BH: It seems to me that Trombone players are a pretty tight-knit group of cats that get along really well. Do you agree, and if so, why do you suppose that is?

JB: That does seem to be the case and maybe it is because the trombone has a little bit of an ‘underdog’ status … there’s not much chance of being a star (although Trombone Shorty seems to be figuring it out!), so the ego/competition thing doesn’t come into play so much, and we can just commisserate, drown our sorrows, talk about mouthpieces, etc.

Could you talk a little about this trio, its formation and the unique compositional/improvisational options inherent in the trombone, bass and drums combination?

With a trio you give up some orchestrational options, but what you gain is a lot of flexibility and mobility, and the chance for the music to have maximum spontaneity and to be reinvented in performance. In terms of timbre, the trombone/bass combination is one I have always enjoyed — I like playing duos with bass players — so that feels comfortable to me. And Frank and Jason are both wide open in terms of how they approach their instruments coloristically and in terms of the role the instrument can play in the band. That is important to me, because a big challenge of a trio is for it to not sound kind of the same all the time.

Like many young trombonists, you were on the path towards becoming an orchestral player. What happened?

I reached a point at which it seemed to me that to stay on that path felt too narrow. I was very young at the time and had I had more knowledge and insight I might have realized that I could also learn about and pursue other things while working on being a classical player, but at the time, and in the music school environment I was in, that did not seem like a realistic option. So I left music school, but began checking out other musical areas pretty much right away.

We also want to give a shout out to Richmond Magazine for naming us one of RVA’s top 50 local players on the local music scene. Check out the article, with sweet quotes from Reggie Pace. Also, don’t forget to follow No BS Brass, Dillard, Bryan, David, and Reggie on Twitter if you don’t already. It’s the easiest way to stay up-to-date on all the goings on of your favorite brass band!