TubaNews.com Reviews

Sérgio Carolino - "Steel aLive"

Last Updated (Wednesday, 14 May 2008 11:53)
Written by Self / Hershko
Friday, 23 March 2007 01:42

Reviews - CD/Recording Reviews

Purchase and hear clips from Steel aLive at afinaudio.net.


review by Jim Self

For several years I have been getting orders for my tuba compositions and CDs from a young man in Portugal. His name is Sérgio Carolino. He bought everything! I found out later that he was this amazing tuba soloist who loved my stuff and was playing it all over Europe. Recently he commissioned a new piece from me. “Danças para um Amigo”, for solo tuba, saxophone quartet and vibraphone was the result and I look forward to the premier and recording of that work.

A few days ago Sérgio sent me a copy of his new CD “Steel Alive”. For many reasons I am extremely impressed with this recording. First of all it is a collection of “LIVE” performances. In this day of Pro Tools, overdubbing and over-produced CDs it is refreshing to hear the real thing. Carolino is the REAL THING. This young man can PLAY. He seems to have mastered all the talents of the best tuba soloists before him and it all comes out on this collection of live performances. He has enormous technical prowess, a five-octave range which he seems to play with ease, uses all kinds of double stops (and even triple stops) and contemporary effects (clicks, pops, grunts and percussive sounds), he improvises, plays spectacular bass-line sousaphone, has a beautiful (and in tune) sound and, most of all, Sérgio has a great sense of rhythm and time. I am honored that he included four movements from my “Duh Suite” for two tubas and drums (played with Dutch tuba artist, Annejelle Visser) and also recorded “Time Cycles” by Jerry Grant (a piece written for me and recorded on my “Big Stretch” CD) and he plays the same instruments I play—the Yamaha 822 F and 826 CC tuba.

The sheer variety of material on this recording is amazing. The “live” performances here show that Sérgio must be a real entertainer too. One of my favorite pieces, “Mr M.C.” is by my friend, the French trumpeter, Thierry Caens. It is an amazingly virtuostic solo tuba piece that Sérgio plays with aplomb. Another favorite is his “over-the-top” performance of “All Blues”. It has Carolino playing fast and furious (and with great time) on bass-line sousaphone and it showcases several other excellent jazz soloists. I also really dig the first work, the “Concerto for Tuba and Brass Band” by Jorge Salgueiro. The five short movements cover about everything a tubist (with Carolino’s talents) can play. Finally it is his his own composition, “DigiriTUBAzz” that sums up all his fantastic technical prowess.

What an amazing showcase for Sr. Carolino—and it is ALL LIVE!

This CD raises the bar for all tuba soloists.

JIM SELF (Yamaha Performing Artist, top studio and performing musician in Los Angeles, composer)
Los Angeles 3/4/07

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review by Shmuel Hershko

Wow!!! A real celebration complete with sparking fireworks: a new CD of live performances played by Mr. Sérgio Carolino and friends between the years 2004 and 2006.

This SUPERB CD represents a mature artist expressing himself through his choice of repertoire with feeling, love and care. Without being a show off, Tubist Sérgio Carolino demonstrates extreme virtuosity on his instrument. There is a clear line of thinking in his choice of music, an original one, as if to say: "listen to what I have to say, and not only to the way I say it"; and the way he is saying it is outstanding.

Mr. Carolino, on the tuba or on his sousaphone, treats his instrument as a violin, a cello or a saxophone. He is at home among his fellow brass players, inspiring them to the high levels of music making. Participating on the disc are the Swiss National Youth Brass Band in the Salgueiro "cONCERTO fOR tUBA" and the Portuguese National Youth Brass Band in Caen's "Mr. M.C." The young players, of both Bands, are brilliant, with special mention of the incredible French horn and trumpet section playing. "Duh-Suite" by Jim Self (a well known tuba player by himself) displays an acrobatic, jazzy chat, between Carolino and colleague Annejelle Visser, two equally striking tuba parts, and wonderful percussion playing, combined with natural groove. "Steel aLive!" is a classic C.D. containing original pieces by SALGUEIRO, SELF, CAENS, GRANT, and CAROLINO from the staples of the tuba repertoire and additional cuts by Michael Davis and Miles Davis. Mr. Carolino is playing, on one hand, with the clarity of sound, articulation and phrasing of a top classical musician, and on the other hand with the range of colours, rhythmic freedom and above all, with the smile of a jazz player.

Listening to the recorded performances on the disc makes one regret having missed the live performances.

The sum of Sérgio Carolino's vocabulary of musical expressions, enormous range of technical abilities, and with added pleasure of the excellent musicians surrounding him, makes this CD a fantasy voyage.

SHMUEL HERSHKO (Principal tuba with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra)

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Related Links:

Purchase and hear clips from Steel aLive at afinaudio.net.

Interview with Sérgio Carolino - December 2004
by Rose Schweikhart

CD Review: Tuba Guitarra & Bateria - October 2004
by Rose Schweikhart