The modern valved tuba dates from 1842 and was developed by Adolphe Sax in a desperate (and successful) attempt to expiate his guilt for inventing the saxophone two years earlier. It is no accident that most great orchestral music was written after 1842. Modern musicologists can only wonder that 18th century composers such as Bach, Mozart and Haydn were able to write so much (more or less) serviceable music while lacking tubas.

The tuba is the bass instrument of the brass family and of the brass and the marching band. It consists of a wide tube bent into elliptical coils and flared at the end into a bell. There are valves (usually three) to permit the playing of full chromatic scales; other valves lower or raise the entire range of the instrument.

Invented in Germany in the 1830s, its nearest ancestors were the much less elegant ophicleide and serpent. The tuba found an early champion in the composer Richard Wagner, who wrote for the instrument as early as 1840 and called for a tuba in the score of his 1843 opera The Flying Dutchman.

The tuba became entrenched in bands across Europe and America, and the brass-band derivation of early jazz ensured it a presence in New Orleans-style jazz as well. Although jazz bands used other bass instruments as well, the tuba was used on most recordings made in the early 1920s because its gentle, non-percussive attack, unlike those of a piano or bass drum, would not cause tracking or distortion problems. As a result, the tuba became permanently identified with the “Dixieland” sound, and the music’s abundant revivalists invariably include a tuba in performing groups.

The modern trumpet–a narrow brass tube that is partly coiled but mostly straight–took on its characteristic form around 1825 when it acquired three valves on top. The purpose of these valves (a valve is a device that stops a tube, effectively changing its length) was to permit the playing of the entire chromatic scale, a goal earlier attempted with the so-called keyed trumpet, an instrument with hole-covering keys for which Haydn’s trumpet concerto was composed. The trumpet was a primary component of the marching band and then the jazz band; in jazz it remains a solo instrument of major importance.

The trumpet has a long and rich history. It is believed that the trumpet was used as a signaling device in Ancient Egypt, Greece and the Near East. During the Romantic period, the trumpet was evident in various forms of art such as literature and music. But during this time, the trumpet was merely recognized as an instrument used to signal, announce, proclaim and for other relevant purposes. It was later when the trumpet began to be considered as a musical instrument.

Other Accounts of the Trumpet’s Existence:

• In Ancient times, people used materials such as animal horns or shells like a trumpet.
• Pictures of the trumpet in King Tut’s tomb.
• The trumpet was used for religious purposes by the Israelites, Tibetans and Romans.
• Used for magical purposes such as warding off evil spirits.
• Trumpeters of earlier eras were classified into two: principale, played the lower register and the clarino, played the upper register.

A brass instrument is a musical instrument whose sound is produced by sympathetic vibration of air in a tubular resonator in sympathy with the vibration of the player’s lips. Brass instruments are also called labrosones, literally meaning “lip-vibrated instruments”.

There are several factors involved in producing different pitches on a brass instrument: One is alteration of the player’s lip tension (or “embouchure”), and another is air flow. Also, slides (or valves) are used to change the length of the tubing, thus changing the harmonic series presented by the instrument to the player.

The view of most scholars (see organology) is that the term “brass instrument” should be defined by the way the sound is made, as above, and not by whether the instrument is actually made of brass. Thus, as exceptional cases one finds brass instruments made of wood, like the alphorn, the cornett, the serpent and the didgeridoo, while some woodwind instruments are made of brass, like the saxophone.

The first horns were monotone instruments. In 1753, a German musician called Hampel invented the means of applying movable slides (crooks) of various length that changed the key of the horn.

Broadly speaking, a horn is a cone-shaped tube sounded by making the lips vibrate as a reed. Many prehistoric horns were in fact made from the horns of animals, but not all languages use the animal term for the modern brass orchestral and band horn, often known as the French horn because horns of coiled design were introduced into England from France in the seventeenth century; the term itself first appeared in print in 1682. The French horn has a tube several feet long coiled into circles (and into angled lengths within the circles), and finally flared out into a large bell. Modern horns have several valves (usually three or four) that alter the effective length of the tube, permitting the playing of complete chromatic scales, but the horn’s substantial repertory in classical music before the nineteenth century calls for a valveless or “natural” horn, and these are still made. (The horn music of Mozart and Vivaldi, for example, was written for the natural horn. Although mutes are used as with other brass instruments, a unique feature of the horn is that the player’s hand may be inserted into the bell to alter the instrument’s tone. The horn was part of the marching band, but unlike other band instruments it has had only a modest presence in jazz and pop music.

Its first popular heyday was in the blackface minstrel show of the nineteenth century, where, as part of the genre’s racist caricatures, it was used to represent a characteristic timbre of slave music.

From all available evidence, it appears that the instrument was in fact in common use among slaves. One of the most famous minstrel-show banjoists, Joel Walker Sweeney, may have been responsible for adding the short fifth string that appears on modern instruments;other noted banjoists of the day included Daniel Emmett, the composer of “Dixie.” Because of the influence of the minstrel show and of the numerous amateur banjo clubs that flourished early in the twentieth century, the banjo became entrenched in southern mountain culture. Over the last half century it has been central to bluegrass music, that culture’s vital artistic statement.

By 1997, Perkins and Farrell had dissolved Porno for Pyros, while Navarro was about to resign from Red Hot Chili Peppers. After Navarro began playing with his two former bandmates again during Porno for Pyros’ final tour, a Jane’s Addiction reunion tour was announced for the fall of the same year. It didn’t lead to a permanent re-formation, however, as members went their separate ways once more after its completion. A planned film documentary of the reunion tour failed to materialize, as a best-of compilation that chronicled Farrell’s work (with Jane’s, Porno, and a few new solo tracks) was issued in 1999, titled Rev. His first solo full-length, Song Yet to Be Sung, saw the light of day in 2001. Navarro’s debut solo effort, Trust No One, was issued a month earlier than Farrell’s, as another Jane’s Addiction reunion was announced the same year. Avery again refused to participate, with his spot being filled by former Porno for Pyros bassist Martyn Lenoble.

Several years later, Jane’s Addiction readied themselves to do it again. In mid-2002, Farrell, Navarro, and Perkins headed back into the studio for their first album of new material in over a decade. Bass player Chris Chaney (Tommy Lee, Alanis Morissette) was added to the group and Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, Kiss, Aerosmith) signed on to produce the new record. Capitol prepped for the release of Strays in July 2003 while Farrell resurrected Lollapalooza after a six-year break.

In 2008, Jane’s Addiction reunited, this time featuring the original lineup including bassist Avery, who had not performed with the band since 1991. Originally added as a temporary member, McKagan ultimately signed on full-time and the band began working on new material. In May of 2010, the new-look Jane’s Addiction with McKagan on bass premiered the song “Soulmate” during a Cinco de Mayo concert in Hollywood. McKagan left the group the following year, and was replaced by TV on the Radio multi-instrumentalist Dave Sitek, who also appeared on the band’s fourth proper studio album, 2011′s The Great Escape Artist.

Hip-hop’s original overweight lover, Heavy D parlayed an eminently likable persona and strong MC skills into a lengthy career in music, television, and film. Weighing in at over 250 pounds, his girth could easily have become a one-note premise, but he varied his lyrical concerns to include positive message tracks and fun-loving party jams, and exuded warmth and respect for women without getting too graphic or sentimental. Musically, his appeal was just as broad — he was able to mix elements of R&B, reggae, dance, and pop into his music, but his raps were quick-tongued enough that he avoided the accusations of selling out that dogged many other crossover successes of his era.

Peaceful Journey was another platinum-selling hit, thanks to the single “Now That We Found Love” — a modernized version of the Gamble/Huff composition originally recorded by the O’Jays — which made Heavy D a full-fledged mainstream success. It reached the R&B Top Five and just missed the pop Top Ten. “Is It Good to You” and the posse cut “Don’t Curse” were also popular with hip-hop fans, and the MC was also a weekly television presence via his theme song for the sketch comedy series In Living Color. Released in 1993, Blue Funk was a tougher effort with productions from Pete Rock (his younger cousin), DJ Premier, and Tony Dofat; despite its lack of pop appeal, it managed to go gold.

Heavy D & the Boyz returned to platinum status with 1994′s Nuttin’ But Love, which spawned hits in “Black Coffee,” the R&B Top Five “Got Me Waiting,” and the title track; it also became their second album to top the R&B charts. In the meantime, he appeared in the 1999 Eddie Murphy/Martin Lawrence comedy Life and landed a prominent supporting role in the Oscar-nominated drama The Cider House Rules. In 2000, he was most visible as a counselor on the Fox high-school drama Boston Public, which lasted for the next several years, as he worked on albums by Babyface, Jay-Z, Fabolous, and Timbaland, among others. During the rest of the decade, he had recurring roles on The Tracy Morgan Show and Bones, while he also recorded Vibes, a convincing and enjoyable album of reggae-pop. On November 8, 2011 — several weeks after releasing a rap EP, Love Opus, and less than a month after performing at the BET Hip Hop Awards — Heavy D collapsed outside his home in Beverly Hills and passed away. He was 44 years old.

Bach was born in Eisenach in 1685. He was taught to play the violin and harpsichord by his father, Johann Ambrosius, a court trumpeter in the service of the Duke of Eisenach. Young Johann was not yet ten when his father died, leaving him orphaned. He was taken in by his recently married oldest brother, Johann Christoph, who lived in Ohrdruf. Because of his excellent singing voice, Bach attained a position at the Michaelis monastery at Lüneberg in 1700. His voice changed a short while later, but he stayed on as an instrumentalist. After taking a short-lived post in Weimar in 1703 as a violinist, Bach became organist at the Neue Kirche in Arnstadt (1703-1707).

His relationship with the church council was tenuous as the young musician often shirked his responsibilities, preferring to practice the organ. One account describes a four-month leave granted Bach, to travel to Lubeck where he would familiarize himself with the music of Dietrich Buxtehude. He returned to Arnstadt long after was expected and much to the dismay of the council. He then briefly served at St. Blasius in Mühlhausen as organist, beginning in June 1707, and married his cousin, Maria Barbara Bach, that fall. Bach composed his famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor (BWV 565) and his first cantatas while in Mühlhausen, but quickly outgrew the musical resources of the town.

He next took a post for the Duke of Sachsen-Weimar in 1708, serving as court organist and playing in the orchestra, eventually becoming its leader in 1714. He wrote many organ compositions during this period, including his Orgel-Büchlein. Owing to politics between the Duke and his officials, Bach left Weimar and secured a post in December 1717 as Kapellmeister at Cöthen. In 1720, Bach’s wife suddenly died, leaving him with four children (three others had died in infancy). A short while later, he met his second wife, soprano Anna Magdalena Wilcke, whom he married in December 1721.

Thus, he took on other projects, chief among which was the directorship of the city’s Collegium Musicum, an ensemble of professional and amateur musicians who gave weekly concerts, in 1729. He also became music director at the Dresden Court in 1736, in the service of Frederick Augustus II; though his duties were vague and apparently few, they allowed him freedom to compose what he wanted. Bach began making trips to Berlin in the 1740s, not least because his son Carl Philipp Emanuel served as a court musician there. In May 1747, the composer was warmly received by King Frederick II of Prussia, for whom he wrote the gloriously abstruse Musical Offering (BWV 1079). Among Bach’s last works was his 1749 Mass in B minor. Besieged by diabetes, he died on July 28, 1750.

Gilbert learned to play on a self-built guitar on which the strings came from motorcycle and bicycle brake cables. When building one of his guitars, he once had a four-inch nail perforate his right knee, but caused no damage. He would sometimes walk for miles to a location where he could learn to use a Casio electronic keyboard. When he joined a band made of American embassy workers, he saved enough money after two years of gigs to buy his first keyboard workstation. He went on to release a limited number of the first Christian instrumental music tape in Congo, which was even played in bars and pubs .

Gilbert gave his life to the Lord as a teenager, and has consistently been part of the music ministry at various churches. He was a pianist at the largest church in Central Africa. Many of those who know him have often labeled him the “worship Musician” because his playing style and his heart create a worship environment with his music expressions.

Gilbert has a prophetic call through the music he produces. Ultimately, this CD was recorded for those seeking to have a worshipful and comforting environment. Each of the 11 tracks will intimately minister to you as you listen to this amazing CD.

The artist has established a worship recording label in the Raleigh area (Anointed Melody), with the purpose to bless, encourage, build up the Body of Christ through fresh, passionate and relevant music and movie projects.

Gilbert holds a master’s degree in biology from West Chester University, and went on to work for seven years as a research scientist with Harvard Medical School in Boston. He currently resides in Raleigh, N.C., with his wife, Sylvia, and their two children, Jessye (8) and Jeremy (5). He currently serves as worship musician and keyboardist at Raleigh International Church.

Among his other collaborative works, he recently produced the soundtrack for “Dear Angry,” a Christian short film (on DVD) by Anthony Miller, which has been getting excellent national reviews. He also produced Running With the Fresh Wind, music for the poetic testimony of Prophetess Zanderland Asante, which is also being distributed nationally

Lyrics are filled with symbolism, and singers sometimes use made-up sounds to help create the stories and rhythmic poetry. Vocals and chanting are ubiquitous in traditional Native American music, and flutes and drums are the most common instruments found throughout the various tribes.

Today’s Native American music has taken on such outside influences as rock, blues, country, jazz and folk. Robert Mirabal, R. Carlos Nakai and Joanne Shenandoah are leading examples of modern-day artists who still work within the tradition while drawing upon other genres to move their music in new directions. Then there’s rapper Litefoot, reggae singer Casper Loma-Da-Wa, rockers like Kashtin and Blackfire as well as more soothing fusions by popular artists like Mirabal and Nakai and the traditional style of Kevin Locke.

Native American music has never had the influence of blues, gospel or folk, but there are a few examples. Who can forget the chant break in B.J. Thomas’s “Hooked On a Feeling” (“ooga chugga, ooga chugga”)? Ginger Baker’s drumming on the Cream hit song “Strange Brew” also has distinct Native American overtones. The rock band Blackfoot was made up of Native Americans, but the band’s music was pure Southern rock. Some popular musicians have embraced their Native American roots over the years including the Band’s Robbie Robertson, jazzman Don Cherry and pop singer Rita Coolidge.

In the late ’80s there was an upswing of interest in Native American music, which coincided with the New Age movement. This therapeutic style of music was created to foster holistic healing as well as psychic or spiritual pursuits, and many New Age players drew on Native American chants and instruments for inspiration. A more uptempo example of Native American fusion music is tribal techno, which combines hypnotic traditional drumming styles with electronica.