{"id":16149,"date":"2016-12-15T23:56:12","date_gmt":"2016-12-16T06:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=16149"},"modified":"2016-12-16T16:58:21","modified_gmt":"2016-12-16T23:58:21","slug":"video-web-exclusive-interview-bill-reichenbach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2016\/12\/video-web-exclusive-interview-bill-reichenbach\/","title":{"rendered":"VIDEO &#038; WEB-EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BILL REICHENBACH"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>VIDEO FEATURE &amp; WEB-EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h1>Musician:<strong> \u00a0BILL REICHENBACH<\/strong><\/h1>\n<h3>Music Video: \u201c<strong>Carols From the Bells<\/strong>\u201d<\/h3>\n<h3>Musicians: Trombones-L.A.<\/h3>\n<h3>Non-profit Benefit: Hearts of Music Fund<\/h3>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WDb3eNB5YhQ\" width=\"660\" height=\"371\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy idea,\u201d says Bill Reichenbach, \u201cwas to create this non-profit fund called the Hearts of Music Fund\u2014for musicians who don\u2019t have insurance. Back then, there were a lot of musicians who didn\u2019t have insurance. And sadly there\u2019s a good possibility starting next year, there will be a lot of musicians who won\u2019t have insurance again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reichenbach is a master of brass instruments. Critics have said that he \u201chas surpassed all the expectations for the bass trombone and redefined new ones.\u201d He\u2019s an incredibly talented jazz trombonist and well-respected composer best known as a session musician for television, films, cartoons, and commercials. You can hear his tenor trombone on Michael Jackson\u2019s \u201cThriller\u201d and his bass trombone on numerous Hollywood films, commercials and albums\u2014including a solo with Buddy Rich on \u201cWave.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In 1981, he recorded a solo album, <em>Special Edition<\/em>, as the Bill Reichenbach Quartet featuring some of the most talented and respected musicians\u2014Peter Erskine on drums, Biff Hannon on piano, and Jimmy Johnson on bass. The album reached number 10 on the national jazz radio play lists.<\/p>\n<p>William Frank \u201cBill\u201d Reichenbach Jr. started his jazz career while still in high school in Takoma Park, Maryland\u2014just outside Washington, D.C. As one of the most sought-after studio musicians, he sometimes still ventures out of the commercial music world to play jazz. It\u2019s in the blood that runs through him. His father, also named Bill Reichenbach, was Charlie Byrd\u2019s regular drummer from 1962-73. The younger Reichenbach sat in with his father\u2019s group at the famous Georgetown club \u201cBlues Alley\u201d where he played with jazz luminaries like Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Clark Terry, Urbie Green, Milt Jackson and others. While studying at Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, with Emory Remington, one of the most well-known and influential trombone educators in history, Reichenbach continued to dig deeper into the jazz world. He was the featured jazz trombonist with the Eastman Jazz Ensemble when he started playing with Chuck Mangione.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16162\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-1-playing.jpg\" alt=\"bill-reichenbach-1-playing\" width=\"660\" height=\"452\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-1-playing.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-1-playing-300x205.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/>After graduation, Reichenbach joined the Buddy Rich Band and was immediately featured because of his ability to play jazz on the bass trombone. In 1975, he moved to L.A. were he started playing the jazz tenor trombone chair on Toshiko Akiyoshi\u2019s big band. At the same time, he was also the solo jazz trombone player on Don Menza\u2019s big band. As a studio player, he has played on thousands of records and motion pictures, and countless TV shows and commercials.<\/p>\n<p>The technically skilled Reichenbach has recorded with Quincy Jones, Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson, Elton John, Toto, the Yellowjackets, Seawind, Frank Sinatra, Buddy Rich, Tony Bennett, David Foster, Aretha Franklin, Al Jarreau, Earth Wind &amp; Fire, Dr. John, Ray Charles, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Don Menza, Tom Scott, and so many others.<\/p>\n<p>As a writer and arranger, Reichenbach has worked on records for many well-known musicians including Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Aretha Franklin, Dr. John and Diana Ross. He has brought this history, knowledge and expertise to fresh, new arrangements of classic Christmas carols in an album released last month called <em>More Christmas Carols From the Bells<\/em>. Here, Reichenbach has gathered some of the most talented trombone session players in Hollywood to create an album that sets the tone for a festive, reverent and jazzy Holiday season.<\/p>\n<p>We talked with Reichenbach about his creative process, how he approaches composing and arranging, and his idea of creating a non-profit fund to help Musicians in need. It is our hope that during this season of giving, the community of musicians and music lovers will help support his efforts.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>BILL REICHENBACH Web-Exclusive Interview<\/strong><\/h3>\n<h3><strong>with\u00a0<em>M Music &amp; Musicians<\/em>\u00a0magazine publisher, Merlin David<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>How did the idea of interpreting\/arranging Holiday carols?<\/strong><br \/>\nThrough some Trombone events, I met someone and we became friends. One year, maybe 1998, he said, \u201cHow would you like it if we came to your house and played Christmas carols for you.\u201d As it turned out, he could only get a couple of guys to come over with him, and they had arrangements for four players, so I had to play anyway. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) We had invited a few neighbors, so there were 16 people\u2014friends of ours, and we had some food. The people were so taken by the music. And it was music that he just had\u2014that somebody had brought with them. The next year, I invited more friends. But I still hadn\u2019t gotten the idea of writing\/arranging Christmas carols. But this time we had about 16 trombone players in the back patio of our home\u2014which had been renovated after the big 1994 Northridge earthquake. There were 50 people milling about in an area near my office. Everyone was jammed in one small place, and we played. And it was another smash hit.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How did it evolve from those first few years?<br \/>\n<\/strong>I immediately started thinking about the next year. I thought, \u2018I can write some stuff.\u2019 So I wrote 15 simple arrangements of Christmas carols\u2014the first ones that come to mind. We had about 25 players that time, and then maybe 30 players. Then it started to grow\u2014and we moved it to our front yard\u2014because we just had our front courtyard completed.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How did you get the idea to create a Music Fund?<br \/>\n<\/strong>Around that same time, my wife Fran, our daughter Anah and I had taken some Landmark courses (you know, they are like the outgrowth of EST\u2014only just a little easier on your body. <em>(Laughs<\/em>) The third course had this idea about leadership and organizing, and everyone had to come up with a project. My idea was to create this non-profit fund called the Hearts of Music Fund\u2014for musicians who don\u2019t have insurance. Back then, there were a lot of musicians who didn\u2019t have insurance. And sadly there\u2019s a good possibility starting next year, there will be a lot of musicians who won\u2019t have insurance again. It\u2019s scary. Then a friend of mine said \u201cI go to this church where they have a long history of inviting trombone players. We could probably do a concert, play the Christmas carols, and take up an offering\u2014and make some money for this Fund.\u201d I immediately started writing more arrangements so that I\u2019d have a whole concert worth of music. And this year will be the 12<sup>th<\/sup> concert at the Emmanuel Lutheran Church in North Hollywood.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many arrangements do you have?<\/strong><br \/>\nI think I\u2019ve got about 40 arrangements, and they\u2019re getting harder. The first ones I wrote were almost like you\u2019d find them in a church hymnal. And maybe they\u2019d have a little intro. Then I started getting into the idea of some of these other standard songs that are jazzy. And those I\u2019d have to write full arrangements. And on this new project we have \u201cO Holy Night\u201d which evaded me for a long time until I figured out how to treat it. It\u2019s sort of rhythmic, with drums and bass. And that gave me inspiration to try to write more creative longer arrangements that stand alone.<\/p>\n<p><strong>So you\u2019re not just making the arrangements harder just to stump the incredibly talented 35 or so trombone players on stage?<\/strong><br \/>\nWell, I\u2019m not deliberately trying to stump the players. (<em>Laughs<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Is there one carol that has always inspired you?<br \/>\n<\/strong>Ever since I was in second grade at JNA School in Takoma Park, Maryland, we had this great choir director, Mrs. Quade, and I learned so much music from her when I was in elementary school that I didn\u2019t even realize until I got into college. She had a really good choir, and a pretty good big choir, and she also had a choir of first and second graders. When they did Christmas songs, it was good. And the first thing I ever performed as a musician was playing the drums for \u201cThe Little Drummer Boy.\u201d I was in second grade\u2014with that group. And there are pictures of it somewhere that my uncle took. My brother Kurt probably knows where they are. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) As I think about it, \u201cOh Come All Ye Faithful\u201d was one of those traditional Christmas carols that still resonates with me the most.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Are there Holiday movies that continue to inspire you?<\/strong><br \/>\nOh yeah, there are a couple of them. There are various Christmas carol movies, and I\u2019m not sure which one I like the best. But there\u2019s also <em>The Bishop\u2019s Wife<\/em>. I love that piece of music so much that I took it off the movie. And there are some newer ones like <em>A Christmas Story<\/em>\u2014and I remember that one when it was new. And then, of course, <em>It\u2019s a Wonderful Life<\/em> has always been so inspiring. Jimmy Stewart is so fantastic in that movie, and the story is so great. As a liberal, I see that movie, and it\u2019s talking my language. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) And unfortunately the theme of the movie still resonates, and I think we\u2019re going to have a big taste of that eventually if things go the way they look like they\u2019re going to go.<\/p>\n<p><strong>You also did the music for some Christmas movies?<br \/>\n<\/strong>I played on a couple of Christmas movies\u2014<em>Scrooged<\/em>, <em>National Lampoon\u2019s Christmas Vacation<\/em>, and about 1,000 movies.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us how the new 2016 album <em>More Carols From the Bells<\/em> differs from the 2007 <em>Carols From the Bells<\/em>\u2014or is it simply an extension of it?<br \/>\n<\/strong>You can think of it as an extension because basically I ran out of the first album. So I was going to have to get another pressing of that album, but I still wanted to record all the new arrangements I\u2019ve done since that first album. Most of them are a little more involved. As it turned out, for purely financial reasons trying to be efficient with the money, we were able to make it a two-volume set. So it contains the first 25 tunes we recorded, and then these 15 new arrangements. So there are 40 tunes in this new two-volume set. Yeah, there\u2019s a lot of stuff. By this time, when I\u2019m starting to think about writing Christmas carol charts, I\u2019m looking deeply into what I want to do\u2014maybe \u201cThe Nutcracker Suite\u201d or something. (<em>Laughs<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>The trombone community is a unique group of musicians.<br \/>\n<\/strong>Well, the trombone world is kind of a collegial group. We joke about it sometimes\u2014we couldn\u2019t imagine a choir of accordions. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) Although, when I was growing up, every time they did one of those New Year\u2019s Day parades from Philadelphia, there was a band called the Mummers, and they dressed up in full Native American regalia, with the big hats and the feathers, and they marched down the street\u2014all 150 of them. And the instrumentation of the band was saxophones, glockenspiels, accordions and banjos. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) They always played \u201cThe World is Waiting for the Sunrise.\u201d That was their tune. And honestly, I\u2019d never heard a sound like that before\u2014or since. And I\u2019ve mentioned it to a few people, and every once in a while someone will go, \u2018Oh yeah, I remember that!\u201d (<em>Laughs<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><strong><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-16159 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-3-mouthpieces-227x300.jpg\" alt=\"bill-reichenbach-3-mouthpieces\" width=\"227\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-3-mouthpieces-227x300.jpg 227w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-3-mouthpieces-300x395.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-3-mouthpieces.jpg 660w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 227px) 100vw, 227px\" \/>Tell us how you got all these wonderful trombone players to be involved in this worthy cause?<br \/>\n<\/strong>When I went to college [Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY]\u2014that was my first exposure to a trombone Choir. And my teacher, Emory Remington, was like the godfather of symphony orchestra trombone players in America\u2014or the world\u2014for a quite a while. When I got into school in the late 60s, he had students in so many of the major symphony orchestras in the world\u2014they went on to become the big teachers of the next generation. He had been in Eastman since the 20s. When I got there in the 60s, he had already been there for 45 years. So he was this legend. He taught a lot of students\u2014he kept busy. He had about 28-30 students every year. He taught full time, five days a week, and maybe even a couple of lessons on Saturday\u2014because that\u2019s just want he wanted to do. So every Monday at 10 o\u2019clock, we had trombone choir. There\u2019d be 30 or so of us, and we\u2019d start off with Bach chorales\u2014which are very similar to the Christmas carols. And we would play through this. We used to joke that the tempo of the majority of what we played in that group was similar to his heartbeat (<em>laughs<\/em>)\u2014because he was like 70 something, and for us in college, he was this old guy, and he would sing with us while we played. But we really got into that thing of what a trombone choir really sounded like. So when I came out here to California, every once in a while we tried to do something. And there are a couple of different groups here in Southern California. Like this Saturday, I\u2019m going to be the grand marshal for Anaheim Trombone Day. I\u2019m not conducting any of my own music. But there\u2019s a group down there called Bones West, and it was started by an older student of my teacher from Eastman\u00a0and\u00a0a guy named George Roberts, who was a great studio bass trombone player out here in LA. Their whole musical direction is a little different. There might be 100 trombone players down there playing, including little kids. I rehearsed with them a couple of weeks ago and the median age of the group at that point was probably five years older than me\u2014a lot of white hair. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) Fran and Anah are going to go down there with me and sell these new fundraiser CDs. They\u2019ll have a big poster promoting it for us. So that will be kinda neat because it\u2019s a big outdoor thing for the city of Anaheim, and there\u2019ll be a lot of people there. We are just trying to create awareness.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How is Hearts of Music Fund helping musicians?<\/strong><br \/>\nWe raise money, and we never really have a ton of money, but we\u2019ve had $10K or $12K in the bank at any given time\u2014over the majority of the time. Basically, it\u2019s an informal thing\u2014from word of mouth. We hear about somebody going through financial problems\u2014based on health-related issues. Either they were waiting to have some kind of surgery, and couldn\u2019t afford it, or in one case we heard of a woman whose husband just died, and she was in that strange place between figuring out what little bit his estate was going to be able to do for her\u2014and we paid her mortgage payment for one month and kept her in her house. I ran into a jazz tenor player this morning at the Union when I was running to a meeting. I didn\u2019t even recognize him, and he came up to me and hugged me. As I was walking away, I heard him talking to someone behind me and he said, \u201cThat guy\u2014that guy helped me out.\u201d We gave him enough money to have some kind of minor surgery when he didn\u2019t have any insurance. It\u2019s a very informal thing. Now we have five people on the board\u2014four musicians and Fran. It just makes it easier for her to be on the board because she ends up doing a lot of the business\u2014the legal side of things.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-16157\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-2-The-Eastwood-Scoring-Stage-Warner-Bros.-Studios.jpg\" alt=\"bill-reichenbach-2-the-eastwood-scoring-stage-warner-bros-studios\" width=\"660\" height=\"308\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-2-The-Eastwood-Scoring-Stage-Warner-Bros.-Studios.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-2-The-Eastwood-Scoring-Stage-Warner-Bros.-Studios-300x140.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>How do you work with the Union?<\/strong><br \/>\nRight now, there are two of us on the board at the Union, so we\u2019re like a backstop. The union has a couple of emergency funds that they can give out\u2014smaller amounts because they are limited by the union. And then if somebody is in dire need, the secretary in that particular office of the union taps us on the shoulder and asks us if there\u2019s anything we can do to help. For the last about eight months, we\u2019ve been down financially because we went through a little thing with our 501(c)(3) which is so complicated that a normal human can\u2019t do it\u2014unless you\u2019re an attorney. It turns out they didn\u2019t like the way we were dotting the i\u2019s. So they let us lapse, and getting it fixed cost us a few thousand dollars out of the fund\u2019s money to get it legal again. So, basically we\u2019ve been waiting for this period of Christmastime to kind of throw more money into the bank so we can go back online and see if we can do anything for anybody. We are definitely looking for funds, and hope this new CD will raise awareness\u2014and money. People can go to the HeartsofMusicFund.org, and there are pictures of some of the concerts, and people can contribute. There\u2019s a PayPal button.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is your vision for this Fund? And how can the music community rally around it to make it bigger?<br \/>\n<\/strong>I\u2019m not thinking giant money. But if we were able to keep $25K or $30K at all times, we would be in a good position\u2014and we wouldn\u2019t have to say \u2018No\u2019 to anybody. We\u2019re not going to be able to put anybody through major surgery, but what we usually try to do is to help somebody with a grand or two to fill that gap. Because we can keep it informal within the board and talk things out and examine the need, it makes it an easy situation for musicians who are reaching out. Obviously, there are limits to how far we can go with it, but that\u2019s how much money we have. So if we had more money, we\u2019d be less limited in our ability to help.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us about some of the amazing musicians on this new CD\u2014like working with the incomparable Peter Erskine.<br \/>\n<\/strong>Peter and I have been great friends ever since the early 80s. I actually met Peter when I worked on my first jazz album, <em>Quartet<\/em>. We recorded it in 1981 and released it in 1984. It was with Jimmy Johnson, the bass player, and Biff Hannon who is a piano player I went to school with. I believe I met Peter through Biff. He was instantaneously one of the greatest drummers I\u2019d ever played with\u2014and I\u2019d already played with Buddy Rich and Steve Gadd. And we became friends, and he was connected with Jaco (Pastorius) through Weather Report. So I ended up doing Jaco\u2019s <em>Word of Mouth<\/em> band. We did recordings here in LA, and then we went to Japan for a tour. And they did a recording of one of the concerts over there. Jaco was an unusual guy to work with. That\u2019s a long story\u2014you and I can talk about that just on our own. (<em>Laughs<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-16156\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-4-conducting.jpg\" alt=\"bill-reichenbach-4-conducting\" width=\"330\" height=\"305\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-4-conducting.jpg 330w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-4-conducting-300x277.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 330px) 100vw, 330px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us about your work with Michael Jackson.<\/strong><br \/>\nThere was one time when I was actually in the limo with Michael. I got hired to write a string arrangement for a tune called \u201cMuscles\u201d that he wrote for Diana Ross. Jerry Hey would normally have been the guy to write it because he did all of Michael\u2019s arrangements. But Jerry was in Europe or something, and he gave Michael my name\u2014which was very unusual for Jerry to do. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) This was before Michael had the place in Neverland. He had a big mansion off Ventura Blvd. I went there and got to the gate of the property, and the guy there says, \u201cLet me call.\u201d And it turns out Michael is having dinner with Yul Brynner. So the guy says, \u201cWell, you can wait here at the gate.\u201d (<em>Laughs<\/em>) Now this was for a string session that\u2019s supposed to happen later that evening\u2014and I hadn\u2019t heard the chart yet. I\u2019m supposed to write the arrangement, and I\u2019m waiting for Michael and Yul to finish dinner. Finally, after about 40 minutes, I\u2019m looking at my watch and we\u2019ve already gone past the time when the session\u2019s supposed to start. The string players are already gathering in Hollywood, and there I am out there in the valley waiting for Michael in this old Rolls Royce that was not in prime condition. I\u2019m sitting in the back seat and finally Michael gets in the car and he doesn\u2019t notice me. And I said, \u201cHi Michael\u201d and he almost jumped out of his skin because he didn\u2019t know I was there. (<em>Laughs<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Did you get to the studio?<br \/>\n<\/strong>Yes. So, we go down to the studio, and he gave me the track and I\u2019ve got to sit there and scratch this arrangement out while string players were buzzing around me. And Michael is sort of sitting in the back in the dark, and you didn\u2019t even know he was there. Getting him to participate in the session was a challenge\u2014we had to pull him and say, \u201cCome on, Michael.\u201d (<em>Laughs<\/em>) I did everything he told me to do. Then later, they brought me back one more time because he had left this lick out. This was before digital so they couldn\u2019t just grab something and add it. So we had another whole session of the same strings. Then I went out of town, and I heard they brought the string session in one more time. But Jerry was there this time\u2014just to add a couple of more little things to it. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) So that was three different string sessions\u2014for one arrangement of a tune that I don\u2019t think did much. But that\u2019s the record business sometimes.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16155\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-5-front-courtyard.jpg\" alt=\"bill-reichenbach-5-front-courtyard\" width=\"660\" height=\"253\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-5-front-courtyard.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-5-front-courtyard-300x115.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Who influenced you to pick up the instruments you now play, and how old were you?<br \/>\n<\/strong>I started out playing drums\u2014that\u2019s what everybody at my house did. [Bill Jr. is the son of legendary jazz drummer Bill Reichenbach Sr.] Then around the time I was 10 years old I started hearing Dixieland music, and it appealed to me. So for my 11<sup>th<\/sup> birthday, my father said, \u201cI\u2019ll buy you a camera or a trombone.\u201d And I said, \u201cOh, I want the trombone for sure.\u201d And in a couple of years, I was playing in this band in downtown Washington DC called the Metropolitan Police Boys Band\u2014a concert band led by my first trombone teacher\u2019s father. It started out as something sponsored by the police department for underprivileged kids, but it turned out to be a lot of middle class kids\u2014the ones that already had enough money to have private lessons. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) So we would all drive in from the suburbs and we would rehearse Marine Band music. I was the worst trombone player out of 13\u2014when I was playing with that band. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) But I was sitting in the midst of all these players who were so much better than me. It was amazing. There were young trumpet players and I had never played with anyone like that before. And there were some pretty good trombone players. They also had a band room filled with all of these instruments\u2014old beat-up, crappy, dirty brass instruments, and you could borrow them. I borrowed a baritone sax, baritone horn, small tuba. I would take them home and clean them up and take them down to the basement and play on them until I could make some sense out of it. And that was the beginning of playing other instruments\u2014and it was so worthwhile. Now, I play tuba on <em>The Simpsons<\/em>, <em>American Dad!<\/em>, <em>Family Guy<\/em>\u2014and sometimes even on records. I played jazz tuba on one of Wayne Bergeron\u2019s albums. So that\u2019s been kind of a kick for me. I like playing tuba\u2014it\u2019s kinda fun. And it\u2019s been good for my job.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you write on keyboards?<\/strong><br \/>\nYes. I have computer programs, and a keyboard that\u2019s connected to it. I use a Finale program which is for copying music, but you can compose in it. It\u2019s not exactly the best sequencing program. It\u2019s not like Digital Performer or Pro Tools, but when you\u2019re finished\u2014you can make parts that people can play from. You can actually create scores in that\u2014and play it using a sample library. I\u2019ve written a couple of full wind ensemble pieces\u2014classical style pieces\u2014and some orchestral music with the string samples. It\u2019s fun to do it, and you can sit there and be obsessive and nobody\u2019s going to bother you. (<em>Laughs<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us about the other instruments you play.<\/strong><br \/>\nWell, the brass instruments are all kind of related. There\u2019s valve trombone. And contrabass trombone\u2014which is bigger than the bass trombone and I play that a lot on some of these big, loud, action movies\u2014lot of writing for contrabass trombone now. The euphonium, which is like a small tuba, and the bass trumpet\u2014which is like a valve trombone except it looks like a big trumpet\u2014and it\u2019s really a better instrument. So my choice when I go out to play jazz, which is unfortunately not that often anymore, is to take the bass trumpet, and the bass trombone. Because the bass trumpet plays in the same range as the tenor trombone, but it\u2019s a little different style. I can think differently when I\u2019m playing valves.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What composing\/arranging tip would you like to offer musicians who look up to you?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt\u2019s like the story of how do you make a sculpture. You start with a big rock and take away all the stuff that doesn\u2019t look like the guy you want it to look like. Especially with all the electronic equipment we have now, writing is a good place where you can sit down and work through your arrangement and make it flow. And you can hear it. But after you\u2019ve done that, you need to go out and have it played by real musicians. You won\u2019t believe how much better it sounds played by real musicians. All of a sudden, there\u2019s life to it. When I was in School at Eastman studying arranging and composition, we were doing it the traditional way because none of this other stuff existed. There were no sequencers\u2014there were no computers. So when you had to write an arrangement, you might have to write it overnight, copy it and bring it in\u2014and then you got to hear it, which is a little bit like the music business. That\u2019s what a lot of people got trained on, and if you made a mistake, you\u2019d have to erase it or cross it off and rewrite it. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) I remember one of the first charts I wrote for big band was \u201cWatermelon Man\u201d\u2014and it was awful. (<em>Laughs)<\/em> I didn\u2019t understand anything about writing for saxophones. I transposed it correctly, but I didn\u2019t know how to make the section sound balanced between altos, tenors and baritones. When I got to Eastman and studied arranging, this great teacher said, \u201cWell, there\u2019s a trick for that.\u201d He said, \u201cWrite the parts transposed on the score and then look at them. And if they\u2019re all kind of sitting around the same place on the score\u2014they\u2019re going to balance.\u201d It\u2019s as easy as that. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) But I didn\u2019t know that back then\u2014in high school!<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16154\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-7-Trombones-Church-2007.jpg\" alt=\"bill-reichenbach-7-trombones-church-2007\" width=\"660\" height=\"880\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-7-Trombones-Church-2007.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-7-Trombones-Church-2007-224x300.jpg 224w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-7-Trombones-Church-2007-300x400.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Who inspired you to write music?<\/strong><br \/>\nMy father dabbled in writing arrangements. I never saw him do it, but there was evidence of it. He had piles of manuscript paper around the house\u2014things that were handwritten by him in the early 50s and middle 40s. I don\u2019t know what any of them sounded like. We never played any of it, or heard any of it. But I was interested, and I started listening to old 1920s records of Duke Ellington\u2019s band, where they had tuba and banjo\u2014I think it was called the Jungle Band. And I was so fascinated with that sound. When we ended up doing a show called <em>Frank\u2019s Place<\/em> for a couple of years out here, and I was writing music for it, I was able to use that sound a few times. I was able to steal that sound from Duke Ellington\u2014the old pre-big band African sounding music. So the whole idea of trying to make instrumental colors work was always interesting to me. In high school, I did a lot of choral arranging because the only ensemble we had at Takoma Academy was the choir. Leland Tetz\u2014he was the guy. When you had an ensemble that he put together, it sounded good. And the band sucked. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) So I was more likely to write arrangements for the choir to try my hand at composing. We would have a \u201cWeek of Prayer\u201d every once in a while and one year they let me put a small choral group together to be like the choir. So I wrote a couple of little connective bits like we\u2019d use in a church service\u2014just little things. It was my first try at composing. And it was such a wild feeling\u2014and that just stuck with me. So by the time I got to college I was caught between\u2014do I want to be a composer or do I want to be a player. And I went through that for a long time during college. It finally came down to the fact that I\u2019m a little bit more social, and being a composer, at least the way I would do it\u2014you are by yourself. And I liked being around players. So this way, I\u2019m doing arrangements on my own and I get into the mood of writing until I\u2019m done with it but I don\u2019t have to survive on it\u2014which is the best way for me.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Where were you when you first heard a song you recorded being played on the radio?<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen I was at Eastman, I played with Chuck Mangione\u2014on the 1970 <em>Friends &amp; Love<\/em> album. He did a bunch of albums during that time, and I played on all those albums that became radio hits\u2014especially in the upper New York state area. I\u2019d be in clubs, and I\u2019d hear some of those songs on the radio. And it was like, \u201cOoh, wow!\u201d It was quite an experience. Then I got out here [California] and I started doing a lot of records with Jerry Hey and that horn section, and we started doing all those Quincy Jones and David Foster albums. I\u2019d hear something on the radio, and sometimes I\u2019d forget that I played on it. (<em>Laughs<\/em>) I didn\u2019t realize it but it\u2019s fun to look back at songs I played on. Now, somebody\u2019s made a Spotify list called Jerry Hey Bonanza, and it\u2019s got maybe 500 tunes on it\u2014and I played on most of them. And that\u2019s just the ones that stick out. There\u2019s probably another thousand that are forgettable. (<em>Laughs<\/em>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tell us about a musical hero you played with.<\/strong><em><br \/>\n<\/em>I would have to say the first Chuck Mangione concert with the orchestra. He had Steve Gadd playing [drums], and Tony Levin [bass], and Al Porchino played lead trumpet, and Lew Soloff [Blood, Sweat &amp; Tears] on trumpet, and all of those guys. Now that was new music at the time. And then going on Buddy Rich\u2019s band was very exciting. And in my late career here now, next week we\u2019re going to start doing the eighth <em>Star Wars<\/em> movie with John Williams. And I\u2019ll have to say that being in the room with him, and to play his music\u2014with him\u2014is a gift. He is so together, and so professional\u2014he brings the best out of everybody in the room. He\u2019s so gentle with everyone. It\u2019s just an outrageous experience\u2014and I\u2019m so lucky to be there.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What instrument<\/strong><strong>\/equipment can you not live without\u2014that helps you write, record or perform?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe trombones that I play are handmade by Gary Greenhoe. He was another trombone player from Eastman, a couple of years older than me, but he came back for one year while I was there. So we have that connection. He was always into this mechanical stuff, in addition to being a great trombone player. He invented a new version of the rotary valve that we use on these horns\u2014like bass trombones. Then he went from that to building modified horns. He\u2019d take existing horns and he\u2019d modify it with a few of his parts. Then he started making his own whole horns. I was very lucky to kinda be working with him on that stuff\u2014to get what we thought was a great trombone built. So I have three of his horns. I\u2019ll never need to buy another bass trombone. They are fantastic. I believe now he\u2019s sold the license to build his horns, his plans and some of his tooling to a company in Chicago called Schilke. I think they\u2019re going to be building his trombones. I trust they will adhere to his standards. They\u2019ve been making great trumpets for years.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_16153\" style=\"width: 670px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16153\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-16153\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-11-with-JJ-Abrams.jpg\" alt=\"Bill Reichenbach with JJ Abrams\" width=\"660\" height=\"512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-11-with-JJ-Abrams.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-11-with-JJ-Abrams-300x232.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-16153\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bill Reichenbach with JJ Abrams<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Top 5 Musicians or Composers\u00a0who inspired you to become a musician?<br \/>\n<\/strong>Duke Ellington, Thad Jones, Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Williams, and J. S. Bach\u2014really!<\/p>\n<p><strong>What are your Top 5 favorite albums of all time\u2014that still inspire you when you hear them?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>My Fair Lady<\/em> (1956) \u2013 Shelly Manne &amp; His Friends<\/p>\n<p><em>Giant Steps<\/em> (1960) \u2013 John Coltrane<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201963: The Concert Jazz Band<\/em> (1963) \u2013 Gerry Mulligan<\/p>\n<p><em>Mass in G Minor<\/em> \u2013 Ralph Vaughan Williams (Roger Wagner Recording)<\/p>\n<p><em>Bill Evans Trio with Symphony Orchestra<\/em> (1965) \u2013 Bill Evans<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>What are the Top 5 favorite albums you\u2019ve played on\u2014that you continue to be proud being a part of that project?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>High Crime<\/em> (1984) \u2013 Al Jarreau<\/p>\n<p><em>Road Time<\/em> (1976) \u2013 Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band<\/p>\n<p><em>Word of Mouth<\/em> (1981) \u2013 Jaco Pastorius<\/p>\n<p><em>Loopified<\/em> (2014) \u2013 Dirty Loops<\/p>\n<p><em>John Williams Plays Steve Spielberg\u2019s Favorites<\/em> (2017) \u2013 John Williams (not yet released)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_16152\" style=\"width: 670px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16152\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-16152\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-12-with-Carole-King.jpg\" alt=\"Bill Reichenbach with Carole King\" width=\"660\" height=\"520\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-12-with-Carole-King.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/Bill-Reichenbach-12-with-Carole-King-300x236.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-16152\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Bill Reichenbach with Carole King<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Best advice someone has given you.<\/strong><br \/>\nTry not to sweat the small stuff.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Best advice you\u2019d like to give.<\/strong><br \/>\nTo a musician\u2014try to become a part of whatever music you\u2019re playing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Which PRO are you with?<\/strong><br \/>\nI belong to ASCAP.\u00a0 It\u2019s always nice to find that something you did, maybe years ago, still has some value.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What\u2019s next for Hearts of Music Fund?<\/strong><br \/>\nThis is our big fundraising season, so we\u2019re just trying our best to put some money in the bank. We\u2019ll sell CDs and take up an offering at the concert\u2014we\u2019ll make a few thousand dollars there, and we\u2019ll keep selling the CDs. And it\u2019s also available on CDBaby. We\u2019ll just have to see how it goes. We\u2019re getting a little bit more public this time. I\u2019m going to have a telephone interview this week with a guy from England who has a jazz radio show. He must be looking at Facebook because when we announced this new Christmas album would be available, within an hour, we had a request from him saying, \u201cI want to interview you for our show.\u201d And people can always go to HeartsofMusicFund.org\u2014and donate there.<\/p>\n<p><em>Note:<\/em><\/p>\n<p>We here, at Mmusicmag.com, will continue throughout 2017 to interview other musicians who are involved with Hearts of Music Fund.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>To help this weekend:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3>Trombones-L.A. conducted by Bill Reichenbach has a Fundraising Concert<\/h3>\n<h3>Sunday, December 18, 2016\u2014Admission is Free<\/h3>\n<h3>Emmanuel Lutheran Church<\/h3>\n<h3>6020 Radford Avenue (at the corner of Radford &amp; Oxnard\u20142 blocks east of Laurel Canyon)<\/h3>\n<h3>North Hollywood, CA 91606<\/h3>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>For more information on Hearts of Music Fund and to stay updated:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>HeartsofMusicFund.org<\/p>\n<p>BillReichenbach.com<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-16150\" src=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/albums.jpg\" alt=\"albums\" width=\"660\" height=\"330\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/albums.jpg 660w, https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/albums-300x150.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 660px) 100vw, 660px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>VIDEO FEATURE &amp; WEB-EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Musician: \u00a0BILL REICHENBACH Music Video: \u201cCarols From the Bells\u201d Musicians: Trombones-L.A. Non-profit Benefit: Hearts of Music Fund \u201cMy idea,\u201d says Bill Reichenbach, \u201cwas to create this non-profit fund called the Hearts of Music Fund\u2014for musicians who don\u2019t have insurance. Back then, there were a lot of musicians who didn\u2019t have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16161,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7725],"tags":[8647,8648,8649,8329,8650,8651,8652,8653,8654,3824,6271,8655,5122,8656,5553,8657,8416,8658,8660,8661,8662,8659,8663,8664,8665,8666,8667,8668,8669,8670,8671,8672,8421,8673,8143,7795,4153,8674,8675,8676,3402,8677,7931,8678,8679,1063,8680,8681,8682,8511,8683,8684,8685,3886,8686,8687,8688,8689,8691,8690,8697,994,8692,8693,8694,8695,8696,4935,5227,8698,8699,8700,8701,8702,8703,8704,8705,7566,8706,3010,8707,8708,951,8709,7978,8710,8711,8712,8713,8714,8715,8716,806,8541,8717,3263,8718,8636,8719,8720,8721,8722,8723,8724,8725,8551,8726,8331,1679,8727,8728,8729,8730,8731,8732,8733,3674,8734,8735,8736,8737,8738,8739,8740,8741,8742,8743,8744,8745,8746],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16149"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16149"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16170,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16149\/revisions\/16170"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}