For more than 30 years, Regents professor of music Jim Shearer has been teaching students at New Mexico State University the history, influence and beauty of jazz. An accomplished tubist and mentor, Shearer has released records, written textbooks and performed with different musicians around the world. At the end of 2023, Shearer made history when he released “Cloud Bowling with Claude Bolling” with Summit Records.
In February, Shearer will celebrate the album’s release with live concert performances at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2 in NMSU’s Atkinson Recital Hall and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7 in the Fox Fine Arts Recital Hall at the University of Texas at El Paso. Both performances are free and open to the public.
Playing the tuba since the fifth grade, Shearer has always aimed to showcase the versatility of the instrument and its role in both jazz and classical music. Redoing a seven-movement flute suite with a tuba is something that has never been done before and is a project Shearer has been wanting to tackle for some time.
“This is a huge milestone,” Shearer said. “In fact, I really think of this as the end of the second act of my life. I will never make another record like this. I've done five now, and I produced one for my wife. A good amount of what I’ve recorded is brand new music. With this disc, it’s kind of a vanity exercise. It’s me showing off and saying, ‘Hey, look what the tuba can do! It can do this, too!’”
In the 1940s and 50s, only a few composers had written for the tuba as a solo instrument. A man named Harvey Phillips, as well as other tuba players, began intentionally commissioning composers to write new music for the tuba. As Phillips moved forward in his career, he pushed those who followed him, and the next generation of tuba players, to get more literature.
“In that small amount of time,” Shearer said, “we went from virtually no pieces to literally thousands of new pieces for the tuba. We have a body of literature now, and what I’m doing with these projects is still adding to that body of literature. Fifty years after I’m gone, there will still be new literature for people to play.”
The first half of the album, originally titled “Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio,” was written in 1973 by pianist Claude Bolling for flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal. Their recording of the original work went to number one on the classical music charts and spent over two years in the top 100. Bolling was a French jazz musician and composer whose blend of classical and jazz styles has inspired Shearer in his own work, with his version being the same notes and rhythmic patterns as the original Bolling composition, just simply transposed down two octaves into the range of the tuba.
UTEP pianist and composer Chris Reyman, bass player Erik Unsworth and UTEP professor and drummer Andy P. Smith joined Shearer on the record, improvising behind and guiding the tuba throughout the sessions. Reyman wrote the second half of the “Cloud Bowling” album as an accompanying, seven-movement work to intentionally provide open, improvised jazz for the tuba.
“As someone who plays, we constructed it so that it's a great performing piece,” Shearer said. “It's a fantastic piece of music that stands alone great, but as someone who teaches in a studio, it's also built to be a teaching piece. It's intentionally built for the tuba player. The parts are written so that if you don't play any improvised jazz, you can still make this piece work if you have a good jazz trio. If you have a good mix of piano, bass and drums, this piece will still work.”
The live performances will feature Shearer, Reyman, Smith and fellow UTEP professor Jesus Apodaca on bass. For more information about the concert, please contact the NMSU Department of Music at 575-646-2421 or visit music.nmsu.edu.
“Cloud Bowling with Claude Bolling” is available now on all streaming platforms.
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CUTLINE 1: New Mexico State University Regents professor of music and tubist Jim Shearer will be celebrating his latest record release with two free live performances. (Photo by Sterling Trantham)
CUTLINE 2: “Cloud Bowling with Claude Bolling” was released November 2023. (Courtesy of Summit Records)
CUTLINE 3: From left: Andy P. Smith, Erik Unsworth, Chris Reyman and Jim Shearer rehearsing together. (Photo by Sterling Trantham)