Asphalt Cocktail

[Abiondo83]

This floors me everytime. We just did this for our spring concert, I got to play trashcan...

Only our director pushed for a more intense feeling from the can. He came over to show me one rehearsal and SLAMMED the thing on the plywood. After a week of rehearsing, the can was compacted to almost halfsize.

[shadowmoonkitsune]

I made North Central Wind Ensemble this school year. I remember watching NC perform this song at State. My brother Paul was in the clarinet section. :D

[crazitaco]

@kantalope i know! i totally want the music for it!!! i love the pitch-bending klezmer style to it! :D thats too bad about him and the saxophonist being removed though :(

[danaemarie483]

i have to play an excerpt from this for an audition and i have no idea how to play it haha i have no idea how the hell to read 7/8

[Rogers1977]

Such a ballsy piece!  Love it!!

[pianoandpercussion]

this looks exactly like the stage they had for GA all state. they also played this song. looks exactly the same.

[ChsSaxQuartet]

state? wow we played this for region

[likesnowxlikegold]

Wow that harpist had no idea what she was doing. Haha.

[patricksmith2]

actually, in the song, the harp part is very random and doubles up on the trumpet sometimes.. she did very good.

[CharlieBitMeh]

I want to play this song sooo bad. God I wish our band was large and enough and had enough money to play this. We have so much talent but so little participants. Makes me want to cry. The only time I get near music this difficult is all-region which is only once a year. QQ ;(. And this was absolutely fantastic for high school especially. Gj.

[kantalope]

THAT CLARINET SOLO OMG!! I want it soooo bad!! It is exactly my style wow! Classical mixed with jazz and conteporary. love it! He played it sooo well, gah I'm so jealous!

[jeangent]

Yes, Ian played that solo superbly. How terribly sad that his talent is now being wasted. The North Central administration removed him and the first chair saxophonist as a disciplinary measure for an infraction committed on a school band trip last month. Enjoy this video, because you will not be hearing the talents of these two incredible musicians at North Central ever again.

[kantalope]

oh geez! what did they do?!

[jeangent]

I would rather not say, but it was a first offense for both students. They are both excellent students and tremendous musicians. I just can't believe that music will not be part of their senior year in high school. I am extremely saddened by the whole situation.

[GentleRedwood]

@kantalope I'd say they deserved it, they broke the rules and a few laws in the process. the band is bigger than any one person (or in this case two people) and we press on

[kantalope]

@GentleRedwood

Geez.... What did they even do?

[GentleRedwood]

@kantalope I don't think its really my place to say, but they knew what the punishments for their actions would be before they did it.

[tippmannevo87]

I can't wait for Bluecoats to do this as well!!!

[stupidaznguy]

Can't wait for Pacific crest to do this

[livelovelaugh2689]

My band is playing this song at FMEA in Tampa, Florida this year! We are so excited!!!

[D34dlySpork]

This is freaking awesome! And I can't wait for Bluecoats to do it. Blooooooooooooooooooo!!! Gotta love when corps release their music early and people look it up.

[dailey]

damn, dud at the end played the shit out of that tambourine part

[monsterdrummer2413]

haha i played that trash can....good times!

[jserhal]

This was absolutely impressive!! My nephew was on trumpet and he RAWKED!!  Way to go Evan Moore!!!!

[ZotmanZ]

this song is totally insane... i like the trash can. whats in it?

also, nice clarinet solo, sounds drunk, guess thats the cocktail part :P

[jeangent]

I asked my son who was in the band about what was in the trash can. He said there was a lot of stuff like nuts, bolts, a chain and tools, etc. Thanks for the comment.

[nikjoevid]

Chains, knuts, bolts, (hardware) are in the trash can. The song is supposed to be a taxi drive home after a drunken night in new york. the *pop* and flute run is supposed to be champagne at 1:40 followed by the shake of a martini glass. Im from Southwest high school in fort worth texas and we performed this song for honor band. I played the second trumpet. Mackey actually visited us when we practiced thats how i know all that stuff.

[Voranax]

awesome clarinet solo hope i can play like tht some day

[xofantasygirlxo]

DANG.

I have to learn the flute part for this song in 2 days...eeeek! anyone got tips?

btw, GREAT performance (:

[ostimu]

Wow, this is a great performance. The whole band is awesome, but that clarinet soloist is incredible and plays the hell out of the solo. Not many players can play like that at any age.

And I love it that the trash can is on the video.

This band rocks.

[Thedearster]

I would like to apologize to Scagathor, quarterbreed, gentleredwood, boredom, clbuffet, and the entire NC student body for disrespecting Mackey and the song. I was out of line and that will never happen again. Please forgive the freshman, he made a mistake.

[ajamesu]

Impressive clarinet solo; what would be cool is if you could add vibrato to the longer notes. Then it would be PERFECT.

The pianist looked so "in the moment," all bouncing and stuff, haha. Cool.

Mackey is genius, love this piece and his other works [check out "Turbine" if you can]. You guys pulled this off quite well, great job! :D

[Scagathor]

Hey ajamesu. I played the clarinet solo in this video and had many professional suggestions on how it should be played. Not to sound rude but you clearly have never played this solo or you would know that none of the notes in the solo section last long enough to put effective vibrato on them (except for possibly the D at the beginning, and I had reason not to put vibrato on that one) The longer notes are all either bent or trilled. Try listening to it again and you will hear.

[ajamesu]

Yeah, I was listening to the U of TX [or maybe U of MI? not sure] recording and I noticed the solo sounded longer than your school's recording. Guess it's the recording quality playing tricks on me. Anyway, however you interpreted it, it was well-played.

[Scagathor]

Thank you very much! I truly appreciate the compliment. =D

[Scagathor]

Lets leave this space for positive and CONSTRUCTIVE comments about our performance rather than bickering please. =)

CLARINETS RULE! hehe

[Scagathor]

BRANDON!!! Quit while you're ahead PLEASE! its fine if you don't like the piece or if you like other music better but 1. you BLATANTLY stated that you were from OUR group 2. you insulted the composer and his piece

No offense. . .but you are embarrassing NC and many people in this group (including me) by continuing to "defend" yourself. Don't dig yourself a deeper hole PLEASE!

[quarterbreed]

Brandon I am really dissapointed in you. As a freshman you really had no place to say anything and if anything you should consider yourself prvileged to be in such a high caliber ensemble, performing arts department for that matter.Hopefully as you mature into a better person and musician you will come to realize this. As for now KNOW YOUR PLACE and be cronstructive and respectful at the minimum.

[GentleRedwood]

I'm just upset the bass sound didn't come through as much in the recordings as it sounded playing it. Oh well. Brandon: you are a freshman. You have not played enough music to be able to talk like you are talking. The piece was really good. Not the best, but really good. And remember: even if your part isn't the best, you have to look at the whole thing and how it all fits together.

[Scagathor]

I still can't believe we pulled this off and WON STATE! Great job everyone! Lets do it again NEXT YEAR TOO!!!!

[jeangent]

No, he is just a junior. His name is Ian Gelarden.

[bigVrocks]

was the solo clarinetist a high schooler? or was he a professional? cause i heard that some high school were playing this piece, but got a prof. to play the solo part?

just curious :)

[GentleRedwood]

naw, he's in high school. he's just really good.

[twoerner11]

hey bobby, you're really good too.

[GentleRedwood]

tucker, so are you man!

[clbuffet]

Thank you very much boredom305. im glad SOMEONE knows how to respect someone of talent like Mackey.

[clbuffet]

Alright thedearster. . .Asphalt Cocktail, Turbine, Undertow, Redline Tango, The soprano sax concerto, Kingfishers Catch Fire, . . .hows THAT for a few of Mackey's pieces! and thank you very much, I HAVE played them.

[Dramaqueen93092]

we are tight! and anyone who says it's bad is stupid.

[fallinrain113]

John Mackey writes some freakishly challenging pieces but hes one of my favorite modern composers. My high school band played Undertow for U.I.L last year and he came to my school as a clinician. He's a really nice guy but kinda excentric...as seen in the stuff he writes.

[clbuffet]

Thedearster: You're probably just mad because you couldn't play it. Just because John Mackey wrote a part that wasn't as "interesting" as you wanted it to be doesn't mean this is a bad song. You may not have liked it but that doesn't mean that Mackey didn't spend a lot of time writing a piece with character and depth that im sure you couldnt begin to TRULY understand. Once you become as successful a musician as Mackey THEN you can trash talk his work. Until then shut the hell up!

[bigVrocks]

ooooh shit we;re playing this at my college for a state wide festival or some shit and i have the clarinet solo ! It's a beast. when i can actually play it i'll record and upload :)

[boredem305]

first of all its AWFUL and second, if you dont like the piece, you probably don't understand it beyond the notes.

[G0ttaHav3Mus1c]

n0t bad

[tootsiepoplicker]

Nice clarinet solo!

[NikhilXLII]

That's such an awesome piece.

[evtmo1]

brandon dier omg its evan the trumpet in this!

[doomshuriken]

Hey, the Mador Valley Marching Band is playing this for our fall season!

[ceacea25]

lol do you mean Amador?

[geezerstud]

Hard to believe that this is a high school wind ensemble. A hard piece played with flair and confidence. This showpiece probably cemented the championship. I profoundly admire Rick Granlund for having the courage to play this piece and for believing in the abilities of his musicians

[whoslineisit723]

watching this live was possibly one of the greatest band performances i've ever watched

[GentleRedwood]

Hell yes!

[maestra929]

Congratulations to all involved with your 2009 State Championship win. The competition was steep, yet you prevailed. This video represents only 1/3 of a widely diverse and well-executed program.