Vincent deRosa

It seems to me that Vincent DeRosa is suddenly getting a lot of attention. There have been several blog entries, especially Horn Matters, discussing his work. There is a new biography available, and a tribute page with a number of audio clips.

DeRosa is a soloist on Laurindo Almeida's album, The Intimate Bach, recorded in the early 1960s. I grew up listening to this album, but the only part of it I really remember now is the Partita, which is here arranged as a duet for guitar and horn. I was just beginning to play horn myself at that point and didn't listen critically. It was just cool to hear a horn soloist. I hadn't thought about that recording in years and my dad's copy of the LP has vanished along the way. Then a horn player friend of mine in Colorado mentioned to me that he was working on the Partita. He sent me both the recording and the music. Listening now, I am amazed at DeRosa's technique. He is just flying on the Allemande and is all over the horn in the final Gigue. I'm also struck by his breath control. He never seems to breathe and he holds the final note of each movement out for a long fermata.

Another thing I did not know as a teenager was that I was hearing Vincent DeRosa all the time, on movie soundtracks and TV themes. What an amazing player!