UPDATE: We arrived at the Fox studios to find out the producer that approved the “Texas Jazz Masters” segment was out on location. The stand-in producer had not seen the piece so they are airing it at a later date. When we find out what time, we’ll let everyone know.

In the meantime, here is Bryan Harkness performing live:

Fox News 26 will be running a story on Tierra Studios and our Texas Jazz Masters series on a date TBA.  Thomas Hulten was the point man to represent the Texas Jazz Masters series, and held a recording session that was captured on film.

Here’s a behind the scenes view of the interview.

The Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Houston, Noe Marmolejo, interviews Thomas Hulten about the recording process on his album “Slide Side”.

Thomas Hulten commenting on his song “Pilska Polka” from his album Slide Side. You may buy it now!

HOUSTON TROMBONE PLAYER THOMAS HULTÉN
DEBUTS ON CD “SLIDE SIDE,”
TO BE RELEASED BY TIERRA STUDIOS ON OCTOBER 19, 2009

Trombonist Thomas Hultén debuts with Slide Side, a collection of ten original tunes and three jazz standards, set for release by Houston’s Tierra Studios on October 19, 2009.

“To be able to realize one’s musical visions with full artistic freedom is every musician’s dream,” says Hultén. “I’m really excited about this album, and I feel that we’ve accomplished our goal: world-class jazz, written and produced in Houston, Texas.”

Hultén is joined on the recording by his Houston-based ensemble consisting of pianist Pamela York, guitarist Mike Nase, bassist David Craig, and Joel Fulgham on drums. Slide Side is augmented by local jazz greats such as Dennis Dotson, former Woody Herman trumpeter and Warren Sneed, Director of Jazz Studies at Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

“You can really hear the years of experience these musicians have when you listen to the songs,” says engineer Glenn Wheeler. “Getting to record the talent this group brought to the studio was truly a pleasure.”

Slide Side also features orchestral backing for Hultén and his ensemble on several selections. Strings were arranged by Daniel Kramlich and conducted by producer Dr. Robert Linder.

“When Thomas sat down at the piano and played me a few phrases from a number of his original tunes, I knew he had something special to say–through his musicianship,” says Dr. Linder. I thought, “WOW! What a combination–a fabulous trombonist that can write and arrange great tunes! ”

Thomas Hultén started playing trombone at the age of ten in the local Salvation Army Band in his hometown of Katrineholm, Sweden. After completing his military service with the Swedish Army Band in 1984, he studied trombone performance at the Gothenburg Conservatory with Ingemar Roos as his primary teacher. After graduating, he won a position with the Bohus Big Band, one of Sweden’s two professional big bands.

Since moving to Houston in 1997, he has performed with Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, Dave Brubeck, Natalie Cole, Barry Manilow, Patti Austin, Johnny Mathis, Michael Bolton, the Moody Blues, the Temptations, the Four Tops and the O’Jays. He performs regularly with the Houston Symphony, the Houston Ballet, Theatre under the Stars, and the Houston Grand Opera, of which he was recently named principle trombonist.

Slide Side is the latest album in a series of jazz releases that features prominent Houston jazz musicians, produced by Tierra Studios. The first CD in the series is No Worries, featuring saxophonist Larry Slezak, available on iTunes and at http://www.larryslezak.com.

For more information, contact Larry Murphy at 713-686-1953 or lmurphy@tierrastudios.com.

The CD release party for Thomas Hultén’s album Slide Side was an amazing success. Many people came together at Tierra Studios from 6:00 pm until almost 10:00 pm on Monday, October 19th. There was music, mingling, food, and a few drinks floating around, as we celebrated the second release in Tierra Studios’ jazz series. We would like to extend a very special thanks to Kathryn Sherman, Jim Sherman, Traey Hatch, Glenn Wheeler, Dr. Robert Linder, Thomas Hultén, Dan Kramlich, Lana Smith, Andrea Sedeno, all the FMI staff, and everyone else that was involved in this project from start to finish. We couldn’t have done it without each and everyone of you!!!!

Here is the Pay Pal link to purchase Thomas’ album!!!! Buy one, five, or however many your heart desires! The album is amazing, and it will make a present for the holidays for all jazz lovers alike. Enjoy!

Buy 320 mp3s

Buy CD Now

Buy Slide Side on iTunes

Buy a Slide Side CD with Pay Pal

Soon we will release a new jazz album from Thomas Hultén. It is the second in a series for Tierra Records. It was a thrill to work with Thomas on this album. In the coming days, I will share some highlights and stories from the recording, editing, mixing, and mastering sessions. Stay tuned. Feel free to ask questions and make comments as we go. This should be fun for all of us.

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Storms are not fun.  As much as we needed the rain here in Houston, the concomitant effects of the rain can be very taxing and undesirable.  Due to unforeseen electrical issues caused by storm damage to the surrounding grid, our energy supply is experiencing intermittent glitches, causing us to need to reschedule sessions and contact electricians to ensure that our facility can run without risk of damage to equipment.  And thus, we forge on. Yesterday, we had the privilege of entertaining one of the music industry’s top movers and shakers who gave us a little insight on the evolution of the the music publishing business.  It was a fascinating meeting and very informative.  The rest of this week is stocked with various sessions involving a variety of artists and continued preparation for Thomas Hultén’s album release.

Thomas Hultén is a jazz and classical trombone player, arranger and composer. Thomas is currently Acting Principal trombone with the Houston Grand Opera. His 1st studio album was released in September, 2009 by Tierra Studios.

He started playing at the age of ten in the local Salvation Army Band in his hometown of Katrineholm, Sweden. After completing his military service with the Swedish Army Band in 1984, he studied trombone performance at the Gothenburg Conservatory with Ingemar Roos as his primary teacher. After graduating he won a position with the Bohus Big Band, one of Sweden’s two professional big bands. In 1990 Thomas became a member of the Hässlö Brass Ensemble (later re-named Messing Around), a full-time brass ensemble, along with being Principal trombone of the Västerås Sinfonietta.

He was also a sought-after freelance player, and has performed with the Gothenburg Symphony, the Gothenburg Opera, the Helsingborg Symphony, the Norrköping Symphony, Stavanger (Norway) Symphony and the Trondheim (Norway) Symphony.

Since moving to Houston, Texas, in 1997 he has performed with Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, Dave Brubeck, Natalie Cole, Barry Manilow, Patti Austin, Johnny Mathis, Michael Bolton, the Moody Blues, the Temptations, the Four Tops and the O’Jays. He performs regularly with the Houston Symphony, the Houston Ballet, the Houston Grand Opera and Theatre under the Stars. Thomas was in the orchestra for the touring Broadway musicals “The Full Monty”, “The Producers”, “42nd Street”, “Music Man”, “All Shook Up”, “Swing” and, most recently “The Rat Pack” at the Hobby Center in Houston. He has been featured at the Texas Jazz Festival and the Kemah Jazz Festival with his own group, and at the International Trombone Festival, both as a soloist and as a member of “Spiritual to the ‘Bone”. His quartet opened for Maynard Ferguson’s Houston concert in February of 2006.

Thomas teaches low brass at the Houston Baptist University and the Houston Community College, and directs the jazz ensemble at the Tomball College. His wife Tina is a microbiologist at Baylor College of Medicine, and they have three sons, Jakob, David and Philip.