them all into a single concert experience.
While maintaining a full touring schedule, Rhythm & Brass has also performed at numerous special events including a 1994 New York concert debut at Carnegie Recital Hall with celebrated jazz trumpeter Randy Brecker. Commissions have been premiered at Chicago's Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic and the national convention of the Music Educator's National Conference. R&B has also been featured at the New York Brass Conference, the International Trumpet Guild Conference, the Raphael Mendez Brass Institute, Kentucky's Great American Brass Band Festival, the National Trumpet Competition and the National Association of Music Merchants Convention in Los Angeles. Internationally, Rhythm & Brass has concertized in Canada, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the Virgin Islands and will travel to Europe during the summer of 1999. R&B has toured Japan three times and looks forward to returning to the Middle East in March of 2000.
Song & Dance (1994), the group's first CD on d'Note Records, is an immensely versatile program of works from the 17th century composer Samuel Scheidt to the World Premiere recording of Dance Suite by Leonard Bernstein, his last composed work. Their second album, Time in September (1995), includes original jazz compositions by R&B members and features award winning guitarist Gene Bertoncini as well as a commissioned work by the Grammy Nominated composer, Maria Schneider. Christmas Time is Here (1996) was hailed by the national press as one of the most creative recordings for the holiday season. R&B's most recent project More Money Jungle…Ellington Explorations (1998), celebrates the centenary (1999) of one of America's most significant composers and musical ambassadors, Duke Ellington. The recording is distributed on the Koch Jazz label and was describe by Entertainment Weekly as "…smart and deliciously off-centered…" and was named by the New York Times as "Album of the Week" (May 7, 1999). Rhythm & Brass was featured on "BET on Jazz" (Black Entertainment Television) in the Fall of 1999 performing several segments of the Ellington album.
The members of Rhythm & Brass maintain an active involvement in music education. Of particular interest is their promotion of chamber music in the schools. Their book, Team Play: a Guide to making Chamber Music (Universal Edition), is a method by which educator and student alike can take part in the joys of chamber music. Rhythm & Brass has given workshops and lectures on this subject at the Music Educator's National Conference and the Mid-West International Band and Orchestra Clinic as well as authoring an article for the Instrumentalist, one of the most important music education publications. The group is often found in residence at major universities throughout the nation as well as summer music camps and festivals such as Bands of America and the Brevard Music Center.
