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 Every now and then, a new recording comes along that truly marks a step forward for our instrument. Tom McCaslin has done just that with his new CD Inside Out.
There’s a lot to like about this album. The material is fresh, the playing is inspired and the production is excellent. McCaslin’s sound is full and rich and flows very naturally. But what is more striking than that is how musically he plays. The album opens with Relentless Grooves II: Armenia by Sam Pilafian. The piece pays tribute to Pilafian’s Armenian roots with dance-like tunes in odd meters. The percussion is a nice touch to add to the overall feel of the piece. McCaslin does a very good job of capturing the “whoops” of folk singers. This piece is full of compelling rhythms and rustic color. The cONCERTO fOR tUBA by Portuguese composer Jorge Salgueiro is a wonderful addition to the tuba repertoire. The piece starts off like a movie soundtrack, with a simple theme against a backdrop of arpeggiating piano notes. McCaslin shows off his low range in the repeat of the first theme with some tasty legato that goes down to a sub-contra GGG. Later in the first movement are some gravity-defying glissandi leaps. The second continues with more mixed meter rhythm. The third is a cadenza that shows off the range of McCaslin’s virtuosity...low range, high range, fast notes, slow notes and multiphonics. The fourth is the lyrical movement that features some wonderful phrasing. The fifth movement is another rhythmic feast that dances. This piece is a real tour-de-force for solo tuba.  The next tune, of particular interest to this reviewer (I’ve seen the original!), is Frank Zappa’s Outside Now for solo tuba. This piece was presented to Roger Bobo by Zappa in the 80’s when Zappa was doing a lot of writing with his Synclavier (a keyboard machine that would print out whatever music was played into it). On sight, to many, the music appears unplayable. It has extraordinarily difficult rhythms, the piece is notated in tenor clef and the tessitura is an octave higher than is practical for even the most skilled player. If transposed down one octave, it fits into the tuba’s range. But the real trick to this piece is in absorbing the rhythms and making the piece flow in a way that would have fit into the framework of Zappa’s song (which originally appeared on the album Joe’s Garage).
On this album, there are two versions presented. The first version is the original solo tuba alone. McCaslin nails it here. The piece comes off effortlessly and flows as easily as one of Zappa’s guitar solos. The second version is the solo tuba line with electronic effects. The effects chosen (octave divider, harmonizer and phase shifter) are similar to what Zappa’s band was using in the 70’s. But what most impressive here is that the effects are used incredibly tastefully! The effects actually enhance the content of the music instead of overshadowing it. Juraj Filas’s Sonate for Tuba and Piano is an emotionally charged piece. Lying somewhere between neoclassical and neoromantic, this piece brings a lot of energy and uses the tessitura of the tuba to great effect. Instead of the typical 3 movement sonata in fast-slow-fast form, the composer chose to have two movements of frenetic energy interspersed with lyrical playing in the middle of each movement. There is even a Mahler 3 quote in the second movement! The fast parts are very dramatic with lots of massive chords and runs in the piano and the slow sections are haunting with delicate quarter notes in the piano. Gail Novak should be commended for her work on this recording, her playing really brings the music together. Beautiful piece! Francois Thullier’s Rebellion for solo tuba is a piece that shows the full range of the tuba’s expressiveness; lyrical and technical. It starts with some wailing high notes amid declamatory playing in the mid-lower register. The rhythm about one minute in takes the listener on a ride that carries the same energy as a drum solo. The last 2 minutes are a winding down that include some very nice multiphonics. Tribute, by Elizabeth Raum, is a piece dedicated to McCaslin’s late teacher, tubist extraordinaire John Griffiths. Raum, a colleague of Griffiths in the Regina Symphony, knew Griffiths as a virtuoso tubist and wrote this piece as a tribute to what Griffiths could do on the tuba. It's a relatively simple, but touching piece. Inside Out is a remarkable first outing from one of the rising stars in the tuba world. In this reviewer's opinion, it is one of the most unique and interesting recordings to come out in the last few years and thus gets my highest recommendation. For more information, check out http://www.tommccaslin.com.
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