The perfect tuba : forging fulfillment from the bass horn, band, and hard work / Sam Quinones.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Quinones, Sam, 1958- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Tubists--United States--Biography.

Tubists.

Tuba--History.

Tuba.

Marching bands--Texas--Roma.

Marching bands.

Bell, William, 1902-1971.

Bell, William.

Jacobs, Arnold.

Genre:

Creative nonfiction.

Physical Description:

ix, 370 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm

Place of Publication:

New York, NY ; London, UK : Bloomsbury Publishing Inc., 2025

Summary:

"The tuba's sound is mighty, emerging, it seems, from deep in the human body. Very little music has, up until recently, been written to play to its strengths. The best the tuba seems to promise is a seat at the back of the band. No stadium shows, no Internet adulation. And yet, this horn-the youngest of all brass instruments-has captured the hearts of an inspired group of musicians ever since its invention in 1835. In The Perfect Tuba, Sam Quinones embarks on a trek to get to know American tubists. He tells the astounding stories of two men who set out to replicate the "perfect tuba," an instrument made by York & Sons in the 1930s and never since equaled; of Big Bill Bell, whose 1950s album rearranged the tuba landscape; and of Arnold Jacobs, a tuba guru at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, who studied the physiology of breathing and offered rune-like nuggets of wisdom to his legions of students. Quinones also takes us through the tuba scenes of New Orleans, Orlando, Knoxville, New York City, and, most importantly, Roma, Texas, a dusty town in the Rio Grande Valley where a visionary high school marching band director fashioned a program that now regularly wins state championships and sends its students off to college. After nearly a decade on the front lines of America's battle with drug addiction, Sam Quinones delivers another story of our nation, this time brought together by the transformative power of shared joy and humble achievement."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

A word on tubas

Overture. Willie begins

My tuba trek

The perfect tuba

Bill Bell

H. E. Nutt I

Rio Grande Valley: Cortinas in Crystal City

H. E. Nutt II

Tuba Woodstock

First movement. The man who tried to corner the tuba market

Arnold Jacobs I

The perfect tuba: Carpenter

The perfect tuba: Treece

Rio Grande Valley: Roma

Rio Grande Valley: Cortinas takes over

Willie and Eugene

Willie and Weber

H. E. Nutt III

Second movement. The man who made the tuba dangerous

Arnold Jacobs II

The perfect tuba: sine waves

The perfect tuba: Zig

Rio Grande Valley: neckties

Rio Grande Valley: all-state

Rio Grande Valley: J.R.

Orlando I: Willie and the mouse

Orlando II: Willie and Sam Rivers

Third movement. The man who built a tuba hall on his house

The perfect tuba: Zig's bell

Rio Grande Valley: Juan and Frank

Rio Grande Valley: Roma gets ready

Rio Grande Valley: Lopez High

Weber's kids: Roosevelt

Tuba Fats in New Orleans: in love

Tuba Fats in New Orleans: at rest

Finale. The tuba player who had to quit

Arnold Jacobs III: Brian

The perfect tuba: Zig's last horn

Rio Grande Valley: Roma ascends

Rio Grande Valley: Treviño at Lopez High

Rio Grande Valley: Symphony no. 6

Willie retires

Rio Grande Valley: Tuba Christmas

Encore

Coda.

ISBN:

9781639735488

1639735488

OCLC:

1518568656

Publisher Number:

90104032086