Performing “Bèo Dạt Mây Trôi” with the Thiên Thanh Band was an incredible experience this year. I was honored to be the featured soloist as a guest musician in the ensemble led by the brilliant Ngo Hong Quang. The cello truly brings this beautiful melody to life, and it was a pleasure to play alongside such talented musicians. I hope you enjoy this rendition!
I’m honored to share that Báo Phụ Nữ recently featured a story about a deeply meaningful moment in my life—performing Nhật Ký Của Mẹ (A Mother’s Diary) on the cello for my wife, Minh, during the birth of our first child. This song, written by renowned Vietnamese songwriter Nguyễn Văn Chung, holds a special place in our family’s heart, and I’m grateful that Báo Phụ Nữ saw the significance of that moment and wanted to share it with their readers.
Nhật Ký Của Mẹ tells the moving story of a mother’s love, her sacrifices, and the emotional journey she experiences as her child grows. When Minh was in labor, I arranged the song for cello and performed it to comfort her. The song provided a strong sense of connection to her Vietnamese roots at a time when she felt homesick, grounding her in her role as a mother and a Vietnamese woman despite being far from home. This intimate moment resonated with Báo Phụ Nữ, and they beautifully captured the emotion and significance behind it.
Meeting Nguyễn Văn Chung recently was an honor in itself. His songs have touched countless lives, including ours, and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to share our story in such a respected publication. Minh and I are looking forward to the possibility of collaborating with him in the future, as his music continues to inspire and bring people together.
It’s moments like these that remind me of the powerful ways music can connect us, and I’m so thankful to Báo Phụ Nữ for highlighting that connection in their article.
Exciting news alert! I've just been featured on Truyền hình Quốc hội Việt Nam, where I delved into my enriching musical journey across Vietnam. It's a fantastic way to kick off the New Year, don't you think?
Not only did the feature highlight my adventures, but it also showcased my Vietnamese and American families, adding a delightful global touch to the narrative.
From the deep melodies of my beloved cello to the infectious rhythms of Vietnamese music, I shared my anecdotes and experiences with humor and warmth. It's not just about the music; it's about the connections and cultural exchanges that music fosters.
A huge shoutout to the talented team at Truyền Hình Quốc Hội for their impeccable work in bringing my story to life. Their dedication and skill truly shine through in every frame, and I couldn't be more grateful for the opportunity to share my journey with a wider audience.
This week I had quite a fun day. Picture this: Edison Schools in Ecopark, a bunch of kids, and me attempting to enlighten them about the wonders of the cello. I regaled them with my own cello saga, from stumbling upon this wooden beauty as a kid to weaving through Bach's Prelude from Cello Suite Number 1 and landing on the shores of my own creation, Tri Âm, a quirky blend of cello and đàn tranh.
My mission? Showcasing the cello's wild diversity and the pure joy of crafting your own melodies for the soul's sake. The kids? They were a riot! Their enthusiasm was so infectious that by the end, I had a mob of mini-maestros surrounding me, demanding autographs. Here's the kicker: they were all out of paper! So what did they do? Asked me to ink their palms. Well, there's a first for everything, right?
If I managed to plant a musical seed in any of those kids' minds, my day's work is done. The school adored the cello shindig so much that they roped me into performing at their charity concert later that night. Talk about wrapping up the year on a high note!
Here's to a 2024 brimming with inspiration for the next generation to pluck the strings of creativity and compose their symphony of dreams.
I am incredibly honored and humbled to make my return to Vietnam with a beautiful show at U.S. Embassy in Hanoi!
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the U.S. - Vietnam Comprehensive Partnership, please join me and my fantastically talented Vietnamese artist friends Ngô Trà My, Phạm Trà My and Tri Minh. The concert will feature music from my new album, Tri Âm, in which I reimagine Vietnamese music through the lens of the cello. I will collaborate with these accomplished artists to create a mesmerizing performance that combines my newly composed works for cello with traditional instruments such as Đàn Tranh and Đàn Bầu. The collaboration will go beyond boundaries as we engage in a profound musical conversation, blending the enchanting sounds of these beautiful instruments with captivating electronic musical elements.
Make sure to register at this link if you'd like to attend in person:
https://creatorapp.zohopublic.com/pashanoi/form/form-perma/Public_Event_Registration/MGWweqynpdwKUUdPgf0GxxHFkTdVJsAkeKMNTxKkzDz5kwnZsjZqznYVrY2q00f4gWb20zp5UrUOWaQMnZBuhXMg4phN4NNCe6ff?fbclid=IwAR0zcYf8-5qWxJZy5wsUSMJhdsNnKn7iF-PXWJpuQUJIDG5-ISgp6N_3U-M
The event will also be livestreamed!
Playing a little, My Funny Valentine, with my musical hero, my grandpa, Joe Perlow.
Towards the end of third grade, my school allowed us to try three musical instruments. After sucking so badly at the saxophone that the teacher wrote down, “not recommended,” on my worksheet, I left feeling dejected because I’d never be like my grandfather, my musical hero.
I came home to my mom, who like every mother eager to motivate her child to learn something new said, “oh you should play a musical instrument! It’ll prevent you from getting Alzheimer’s when you’re older!”
I was 9 years old.
Preserving my memory 80 years in the future when I would be old, gray, and let’s face it, incontinent, was not exactly the motivator I was looking for.
I’ve always told this story, tongue in cheek, since I started playing music, but it wasn’t until yesterday that I realized the actual gravity that playing music has when you become an old alter cocker.
My grandpa, Joe, is now 93 years old. These last years have been pretty brutal for him. He watched my grandmother, his wife of 72 years, slowly lose her mental and physical capacities over the past decade and pass away in September of last year. My grandfather had just done an extended stay at the hospital before she passed and couldn’t even make it to her funeral because he was in such extreme pain.
He asked me to sell all his saxophones.
“I’m done, it’s over,” he rasped to me.
He couldn’t envision himself ever being able to play again.
I sold two, but I hesitated and humbly asked him to let me keep the tenor he used to play all the time. I couldn’t bring myself to sell that one, it felt like I was selling a piece of him. He also kept his soprano saxophone, which was the only sax he had the lung power to occasionally use before he was in the hospital.
Yesterday, my wife organized a surprise family visit to my grandfather’s new apartment at a senior living facility near us. After many months he’s finally out of rehab, but he has to get adjusted to new surroundings and routines, all while being confined to a wheelchair. As a lifelong curmudgeon whose curmudgeonocity has increased exponentially as he’s aged, this isn’t easy for him.
When we arrived yesterday, of course my grandpa was happy to see us. If he just got to see us and my one-year-old son walk around with his cane while dressed in a velvet vest, that would have been enough for him. But as a musician, I know that having that outlet to express yourself is keenly important to staying sane and healthy.
When I asked him if he wanted to play some songs with me, he immediately started on about how he can’t play anymore. “I can’t get the notes in the high register, the sound is terrible, my fingers can’t press down the keys all the way, etc.” On and on, he had excuses about why he couldn’t do it.
We all asked him to just give it a shot, if it was too much for him, he could stop.
So, he agreed.
We were out in the public lounge area on his floor of the building. We had to set up all his music equipment for him, even put the saxophone strap over his head. As a musician for over 80 years, he’s certainly not used to not being able to put the strap over his own head. I thought of how frustrating and humbling that must be after all these years.
After we were both set up, he blew into his horn. At first some of the notes were a bit stifled and some of them squeaked a little, but overall, the sound was solid. We started jamming on Sunny Side of the Street and as he got back into playing, you could see his whole demeanor change.
I sensed that he was suddenly lighter. A hint of a smile crept across his face, his posture was straighter, and his body was more energized. The neurons were firing down somewhat dusty pathways, but they were finding where they needed to go!
Everyone clapped, cheered him on, and told him how good he sounded. You could tell he was proud of himself. He had his old friend back and he realized music wasn’t a lost cause like he kept telling himself it was.
We kept playing jazz standards and with each passing song he became more confident and surer of himself. He was still Poppy Joe Cool, the sax player. Maybe the fingers were a little less nimble and the sound wasn’t exactly how he wanted it, but his essence was still there.
Other residents getting off the elevator stopped, listened, and cheered. They loved it. The whole scene of the great grandpa playing music with his grandson, while three great grandkids danced around with colorful streamers made everyone’s face light up.
As it turns out we came there to surprise him, but he’s the one who surprised us with his resilience. It was an amazing moment for all of us to witness the power and hope that music can bring to someone’s life.
In the end, he even asked about getting some new reeds, though he couldn’t remember the name of the company that made the reeds nor the company that he used to buy them from.
So, what I’m trying to say here is, sure music is good for your soul, sure it will make you feel and express things that have been burdening you in a way that you can’t express in any other manner. But at a certain point, when Metamucil and Depends become your most frequent grocery items, no matter how much music you play, you’re still going to forget some shit, mom.
I’m very excited to announce that the wonderful students of the Bryan Wilson Cello Studio will take the stage at Center for Modern Dance Education in Hackensack, NJ on May 21, 2023 at 4:30 PM! My students will perform, I will play some songs off my upcoming album, and there will be a special guest!
Come enjoy the music and support the next generation of young cellists!
I'm very proud to announce that I am presenting my Fearless Improvisation Workshop at the 2022 American String Teachers Association Virtual Conference. The online conference begins tonight and my session is an on-demand class so it can be accessed any time during the conference.
I hope other string teachers will find the information useful in helping their students (and in some cases themselves) start to improvise.
Here's a quick trailer so you can get a sense of the material.
If you'd like to see the whole presentation, you can visit https://www.astastrings.org/ and join the online conference.
Enjoy!
It's been an interesting year and despite the pandemic, I was able to make a lot of cool music in 2021. Here's a little recap of some fun things I did this year. Shoutout to all the amazing musicians I worked with this year and to my students for keeping me inspired!
I’m really excited to be performing with the amazing Rachael Sage for her new Poetica album release. The music is super cool and is an interesting twist between spoken word and a plethora of diverse musical styles. I’m quite honored to play with Rachael, Kelly Halloran on fiddle, Andy Mac on drums/guitar, and Trina Hamlin on harmonica/vocals. If you’re in NYC, come check out the show!
I had the great honor of premiering a new piece called, "Groove Study for 3 Cellos," by a fellow talented (bald) composer from the UK named, Christian Morris ( http://christianmorris.net).
After seeing a video I made a while ago on how to chop in 7/8, Christian was inspired to write this piece. He contacted me and wanted me to record all three parts at home in true quarantine fashion.
This piece is super cool and I had a lot of fun recording it. If you support bald people, you should watch this. There's 3X the bald of me, which is painful for me to watch, but hey, what can you do.
Blame genetics.
Seriously though, it's an awesome piece. If you'd like to purchase the sheet music, you can do so at https://www.sheetmusicplus.com/.../groove-study.../22043035
Alter Cocker: A Yiddish Word for an Old Curmudgeonly Person
I've always felt like an old curmudgeon even when I was a young child. Maybe all Jewish children feel this way, I'm not sure. I wanted to write a piece that celebrated the old curmudgeon in all of us.
I filmed this on the beach in Puerto Rico dressed up like an old man, playing shirtless on a palm tree, making dumb faces, and despite how ridiculous I looked and acted, I still ended up becoming friends with a 92 year old Holocaust survivor who saw me playing and came over to chat.
So that's the power of music...or maybe the power of being a bald and hairy cello player.
If you can believe it, this was my final project for my first year of my master's degree at New Jersey City University in the new NJCU Multi-Style Strings program headed by the extremely talented Martha Mooke.
Much love and respect to my colleagues Jennifer Frantz and Xavi Garcia Morató for doing such a fantastic job and having a great sense of humor!
Thank you to my wonderful wife, Minh, for doing the videography and Kaia for cooperating while her father made a fool of himself.
Listen in for some fun old people sayings in both English and Spanish. My favorite is, "Go Shit In Your Hat," which is something that my Grandma Roz would yell at someone who honked at her while she was driving.
Enjoy and embrace your inner alter cocker.
If there's anything that this pandemic has taught us as musicians it's that recording at home is a vital and necessary skill.
I wanted to share with you my gear set up to hopefully inspire you to start recording yourself!
You'll see that my set up is really NOT that complicated, super fancy, or mega expensive, however I get a really slick cello sound that has been featured in movies, commercials, and records.
I'll give you the gear with some quick commentary after each.
Here's the rundown:
Microphone: VintageVoice'd MJE-v250 by Michael Joly
This is a large diaphragm condenser microphone, which is what I recommend for cello. Unfortunately, Michael stopped making microphones after many years.
What's important to note is that this is a MODDED microphone. Meaning that he would take the same components of a much more expensive microphone and put them together himself.
This would result in a MUCH less expensive microphone with the same quality as something with a name brand.
I bought mine for $369 back in 2014. The Neumann U 87 which my microphone is based off of goes for $3,650 on Sweetwater.
Wow, that's expensive!
I definitely recommend doing some research into modded microphones. You can save a lot of money and get really good quality mics.
Audio Interface: Focusrite Scarlett 2i2
I can't recommend this thing enough! It's very inexpensive (only $170 USD) and gets an excellent sound.
It's so simple. You plug it into your computer via USB and then you connect your microphone via an XLR cable and that's it!
It's super portable and very easy to use and set up.
Preamp: Assembled CAPI VP26 microphone preamp
This preamp is much like a modded microphone. It is an off-brand model based on vintage API preamps that are much expensive.
It's sold as a kit and a friend of mine puts them together and sells them.
It gets an excellent and warm sound and cost me $380.
Conclusion
I just want to say that the preamp is definitely NOT necessary at the beginning if you are looking to get into recording.
Get a microphone (it doesn't have to be super fancy or expensive, again check out modded mics), a microphone stand, an XLR cable, and the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2.
If you have a Mac you can use Garageband (comes free with every Mac) as your Digital Audio Workstation and if you have a PC you can download Audacity for free.
Personally, I use Logic Pro X, which is the more advanced version of Garageband.
I am NOT a gear guy! I'm not one of those people that loves gear or really knows that much about it at all.
I just know I get a good sound with the gear that I have and it's not that complicated or super expensive.
That's why I wanted to share this stuff to help you get started.
As always, if you want some fun things to jam on and record, check out String Jams!
Have fun and get recording!
I'm very excited to play some new pieces, including some new comedy songs, this Saturday April 24th at 8:30 PM EST at the Cello Madness Congress.
I'll be sharing the stage with some extremely talented and creative cellists, Jake Matthew Rivers and Michael Fecskes.
Follow the link to grab a ticket and support these amazing artists.
Here’s a link to the Facebook Event: Cello Madness Congress Saturday April 24, 2021 at 8:30 EST
String Jams Chop Contest:
Okay so here's the contest!
Take any piece from either of my String Jams books and add some chopping to it.
Be creative! It could be a different version of the melody with some chops, chops during the solo section, or anything you can think of!
Record a video of yourself playing and upload it to Facebook and/or Instagram with the hashtag #stringjams
You can upload it to YouTube if that's easier for you and send me an email with the link.
First Prize: Two Free 45 minute lessons plus the sheet music/backing tracks to my first album, Oso Perezoso.
Second Prize: One Free 45 minute lesson and sheet music/backing tracks to Ice-9 and Swins
Third Prize: Sheet music/backing tracks to Ice-9 and Swins
Contest ends at 11:59 EST on May 7th, 2021.
After the contest ends, I'll send an email with a link to all the submissions and you can vote for your favorite (it could be yourself).
I wanted to share with you a video playlist of my musical collaborations from this turbulent COVID year: A COVID Music Retrospective.
But first - a little backstory.
My birthday is March 13, which coincidentally was the last day before lockdown in my town of Teaneck, NJ in 2020.
That day I had a small jam session at my house and by the time people were leaving, I was getting notice that my town was going into quarantine.
I was supposed to be playing a wedding gig in 2 days, but called the contractor and told him I couldn't do it.
A year later and I just celebrated my birthday in Puerto Rico while hiding out here for the winter.
This ordinarily wouldn't have been possible, but given that there are no gigs to play and everything is online, we decided we could at least go to a beautiful place where we could be outside.
When the pandemic started, I decided to offer some free workshops on improvisation using my new books, String Jams, to try boost some morale.
People signed up so fast I had to add more.
I was so happy that people were genuinely interested in the topic and that I had an outlet to focus on other than the doom and gloom of the virus.
Then my wife suggested that I collaborate with some of my Vietnamese musician friends (we lived in Vietnam from 2018 - 2019).
That spawned a number of collaborations with Vietnamese, Scottish, Puerto Rican, and American artists that I'm really proud of.
For me, the music has a wide variety of feelings and moods: joy, sorrow, contemplation, anger.
What do you hear?
Not to get all sappy, but music has always given me a sense of purpose, and boy did I need it after such a difficult year.
I hope these videos inspire you to write your own music and do your own collaborations.
COVID sucks, but it did help me create some cool music, so I guess that's looking at the bright side?
Let's hope things continue to get better.
I am very excited to hear the cello I recorded for composers, Ryan Rapsys and Scott McRae, for the series, Red Pawn! I'm featured in the opening sequence and throughout the score. Many thanks to the composers for the great music!
I had the immense pleasure to collaborate with the amazing multi-percussionist, Georgie.
We were recording for a concert and the vibes were good so we decided to do some completely improvised numbers. I really like how this one came out.
To be able to play with someone who has such a deep sense of groove and musicality is a true gift.
This was recorded in the very beautiful San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Enjoy the music and check out Georgie, he’s the real deal!
I recently released some FREE sheet music and backing tracks from my book, Beginner String Jams.
If you'd like to download them for FREE, click here: FREE Sheet Music and Backing Tracks!
Just enter your email address and name and you'll get a series of emails from me with the sheet music, backing tracks, and videos on different improvisational exercises.
Enjoy it, have fun, and let me know what you think, I'd love to hear your feedback!
Last June, at a music residency in Hoi An, Vietnam, I had the great pleasure of meeting and making music with Esther Swift, one of Scotland's premiere musicians. Esther is an immensely talented composer, harpist, and singer who brings a really personal and deep connection to her music.
We collaborated on a song which she wrote for a friend, Helen Mcleod, who unfortunately passed away. This song is dedicated to Helen and we hope that it brings a sense of peace and calm reflection to those who listen.