VOA慢速英语2014 新奥尔良乐队Bonerama的三个长号演奏大放异彩

 

With Bonerama, Three Trombones Lead the Big Parade 新奥尔良乐队Bonerama的三个长号演奏大放异彩

New Orleans is a city famous for its food, mix of cultural influences and of course, its music. The city known as the Big Easy is the birthplace of several styles of popular American music including jazz and ragtime¹. New Orleans has a long history of combining musical art forms to create something different and fun.

The band Bonerama is both. The New Orleans-based group brings together funk, rock, blues² and jazz, creating a gumbo for the ears. Bonerama has horns like many local bands. But, unlike most groups, the trombone players lead this band.

Craig Klein and Mark Mullins are the founders³ of Bonerama and two of its three trombone players. Both Mr. Klein and Mr. Mullins performed as part of the brass⁴ section for another New Orleans musician, Harry⁵ Connick, Jr.

Craig Klein says he was inspired to start the band that would become Bonerama while traveling and playing music for Harry Connick, Jr.

“Well, Mark and I were on tour with Harry Connick, Jr. We started playing with him in 1990. And we were in New York, and I went and saw this Cuban band that had five trombones, and I just had an idea, ‘Let’s put together, let’s make a New Orleans band that features the trombone.’”

The group formed in 1998. Mark Mullins says he knew from the start that the sound of Bonerama was different.

“The sound of the unit from the very beginning, it was obvious: it connected with people for some reason, and I think people heard a sound when bringing these instruments together that they hadn’t really heard before. In New Orleans you hear a lot of different things. You’ll hear funk bands, rock bands, and of course, brass bands. But a band of all trombones with a sousaphone and a conventional funk band rhythm section was kind of different.”

One special quality is that Mark Mullins sometimes makes his trombone sound like an electric guitar. He creates this effect using a guitar pedal⁶ that he connects to a microphone on his trombone. He can lift the pedal up and down to make different kinds of sounds, just like a guitar player. He says audiences enjoy hearing guitar sounds coming from a trombone. He adds that he is able to express musical ideas with the guitar pedal that may not be possible with trombone alone.

“It’s definitely fun; it’s like driving a different car, speaking a little different language for a second there because you can ‘say’ things that you might get away with ‘saying’. Gives you a little different vocabulary there for a minute, it’s neat. But the rock stuff is fun, it transfers real well. And I think if you pick the right songs, and just have fun with it and be honest with it, I think people kind of connect with that. They know if you’re having fun, they know if it’s kind of honest. The sound, for the audience perspective apparently⁷, it seems like they get a kick out of hearing Hendrix or Led Zeppelin through the voice of sousaphone and trombones. It’s fun…fun for everybody!”

Bonerama’s latest album is called “Shake It Baby.” It is the band’s 6th album. But Craig Klein says the horn section has recorded music for at least 10 other musicians or groups including REM and OK Go. 

“We were on REM’s record, Sierra Leone (All Stars), we played a record with some of the OK GO guys. Cowboy Mouth, Radiators…Wonderlick, Marc Stone…I guess we’ve probably been on, as a horn section, probably about 10 different records or more.”

Bonerama recently performed at The Hamilton in Washington, D.C. This reporter got to not only attend the performance but to take the stage and play trombone with the band. It was an unforgettable experience, both as an audience member and a performer.

Words in This Story

section – n. a part of a band or orchestra⁸ that has one kind of instruments

gumbo – n. a thick soup made in the southern U.S. with meat or seafood⁹ and usually okra

inspire – v. to make (someone) want to do something: to give (someone) an idea about what to do or create

conventional – adj. of a kind that has been around for a long time and is considered to be usual or typical

microphone – n. a device into which people speak or sing in order to record their voices or to make them sound louder

1 ragtime   

n.拉格泰姆音乐

参考例句：

• The most popular music back then was called ragtime.那时最流行的音乐叫拉格泰姆音乐。
• African-American piano player Scott Joplin wrote many ragtime songs.非裔美国钢琴家ScottJoplin写了许多拉格泰姆歌曲。

2 blues   

n.抑郁，沮丧；布鲁斯音乐

参考例句：

• She was in the back of a smoky bar singing the blues.她在烟雾弥漫的酒吧深处唱着布鲁斯歌曲。
• He was in the blues on account of his failure in business.他因事业失败而意志消沉。

3 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

4 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

5 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

6 pedal   

n.踏板；adj.脚的，踏脚的；v.用脚踏动，踩踏板

参考例句：

• He pressed down the accelerator pedal of his car.他踩下汽车的加速器踏板。
• I saw him pedal to school every morning.我看到他每天早晨骑自行车上学。

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 orchestra   

n.管弦乐队；vt.命令，定购

参考例句：

• He plays the violin in an orchestra.他在管弦乐队中演奏小提琴。
• I was tempted to stay and hear this superb orchestra rehearse.我真想留下来听这支高超的管弦乐队排练。

9 seafood   

n.海产食品，海味，海鲜

参考例句：

• There's an excellent seafood restaurant near here.离这儿不远有家非常不错的海鲜馆。
• Shrimps are a popular type of seafood.小虾是比较普遍的一种海味。