THE USUAL SUSPECTS
Dr. Gio Washington-Wright's Top Los Angeles Studio Musicians Tribute Site
JIM SELF
EQUIPMENT:
YAMAHA MOUTHPIECES AND TUBAS.RECOMMENDED LISTENING: “BASSET HOUND BLUES” (D’NOTE RECORDS).
TRIVIA: JIM WAS THE VOICE OF THE MOTHERSHIP IN “CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND”.
WEBSITE: www.jimself.com
JIM WAS BORN IN FRANKLIN, PENNSYLVANIA BUT GREW UP IN OIL CITY, PENNSYLVANIA. HE ATTENDED COLLEGE AT INDIANA UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY, AND WENT ON TO GET A D.M.A. FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA.
JIM HAS PLAYED ON OVER 900 MOVIE SOUNDTRACKS. HE IS A THREE-TIME WINNER OF THE N.A.R.A.S. “MOST VALUABLE TUBA PLAYER” AWARD, RECEIVING EMERITUS STATUS IN 1987. HE ALSO HOLDS PRINCIPAL TUBA POSITIONS IN THE PACIFIC, PASADENA, HOLLYWOOD BOWL, LOS ANGELES MUSIC OPERA, AND OPERA PACIFIC ORCHESTRAS.
HIS RECENT CREDITS INCLUDE “ICE AGE”, “THE SCORPION KING”, “DREAMCATCHER”, “TERMINATOR 3”, AND “BRUCE ALMIGHTY”.
JOHN VAN HOUTEN
John Van Houten holds a Bachelors degree and a Masters degree in tuba performance from the University of Southern California. He has performed with a wide variety of music ensembles, including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Opera, the Long Beach Opera, the New West Symphony, the Pacific Symphony, the Long Beach Symphony, the American Winds Concert Band, the California Wind Orchestra, the Long Beach Municipal Band, and the Joffrey Ballet.
His performing experience also includes phonograph recording with such diverse artists as Burt Bacharach, Elvis Costello, Joni Mitchell, and Alice Cooper, in addition to television, records, jingles and a wide variety of motion pictures, such as Mission Impossible, Crimson Tide, Dracula, Species, Virtuosity, Copycat, Mars Attacks, Murder at 1600, The Thin Red Line, Men in Black, Titan A.E., X-Men, Mod Squad, Twin Dragons, Ready to Rumble, Dude, Where's My Car, Pearl Harbor, Swordfish, and Planet of the Apes.
Mr. Van Houten has also served as music contractor/orchestra manager on numerous film, commercial and live orchestral productions. He also currently teaches at several universities and colleges in Southern California area, including Biola University, Azusa Pacific University, and Cerritos College.
DOUG TORNQUIST
Tubist Doug Tornquist plays tuba throughout southern California with a variety of orchestra and chamber ensembles. He is a member of the Santa Barbara, Long Beach and New West Symphony Orchestras and on the faculty of California State Universities at Northridge and Fullerton, the University of Southern California, and Occidental College, as well as CalArts. He performs regularly with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Los Angeles Opera and on various film and television scores. He holds degrees from USC and Wichita State University and was a prize winner in the solo competition at the 1997 International Tuba Conference in Riva del Garda, Italy.
FRED GREENE
Fred Greene studied tuba at University of Southern California with Tommy Johnson and Jim Self. He has played with virtually every orchestra in Southern California and has performed for numerous ballet companies, including the Kirov Ballet, the American Ballet Theater, the Joffrey Ballet, and the Royal Ballets of England and Sweden. In addition, he has performed in orchestras for such artists as Ray Charles, John Denver, James Taylor, "The Three Tenors" (Carreras, Domingo, Pavarotti), Randy Newman, and Al Jarreau. As an active studio musician, he has performed for the soundtracks of over 70 motion pictures and many television series and commercials.
