ARTISTS

“Monsters”
Who reign the trombone world have come together to form the dream 4!
 
In May 2018,the Slide Monsters completed their exciting Japan tour with huge success, each venue a full house.

Active at the forefront of the music scene, Eijiro Nakagawa represents the Japanese trombone world.  Joseph Alessi is the top of the industry and revered by brass players all over the world. These two legends have formed the new style unit “Slide Monsters”

Beyond borders and genre, the members are those selected by Alessi : “those I want to play with most now” and forms the simplest composition of 4 trombone players, expanding their possibilities to the maximum!


Going beyond
 
Long ago, trombone accompanied the choir in church, and has been called the “instrument of God” because it can play a tone that is very close to the human voice without being caught by the scale. In modern times, the trombone is an important presence in music spanning from classical to jazz, pop to Latin to contemporary, surely because brilliant players have crossed borders to step into new possibilities.
The trombone solo appearing in Ravel's "Bolero" made its mark in the swinging jazz age in the 1930's America.  It is even said that the renowned trombone player Tommy Dorsey influenced this famous piece.
At times the trombone has influenced composers of other genres, evolving alongside the challenges of each player throughout the ages.  And today, four players of different nationality and genre, who have inherited this unchanging spirit, will take us beyond existing boundaries.  This is the concept behind “BEYOND”.
The other underlying concept is “Inspired by New York".
As represented by the prestigious New York Philharmonic born in the same year as the Vienna Philharmonic in 1842, New York's classical music has achieved a unique growth different from that of Europe. 
With jazz, needless to be explained, New York is of course, the east coast Mecca, of the whole jazz world.  This is where different cultures meet and cross paths with hip-hop, contemporary and the club scene, supporting Jazz with its diversity and openness, ceaselessly bringing forth new music. 
Such is the city that brought together these four members: Joseph Alessi, Eijiro Nakagawa, Marshall Gilkes, and Brandt Attema.
New York, the city that raised and made these members blossom, is the background that inspires our program. The first album by this new unit will also be recorded in New York.