Stiletto Brass kicks up its red heels in Sarasota

When some people see the word “stiletto,” they imagine knives. Trumpeter Amy Gilreath thinks of high-heeled shoes. That’s why she chose the name Stiletto Brass when she and tuba player Velvet Brown formed the all-female quintet back in 2010.

It’s not just a marketing shtick. Members of Stiletto Brass really do enjoy shoe shopping together in the spare time. They also like to kick up their heels, mostly on stage.

Sarasota music fans will get to see Stiletto Brass strut their stuff on Friday, Sept. 27, when they play at Holley Hall under the auspices of the Pops Orchestra.

The Stiletto Brass last performed in Sarasota as the featured guest at the Pops Orchestra’s “Jersey Boys, California Girls” concert in February 2018. When Pops conductor Robyn Bell heard that Stiletto Brass was planning to tour Florida again, “I jumped at the chance for the Pops to host them,” she says.

Adds Bell, “We are thrilled to bring this recital to our Cultural Coast, with the support of Pops board member Amy Schachter, for all to enjoy. Audience members will be amazed at the power, sound and versatility of this brass quintet. They are show-stoppers!”

Talk about a ringing endorsement! The Stiletto Brass definitely has some big shoes to fill. Make that tall shoes. After all, they do wear red high heels for their performances.

All the members of the Stiletto Brass — Gilreath, trumpeter Susan Rider, horn player Stacie Mickens, tuba player Brown and trombonist Natalie Mannix — have “day jobs,” mostly as music professors.

But their colleges — the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana for Gilreath and Penn State for Brown — let them take some time off for professional development, experiences that they pass along to their students when they return to the classroom.

Given the packed schedule of the band’s members, Stiletto Brass sometimes performs with guest players. In Sarasota, Megan Boutin will play trombone while Chicago musician and teacher Bethany Vaughan will serve as the band’s second trumpeter.

For members of Stiletto Brass, it wasn’t always an easy decision to play a brass instrument when they were growing up.

In a telephone interview, Gilreath said, “Velvet Brown, our tuba player, and myself came through the public school system when young ladies didn’t play brass instruments. It’s been kind of a hard road.”

One inspiration was Marie Speziale, the first female trumpet player to play in a major orchestra. Speziale retired from the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in November 1996. Today, Gilreath calls Speziale a “dear friend of mine and Velvet’s.”

For their Sarasota recital, Stiletto Brass will play a program called “Struttin’ with the Stiletto Brass.” It will feature selections in tune with the “struttin’” theme. These include a piece by trumpeter and composer Jens Lindemann about dodging taxi cabs in London called “When a Body Meets a Body,” “Central Park in the Morning” by David Chesky and “Struttin’ with Some BBQ” by composer Kenneth Abeling.

Other selections include an arrangement of George Gershwin’s “Summertime” and Gershwin’s “Someone to Watch Over Me.” Rounding out the program will be a piece called “Scarpa” (shoe in Italian) that was commissioned for Stiletto Brass.

Adding some masculine energy to the show is the celebrated trumpet player Vince DeMartino, who was once Gilreath’s music teacher and now is a friend and collaborator.

Courtesy image

DeMartino and his wife Patti moved to the Sarasota area three years ago so Patti could pursue treatment for a rare type of cancer at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa. 

They still maintain a house in Kentucky, where DiMartino is the spokesman for Pickett Brass and Blackburn Trumpets in Lexington.

A native of Long Island, DeMartino says he has been playing music for as long as he can remember. “I’ve loved music forever,” he said in a telephone interview. “I played in the marching band, the concert band, the jazz band. I would volunteer to play ‘Taps’ at funerals.”

DeMartino’s list of credits spans the academic, classical and popular music worlds. He began teaching at the University of Kentucky when he was just 23 and has been an artist-faculty member of the Skidmore Jazz Institute since its inception in 1988.

Classical music fans will be familiar with DiMartino’s work as a soloist with such symphony orchestras as Buffalo, Sante Fe, Orlando, Rochester, New York, and Cincinnati.

Cincinnati was where DiMartino met Speziale. “She is one of the greatest people I know,” he says. “She’s from Tampa. She took me to the West Tampa Sandwich Shop for the first time. It’s got the best Cuban anywhere.”

Despite his affiliation with many elite organizations, DiMartino believes in getting involved in music at the local level. Since arriving in Florida three years ago, he’s played at Latin Quarters on Beneva Road and with the Lakewood Ranch Woodwind Ensemble.

“The most important thing you can do is play in your community,” DiMartino says.