Armando's Rhumba - Adam Rapa and CORNO Brass Ensemble
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- Опубликовано: 31 июл 2022
- Armando’s Rhumba Fantasía is a very heartfelt homage to one of my greatest heroes, Chick Corea.
About the ensemble:
A whole-hearted “THANK YOU!” to the CORNO Brass Music Festival in Poland for the opportunity to perform this music with an ensemble of such high-caliber musicians. And “THANK YOU!” to all the amazing musicians whose skills brought this piece to life in a way that’s so deeply rewarding!
Knowing I’ll have the pleasure to perform with them every year provides a great opportunity to create programs that are quite daring and artistically rewarding for this instrumentation, which I approach as a hybrid between an orchestral brass section and a big band.
Being at the CORNO Festival in Zielona Góra is always one of my favorite times of the year. I highly recommend you come to the festival and see us live! (www.corno.pl)
About the piece:
When Chick Corea died last year (2021), I revisited his enormous discography and found so many gems that I’d previously missed. During that deep dive, I became inspired to work with some of his music, both to study it more deeply, and also to engage in a musical conversation that I hope he would have also enjoyed.
One song that definitely spoke to me was Armando’s Rhumba. I’d been familiar with the original version from his 1976 album, “My Spanish Heart” since I was a child, but I’d missed a lot of the other versions he’d recorded over the next 40+ years in all sorts of contexts; whether solo piano, in duo or with other ensemble types.
I found myself transcribing moments from at least 7 different versions - variations on the melody, individual phrases or longer sections of improvisation, bass lines, reharmonizations - whatever really stood out to me as something to reference while making an arrangement.
From all of this foraging came what’s essentially a mini-concerto (with improvisation) for trumpet, with lots of space for a pianist, and plenty of fun material for a large ensemble to sink their teeth into as well. While my personal touch is pretty evident throughout the arrangement, this is mostly a faithful collage of Chick’s brilliant improvisations.
Armando’s Rhumba is a theme that he clearly cared about a lot. It was an homage to his father, Armando, who happened to be a trumpet player and band leader in Boston. Being from Boston myself makes Chick not only a hero of mine, but a hometown hero as well. He was nearly the same age as my own Dad; they grew up in neighboring towns; both of southern Italian descent. Chick was even a trumpet/bugle soloist in a drum & bugle corps during his childhood - just like me!
Of course, while all of these similarities are a delightful coincidence, it’s Chick’s music and his incredible generosity as a person and an educator that captured my utmost respect and adoration.
Thus I’ve put a great deal of care into this piece, in loving tribute to one of the most influential Jazz musicians of all time.
More about the structure of the piece:
In the original version, Chick established a 3-way conversation between himself, Stanley Clarke on bass, and Jean-Luc Ponty on violin. I wanted to keep that 3-way conversational element going by sharing the focus between myself, a pianist and the large ensemble. While the arrangement takes many twists and turns, it’s also grounded and focused by this structural similarity to the original.
Fans of Chick who are familiar with his original version, which has long been a Jazz standard, will find plenty of Easter eggs to enjoy throughout. Among my favorites are moments where I’ve taken some of his improvisations from the original and repurposed them for the ensemble, ensuring that his voice is ever-present.
In the middle of the piece is a longer section of trumpet solo. Rather than improvising in this particular part, I chose to write something of a Jazz etude for other trumpet players to enjoy working on as well. Here I’m basically offering a response to a solo that Chick played in his duo recording with Gary Burton. While referencing the general shape and some important checkpoints in his solo, I’ve also made it my own by saying, “Yes, and you could also go this way.” The result is a page of phrases that are as fun as they are challenging.
Anyone familiar with Chick’s solo piano versions on RUclips will also recognize a lot of material that I’ve used for the ensemble. In these solo versions, he had the freedom to go anywhere and allow his adventurous spirit to run wild on amazing new adventures. It was especially fun to transcribe and orchestrate these sections, which bring even deeper storytelling and added drama to the piece.
I hope you enjoy listening to this as much as I enjoyed making and performing it!
Adam Rapa 
Видеоклипы
Adam's so good at the trumpet, he can play drums in the same gig at the same time
DAMN!! You beat me to it!
🤣
if u watch closely, he is firefighter, pizza guy, plumber in some movies too😂
Got me laughing for a good sec
Adam is literally the only who looks like he enjoys being there. Love to see someone grooving to the music when they have a rest
quand un morceau est difficile on est rarement detendu a moins d etre du niveau de adam!!
they are too busy counting those damn bars lol...as I would actually
And sitting next to him is Brandon Ridenour who is also a trumpet virtuoso. He plays/played with the Canadian Brass. Amazing!!!
And next to him is Andre Schoch; who is in the Berlin Phil and is an amazing soloist also
@@trumpetbrain7302 and sitting next to him is DINGERDONGERSZ the amazing tubist
playing on a 1/2 C dildo
@@clink69 I believe the final trumpet along the section (following Brandon and Andre) is actually Julie Bonde. The tubist is sitting in front of Adam :)
@@trumpetbrain7302 nahhhhhh bruh
So glad to be a part of this kickass ensemble 😉
Mr. Rap is an absolute virtuoso I have enjoyed his playing ever since he was with Monett and before he is just amazing
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
God damn that’s so good
Oh I'm Adam Rapa and my trumpet playing is SOOOOOOOOOOOO technically perfect, professional, beautiful, inspiring and world-class! I have a passion for music, musicians and instruments and that talent shines through in my flawless execution and virtuosity! I encourage and mentor young musicians and have tremendous respect for my peers! 😀
Hahah lol
Then I love you 💗💗💗
Somebody call George Collier
@georgecollier !
cmon let this man have some sleep
I can't get tired of this video, watching it 10 times a week since It came out.
AWESOME STUFF. THANKS‼️
Absolutely amazing playing!!!!
Beautiful...
So good. Awesome arrangement. Class act!
Super!!!!!bravooo!!
Great success!
Great playing by Adam and everyone, and a wonderful arrangement!
This literally has me doing a breathing dancing meditation in my kitchen every time I play it! Have become such an Adam Rapa Fan!
yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah so cool
Awesome... Great Band... Super Arrangement... Many thanks dear Adam... 😇
Wow! Bravo to you Adam; this is a remarkable arrangement, performance (band and soloist) and recording. 👏👏👏🔥🔥🔥🎺🎺🎺
bravo!!
BRAAAAAAAVVOOOOO ! ! ! ! !
I like this 👍👍🔥
Grandios!
HERMOOOOSO 👌👌👌
Bravissimo!
This is so sick.
🔥🔥🔥🔥
❤️
Is Adam Rapa's twin on the drums? 😄Love this tune
The drummer is rapas twin brother
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rapa
Is it a common thing to have a brass big band where the saxophones are replaced by french horns?
If you’re going to to play the lead/solo part why not stand at the front? Especially if it’s “rappa… and the band”
I'll admit this is very impressive, but i cant jam out to this, no one's using emotional expression in their playing and it sounds too square