Simon Sweeney – Trumpet Interview
Welcome to the show notes for Episode #85 of The Other Side of the Bell – A Trumpet Podcast. This episode features trumpeter Simon Sweeney.
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About Simon Sweeney
Simon Sweeney is a professional trumpet player and educator based in Sydney. He holds a Bachelors and a Masters degree from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He is a studio musician and has been prolific in the live music scene since 1993. As a member of the Jazz Faculty at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music since 2010 he has taught many of the young players currently working in the Sydney scene.
Simon has appeared as guest Principal trumpet with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Film recording credits include Happy Feet, The Great Gatsby, The Extra and The Bank.
Simon has played on over 40 professional musical theatre productions since the mid 90s. He has played lead trumpet for Michael Bublé, George Benson, Paloma Faith and Tim Minchin. As a jazz musician he has toured and recorded with Mike Nock, played with the Space Cadets, recorded with the Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra and he is currently co-lead trumpet of the Australian National Jazz Orchestra. He has performed with Silverchair, Thirsty Merc and recorded with Powderfinger and Billy Thorpe.
Simon’s lead playing can be heard on the Netflix series Beat Bugs and Motown Magic. Simon’s own small group jazz album “Emerald City Blues” was released on the Jazzgroove label. During the lockdown he has put together a horn section called the Emerald City Horns comprising some of Sydney’s most prolific studio musicians.
Simon Sweeney Links
Podcast Credits
- “A Room with a View“ – composed and performed by Howie Shear
- Audio Engineer – Preston Shepard at SC Sound Labs
- Cover Art – Phil Jordan
- Podcast Host – John Snell
Daniel Falcone began working professionally in Las Vegas at age 15. The son of Vincent Falcone, musical director, pianist and conductor for Frank Sinatra, he literally grew up on stage. Starting in high school, Daniel backed the likes of Tony Bennett, Rita Moreno, Jerry Lewis, George Burns, Andy Williams, Jack Jones, Paul Anka and many other headliners on the Las Vegas Strip.
Morris Northcutt’s playing has been described as artistic, lyrical and expressive with a beautiful, smooth, and rich tone.
n 2019, Morris completed a solo recital/masterclass tour of Ireland that included an appearance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music. This past January, he appeared at the 2020 Sao Paulo Trumpet Academy in Brazil. Later this year, Morris will debut his first EP, produced and engineered by Latin Grammy Award winner Danilo Alvarez with arrangements by Justo Morao.
Dr. Karl Sievers enjoys a successful and varied performance career, having performed in countless studio sessions, on live television, in jazz ensembles, chamber music of all kinds, solo recitals, and in symphony orchestras.
A student of William Adam at Indiana University, Karl has been instrumental in hosting and organizing the International William Adam Trumpet Festival. The 6th Annual festival will be from June 18-20, 2020 and held online on the the Bill Adam Facebook Group, where all the masterclasses will be available to view free of charge.
When he was six years old, Matthias Hoefs declared the trumpet “his instrument, because it shines so nicely”. He received his musical education from Professor Peter Kallensee at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre, and from Profes- sor Konradin Groth at the Karajan Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. When just 18 years of age, he was engaged as Solo-Trumpeter at the Philharmonic State Orchestra in Hamburg, where he enjoyed the fascinating world of opera for 16 years.
Since the year 2000, Matthias Hoefs has been teaching as Professor at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre, were he inspires his students with great enthusiasm, knowing how to pass on his passion for his instrument. In addition to his extensive concert performances as solo-trumpeter and chamber musician, Hoefs has produced numerous Solo CDs, and jointly with GERMAN BRASS, more than 20 recordings.
Jim Manley figures he has spent around 10,500 plus nights playing his trumpet around town in his hometown of St. Louis since the 70’s.
Honesty Pill founder Christopher Still joined the Los Angeles Philharmonic as Second Trumpet in 2007.
David Elton is recognised as one of the world’s most sought-after trumpet players.
David is an active chamber musician, most recently giving the world premiere of David Sampson’s Memories to Keep Awhile at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music. He is a founding member of the Australian Brass Quintet with whom he regularly tours throughout Australia and beyond.
Originally from Portland Oregon, Gary Guthman started his career at the age of nine. As a young teen, Gary was a member of the nationally acclaimed “Seldom Six” Dixieland Band, comprised of 12 to 14 years old who traveled the United States performing stage shows and conventions, playing, singing and tap-dancing all the way. Throughout Gary’s high school and college years, he performed with jazz and rock and roll bands and at 17 years old, auditioned for the acclaimed Portland (Oregon) Youth Orchestra; the oldest of its kind in the United States.
Since moving to Central Europe, Gary has given hundreds of concerts with his “Gary Guthman Quartet” and “The New Swing Orchestra”, as well as Symphonic Pops concerts. In 2011, Gary released his next CD entitled “Solar Eclipse” on the Polski Radio Jazz Label, featuring his quartet of world-class Polish jazz artists Filip Wojciechowski/piano, Paweł Pańta/Bass, Cezary Konrad/Drums. Gary Guthman is the only non-Polish jazz artist to release his own CD in the 95-year history of Polish Radio. In 2014, along with his co-writer Doman Nowakowski, Gary composed the Libretto, Music and Lyrics for a new musical entitled “Letter from Warsaw”.
Tom Clary is a freelance trumpet-player/composer/
Tom eventually finished his music degree in 2002 and went on to complete a law degree at the University of Memphis in 2005. He practiced law full-time for approximately 13 years. He still maintains a very-small law practice, but has returned to play and write music full-time, while making and selling trumpet mutes out of wood in his garage.
If you ever have the opportunity to see Nathan Samuelson perform, prepare to be taken on a musical odyssey. His music is imbued with wanderlust —inspired by years at sea and a careful balancing act between new horizons and the love of home. Audiences are sonically teleported to the tropical shores of Brazil, the cosmopolitan streets of New York, and the old world sophistication of Europe. Despite the many nautical miles he’s logged, his music maintains the wholesome honesty of his prairie boyhood. That sweet earnestness and approachability is what turns audiences of strangers into loyal fans. 
He has graced stages in exotic locales such as Brazil, Croatia, Italy, Greece, France, Portugal, England, Spain and more. To add, he shared these stages with world class artists like late soul icon Clem Curtis [The Foundations] of “Build Me Up, Buttercup” fame. He has also performed with Leanne Mitchell, winner of the first series of The Voice UK, and international soul singer, Lloyd Wade. In his home community of Edmonton, Alberta he is often found volunteering his talent for children and youth, as well as people living with disability. When not volunteering, he can be found performing as a guest artist on cruise ships, and performing with his own quintet at various jazz festivals and corporate events. 