Each title offers a pedagogical perspective or advance that sets it apart from publications by peers. These 2008 editions, published by Tiger Music, have been revisited and updated to address the needs of todays musicians and students. Parents know and even our government has recognized that music is an essential part of a childs development, yet so often students are encouraged to dream without the guidance they need to achieve those dreams. Lewis confronts the empty dreams of musicians of all ages. He engages the readers of his books in much the same way he has been reaching his students for the past 25 years by providing real-life practical tips, strategies, and exercises that will make those dreams a reality. These strategies are not the ideals of an educational theorist, but have been tried, tested, and refined by Lewis in teaching and performance environments for almost three decades. His attention to detail and understanding of what musicians need is evidenced in each work. From the vibrant art works commissioned for the covers through the careful layout of the music, to the choice of binding which makes the books easy to use on a music stand, Lewis shows that he understands his reader and how to communicate the guidance they need.
For musicians who want to adopt a more productive and efficient practice regime, improve range, flexibility, endurance or sound, the ever popular Daily Routines for Trumpet provides strategies and exercises that accommodate beginners through to professional players. For those who need to know how Daily Routines can produce such remarkable results, The Physical Trumpet Pyramid was written: an illustrated, practical set of answers to all those questions an enquiring mind cant help but ask.
Lewis pays special attention to orchestral trumpet players in Twenty Studies for Trumpet. This book presents practical solutions to typical problems encountered by classical trumpet players developing a standard audition repertoire. Go with the Flow is a breath of fresh air for classical players who are weary of one hundred year old etudes. This flow study etude book offers some much needed variety in the daily classical routine, by combining twenty-one modern-sounding flow studies into a single compilation.
Jazz lovers will welcome Trane for Trumpet. This book is created around John Coltranes formidable Giant Steps, a piece considered by jazz musicians to be one of the most difficult songs to improvise. Lewis provides a structured approach, through a progressive system of 79 exercises and jazz etudes, which familiarizes the musician with the key center shifts in a way that is idiomatic to the trumpet. Trane for Trumpet is the first book of its kind written for jazz trumpet players, thus finally providing trumpet players with the keys to success that were originally only accessible to jazz saxophonists. For those musicians who are not yet ready for Giant Steps but desire to play jazz, Lewis has written Twelve Tunes: for Linear, Diatonic Improvisation. This book ushers musicians into the world of jazz improvisation, and provides easy-to-follow steps that allow a musician to sound good improvising from their first attempt.
All-State Prep for Trumpet was written in true Texas-spirit for all those high school students (and their teachers) who are not satisfied to settle for mediocre results. Lewis, who achieved a seat in the Texas All-State Band more than once while in high school, is well aware of the pressures young musicians face on the way to the top. With decades of experience in helping devoted young musicians achieve this honor, he is well qualified to share his secret formula a formula which promises to put his students on the road to winning coveted seats in prestigious bands.
Perhaps the most remarkable of all the books published by Lewis this year is Celebrations: 101 Original Trumpet Duets. This intriguing collection of treble clef duets will keep a musician busy from beginner to professional level. The duets progress from simple whole notes to expert level with a steady graduation of difficulty between the two extremes. The compositions encompass a diverse collection of styles ensuring there is something for everyone: African 12-8, baroque, classical, guapango, jazz, and red hot salsa. But this book is about a lot more than just entertainment. Each of the 101 duets was composed around a particular skill. By the time a musician has mastered a particular duet he or she will also have acquired or honed a vital musical skill. This book is a celebration of musical edu-tainment with substance.
Eddie Lewis is a multi-facetted musician. He maintains a vibrant and stylistically diverse career as a freelance trumpet player in Houston. Performing with as many as fifty bands each year, Lewis has decades of experience playing jazz, classical music, salsa (and other tropical music), rhythm and blues, tejano, and klezmer music. Lewis has composed over three hundred original works for various brass and jazz ensemble instrumentations. He has also been active as a music educator for over twenty-five years: teaching private lessons, giving clinics and master classes, and presenting workshops. Five years were spent teaching jazz improvisation at Houstons High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Eddie Lewis is also active as a studio player. He can be heard playing trumpet on the Grammy-award winning Chicanismo by Little Joe and La Familia (2005).
Eddie Lewis can be seen in performance this Friday 24 October at Houstons favorite jazz club, Cezannes, where he will be presenting an evening of original jazz with his jazz combo, Living Rhythms.
For more information contact All About Jazz.
