Subject: TROMBONE-L Digest - 19 Sep 2002 to 20 Sep 2002 (#2002-69) There are 36 messages totalling 1580 lines in this issue. Topics of the day: 1. Richard Struass excerpts for sale 2. International Trombone Association/Festival-New Directions 3. Info on Don Drummond, other Jamaican trombonists? (2) 4. Harry Betts at BonesWest--reminder (2) 5. Wellington's Victory and other things 6. Slide measurements 7. FW: [TBN-L] Embouchure problem? 8. FW: [TubaEuph] Things That Go Phoomph In The Night (3) 9. Worst Gig (9) 10. Borgogni Accompaniments (2) 11. What was your BEST gig ever? (12) 12. BILL WATROUS FAN BASED WEB SITE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 19 Sep 2002 22:05:32 -0700 From: Gordon Cherry Subject: Richard Struass excerpts for sale Dear colleagues, An extensive collection is now available of Richard Strauss's major works for orchestra. These are symphonic excerpts for Low Brass - Trombones and Tuba - compiled by Gordon Cherry, Principal Trombone of the Vancouver Symphony. This music has the "Complete" unabridged, uncut, correct excerpts professionally scanned from the original parts as played in all major orchestras & is available on CD-ROM, ready to be printed up on your printer using Acrobat Reader. The following symphonies are available in pdf format (compatible with PC's or Macs): Alpine Symphony Also Sprach Zarathustra Aus Italien Death and Transfiguration Die Frau Ohne Schatten (Suite from the opera with HUGE trombone solo) Don Quixote (with correct transposed tenor tuba part) Ein Heldenleben (with correct transposed tenor tuba part) Intermezzo Macbeth (with bass trumpet part) Dance of the Seven Veils from Salome Rosenkavalier Suite Symphonia Domestic Till Eulenspiegel There are almost 200 pages of excellent excerpt material in excellent condition. Use them for private practice, section practice, audition preparation,backup parts for your library and much more. If you are a teacher, you should have the complete parts for your students to practice from. If you are a serious trombonist you should have every one of these pieces going in your sleep!Print out only what you need. No need for bulky and expensive excerpt books. Carry around your whole excerpt library on a CD. This collection comes from used parts, so there are markings, etc. These are not "virgin parts" but have markings including breathing, phrasing, tuning and rhythmic reminders, as in all well used orchestral music. Satisfaction 100% Guaranteed, so there is no risk in purchasing whatsoever. Pricing is $15.00 U.S.$ for the collection of the music above on CD-ROM in pdf format. Payment by check,money order,PayPal or Billpoint. Shipping & handling by airmail within North America is $2.00 or $3.00 internationally. Check out my new web site at www.Cherry-Classics.com & see my other collections of music for brass. Ask me about the Mahler Symphonies and Wagner Ring Cycle collections also. To order: Just send me an email or go onto to eBay and do a search for the collections. Best wishes, Gordon Cherry Principal Trombone, Vancouver Symphony ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 06:30:03 -0400 From: sabutin Subject: Re: International Trombone Association/Festival-New Directions >The timing of this conversation is very interesting to me, because this >past weekend I was just turned on (maybe re-introduced is more accurate) >to a very interesting and often trombone heavy style of Jamaican music. >I got a last minute call to play with a band called 007, which does rock >steady music, I was playing trombone but subbing for a guitar player, >but that's another story. Rock steady is the style of Jamaican music >that falls roughly between ska and reggae, both chronologically and >rhythmically. Don Drummond, the famous Jamaican trombonist is heard on >many of the rock steady recordings. Drummond, interestingly, is one of >the few trombonists to influence his genre significantly beyond just the >trombonists, but I'll skip the history lesson. Anyway, I guess I am >just adding that there is a strong trombone tradition in Jamaican music, >and I would love to see that included in the multiformity. Drummond >tragically is no longer alive, but there are others (DG help me out >here). > >Jeff Albert > >www.jeffalbert.com > ========== Thanks Jeff. Anyone on the list who knows more about this? Don Drummond, rock steady, other trombonists who have continued his tradition? Sam ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 07:03:45 -0400 From: sabutin Subject: Info on Don Drummond, other Jamaican trombonists? Hi... I am posting this a 2nd time, under a more specific heading in case people skip the other one. Sorry for the clutter... S. ========================= >The timing of this conversation is very interesting to me, because this >past weekend I was just turned on (maybe re-introduced is more accurate) >to a very interesting and often trombone heavy style of Jamaican music. >I got a last minute call to play with a band called 007, which does rock >steady music, I was playing trombone but subbing for a guitar player, >but that's another story. Rock steady is the style of Jamaican music >that falls roughly between ska and reggae, both chronologically and >rhythmically. Don Drummond, the famous Jamaican trombonist is heard on >many of the rock steady recordings. Drummond, interestingly, is one of >the few trombonists to influence his genre significantly beyond just the >trombonists, but I'll skip the history lesson. Anyway, I guess I am >just adding that there is a strong trombone tradition in Jamaican music, >and I would love to see that included in the multiformity. Drummond >tragically is no longer alive, but there are others (DG help me out >here). > >Jeff Albert > >www.jeffalbert.com > ========== Thanks Jeff. Anyone on the list who knows more about this? Don Drummond, rock steady, other trombonists who have continued his tradition? Sam ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 07:30:47 -0500 From: Jeff Albert Subject: Re: Info on Don Drummond, other Jamaican trombonists? I know Drummond is no longer living. There is another cat named Rico Rodriguez, just goes by Rico, I am pretty sure he is still active. Dave Gibson might know more. There is a cat I heard in a tpt/tenor/bone horn section with Burning Spear that seemed to be the real deal, but I don't know his name. I'll see what I can find out. Jeff Albert www.jeffalbert.com > -----Original Message----- > From: Trombones and related issues forum. [mailto:TROMBONE- > L@PO.MISSOURI.EDU] On Behalf Of sabutin > Sent: Friday, September 20, 2002 6:04 AM > To: TROMBONE-L@PO.MISSOURI.EDU > Subject: [TBN-L] Info on Don Drummond, other Jamaican trombonists? > > Hi... > > I am posting this a 2nd time, under a more specific heading in > case people skip the other one. Sorry for the clutter... > > S. > > ========================= > > >The timing of this conversation is very interesting to me, because this > >past weekend I was just turned on (maybe re-introduced is more accurate) > >to a very interesting and often trombone heavy style of Jamaican music. > >I got a last minute call to play with a band called 007, which does rock > >steady music, I was playing trombone but subbing for a guitar player, > >but that's another story. Rock steady is the style of Jamaican music > >that falls roughly between ska and reggae, both chronologically and > >rhythmically. Don Drummond, the famous Jamaican trombonist is heard on > >many of the rock steady recordings. Drummond, interestingly, is one of > >the few trombonists to influence his genre significantly beyond just the > >trombonists, but I'll skip the history lesson. Anyway, I guess I am > >just adding that there is a strong trombone tradition in Jamaican music, > >and I would love to see that included in the multiformity. Drummond > >tragically is no longer alive, but there are others (DG help me out > >here). > > > >Jeff Albert > > > >www.jeffalbert.com > > > ========== > > Thanks Jeff. > > Anyone on the list who knows more about this? > > Don Drummond, rock steady, other trombonists who have continued > his tradition? > > Sam ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 07:13:44 -0700 From: Ralph Bigelow Subject: Harry Betts at BonesWest--reminder A reminder for those in the LosAngeles/Orange County areas: BonesWest will host Harry Betts in a special program of his music tomorrow, Saturday, September 21, 2002. All trombonists and other friends of Harry are welcome to attend. See the BonesWest website for details as to time and place: http://boneswest.org. Ralph Bigelow BonesWest ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 10:16:16 -0400 From: David Buckley Subject: Wellington's Victory and other things Just signed back on the list after a very pleasant 2 weeks in Vancouver during which I enjoyed a rehearsal with Gordon Cherry's trombone choir at UBC. Much to my surprise my former section mate from Weston Silver Band was conducting the practice. Good to see Nick, a former student of Frank Harmantis at U of T, now in the Master's program with Gord. Also found out that Andrew Poirier, a former student of Gord's and the 2000 winner of the ITA Larry Wiehe award is now in a master's program in San Froncisco with Mark Lawrence. These kids sure do grow up. Back to the topic. Heard part of Wellington's Victory on CBC this morning. Did Beethoven ever write a worse piece than this? Just proves that even geniuses -genii?- can have bad days I guess. Any comments from those with wider musical knowledge than mine? Rehearsed Schubert 7/9 for the first time on Wednesday. Are there ever some nice bone sounds. Of couse after the first entry we got the routine "this is not Mahler or Tschaikovsky trombones. Back off". Funny because I had listened to an old Berlin Phil recording where the trombones enter at about 3 fortes - very shocking. Also listened to a very beautiful Cleveland CD. Much different to say the least. Can't imagine what von Karajan had in mind. Dave. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 08:15:34 -0700 From: Steve Gamble Subject: Re: Slide measurements I have to repeatedly tell most of my students not to use their instruments to prop themselves up. (Practically all of those are slouchy boys.) It doesn't take long before their slides are very sluggish. About the dent in the slide at the bell. I keep a supply of DEG slide protectors for my overactive beginners. You have to whack the slide pretty hard before it begins to dent. In college, my teacher (Gail Wilson) and I took an old slide, put these sleeves on it, and proceeded to hit it again a chair. It took quite a vigorous swing to put a dent in the slide big enough to affect the action. Steve Gamble, Librarian Tucson Symphony Orchestra 2175 N. 6th Ave. Tucson, AZ 85705 sgamble@tucsonsymphony.org 520-792-9155 x118 520-792-9314 fax 520-991-7056 cel -----Original Message----- From: Trombones and related issues forum. [mailto:TROMBONE-L@PO.MISSOURI.EDU] On Behalf Of Gabriel Langfur Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2002 9:14 AM To: TROMBONE-L@PO.MISSOURI.EDU Subject: Re: [TBN-L] Slide measurements --- Eric & Candice Swanson wrote: > Frank Doting wrote: > > > 1) I am not sure how the outer slide tubes (handslide) > get bent. Most of > > these are very gradual bends over the total length > ........ Comments? > > I have always suspected that a lot of these bent slides > come from people > resting the horn on the ground. In other words, the > weight of the horn, and > probably the player's arm too, is causing the slides to > bend out (or possibly > in) from the player setting the horn on the end of the > slide and sometimes even > leaning on it. Yeah, there's that. There's also the habit of sitting on the case that I know I used to do when I was in middle school. There's also the fact that student horns are manufactured quickly and cheaply using frames to hold the tubes in place while they are soldered together. Brass has memory, and will often bend back over time after being straightened. Student imnstruments don't get put together carefully enough tp prevent that. Same thing holds for the twist at the top brace. Gabe __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! http://sbc.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 16:19:48 +0100 From: Adrian Drover Subject: Re: Harry Betts at BonesWest--reminder From: "Ralph Bigelow" > A reminder for those in the LosAngeles/Orange County areas: > > BonesWest will host Harry Betts in a special program of his > music tomorrow, Saturday, September 21, 2002. All trombonists > and other friends of Harry are welcome to attend. See the > BonesWest website for details as to time and place: > http://boneswest.org. > > Ralph Bigelow > BonesWest Sorry I can't make this one Ralph. Will be travelling in opposite direction towards Greece. My very best wishes to Harry and all the guys in BW. Cheers, A. Adrian Drover ADIOS, Scotland www.adios.co.uk Personal email: adrian@adios.co.uk ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 08:27:05 -0700 From: Steve Gamble Subject: FW: [TBN-L] Embouchure problem? Hi Everyone, OK the votes are in with all precincts reporting a turnout of approximately .5%, with the results concerning this hot-button issue unanimously in favor. So without further doodoo.... Steve Gamble, Librarian Tucson Symphony Orchestra 2175 N. 6th Ave. Tucson, AZ 85705 sgamble@tucsonsymphony.org 520-792-9155 x118 520-792-9314 fax 520-991-7056 cel -----Original Message----- From: Steve Gamble [mailto:sgamble@tucsonsymphony.org] Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2002 10:05 AM To: 'David Wilken' Subject: RE: [TBN-L] Embouchure problem? Hi Dave, To address your first comment, yes I actually have had great results with helping people (hundreds of 'em) find their natural embouchure doing what I was attempting to explain. Which brings me to your last point. I knew it would be a big risk to try and explain this "procedure" in writing, but I felt compelled to try. I appreciate your comments if for no other reason than they are a challenge to do better next time I want to put something in writing. Not so folks won't disagree with what I think, but to be properly understood. Still, I think you may have misinterpreted my use of the word "natural" as meaning natural for someone other than the subject of the diagnosis. This would not be what I meant. Following my suggestions can result in some fairly unconventional configurations. However, the vast majority of my students who have solved problems of sound, articulation, endurance, and range, following this advice have ended up with conventional embouchures. This, of course, was because their embouchure was the problem. I don't screw around with a student's embouchure unless I see that it is actually the problem. I'm the last one to insist on any one particular thing being the only way to do something, sometimes to a fault. What I mean is that some kids want to be told what to do without actually discovering anything. When I sense that this will be bad for this particular kid in the long run, I won't do it, even if it means frustrating them a bit. In reality, this means most of them (only a few get frustrated). I would respond to your problem with my use of "natural-looking" pretty much the same way. I mean natural-looking for the student when I say that. Starting from an unaffected plain face in the mirror, the student has the beginnings of the perfect embouchure. Anything that causes great contortions and distortions is probably not going to work very well. Keeping things in the ballpark of normal (for them) is what I was thinking when I used the word "relatively." I agree completely with you about sound being first. But sometimes visual cues are what you have to start with. And, once again and most critically, these visual cues are cues that come from the student not the teacher. This may not be obvious, but every teaching technique I have developed over the last ca. 27 years has been based on finding the starting point, the real one, every day, every minute...always finding the genuine starting point. That's the thing at which the student is an honest-to-God expert. When visual cues are all you have, that's what you use. Please forgive me if this sounds like a rant. That is the furthest from my intentions. Warmest regards, Steve (plays off to the left side) Gamble, Librarian Tucson Symphony Orchestra 2175 N. 6th Ave. Tucson, AZ 85705 sgamble@tucsonsymphony.org 520-792-9155 x118 520-792-9314 fax 520-991-7056 cel -----Original Message----- From: David Wilken [mailto:dave@trombone.org] Sent: Wednesday, September 18, 2002 8:40 AM To: Steve Gamble Subject: Re: [TBN-L] Embouchure problem? On 9/18/02 8:30 AM, "Steve Gamble" wrote: > Try this: Find your natural embouchure by free buzzing. Steve, in your experience is this really a good way of diagnosing an individual's natural embouchure? From my experiences, I would have to disagree with you. Free buzzing is in many ways very different from how we actually play the instrument. While I do recommend free buzzing as an exercise for strengthening the mouth corners, I've found that it's usefulness to diagnose embouchure problems is very limited. Lip position while free buzzing is often radically different from how that person plays in a mouthpiece, often exactly reversed (as in the case of upstream players). That said, there are some players who have almost exactly the same lip position while playing as while free buzzing. Most of these players seem to place the mouthpiece higher on the lips and play with a downstream embouchure normally. The real trick is working out if you or your student will fit this type or not. >There are a few > players whose air stream is directed upward, you might be one. While researching for my dissertation I looked at over 30 trombonists, mostly college level and players who had college music degrees, but also a few high school trombonists. Out of that pool of subjects roughly 1/3 were upstream players, which I would consider to be more than a few. I believe that if traditional brass pedagogy would acknowledge lower mouthpiece placement and upstream embouchures as being acceptable for certain individuals that we would see a lot more of this type of embouchure. In fact, I see a lot more upstream trumpet players than French horn players, in a large part due to a willingness of trumpet players/teachers to allow an individual to find his or her own unique embouchure. Traditional horn pedagogy is much more rigid than trumpet pedagogy. The larger the mouthpiece size however, the larger the chin needs to be to place the mouthpiece lower on the lips. It's hard to find upstream tuba players, for example, because the mouthpiece size is so large. I have trouble doubling on tuba because I cannot place the mouthpiece low enough to allow me to play efficiently for my embouchure type. > Let things go where they > want to go, developing at the pace they want to develop. Don't force > anything. Remember that as you develop a good range, there will be a > similarity in the way your embouchure is configured between the set for > one extreme and the other. What I mean is that if you have to do a > drastic change in your embouchure to get a particular note, you are > probably on the wrong track. This is excellent advice! I wholeheartedly agree with this. > As long as your starting point is > relatively correct and natural-looking, and you are patient and > forgiving of yourself, you will be fine over time. My last point of contention is your use of the terms "relatively correct" and "natural-looking." What do you mean by "correct?" What is correct for one player can be exactly opposite of what is correct for another. Why should we be concerned with how things look? Although we can often get visual clues by watching someone's embouchure, the end product we are concerned with is sound. I know some very fine players who play way off to one side of their lips, some who place the mouthpiece very high, and others who place the mouthpiece very low. All sound great. These players found the placement that worked best for them because it got results, not because it looked natural. Sound and feel first, visual clues last. As always, you should take everything I say with a big grain of salt. Although these ideas seem to be gaining more acceptance in the academic community of brass teachers through some recent research in the subject of embouchures, they are somewhat controversial. An experienced teacher who works with you always has the advantage over someone trying to diagnose embouchure problems over the internet. Dave -- David Wilken dave@trombone.org http://faculty.adams.edu/~dmwilken ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 12:14:45 -0400 From: Walter Barrett Subject: FW: [TubaEuph] Things That Go Phoomph In The Night I saw this on the TubaEuph list and couldn't stop laughing! Hmmm, one way to get kids interested in the tuba... Walter Barrett "Glenn's death turned out to be a good career move." - Artie Shaw, on Glenn Miller Yamaha Artist/Clinician Tenor, Alto, Bass Trombones Euphonium Bass Trumpet Tuba > To: TubaEuph@yahoogroups.com > Subject: [TubaEuph] Things That Go Phoomph In The Night > > Things That Go Phoomph In The Night > > > CINCINNATI, OH - Police Chief Tom Streetcar held a news conference > today, to announce a new "get tough" policy on a local practice known > as "tubing". > > A small group of unemployed musicians calling themselves Wake Up > Artists has been bothering residents of some of the wealthier suburbs > of Cincinnati. They creep up to the houses in the middle of the night > until they're right under a bedroom window, and then give several > mighty blasts on their tubas, before running off. > > Mrs. Lenore Chadwick was awakened at around 3:30am last Thursday, by > the first few seconds of the William Tell Overture. "These musicians > think it's funny," she says angrily, "but I was plain scared. I > didn't know if it was an earthquake, or the end of the world, or > what!" > > The Wake Up Artists sent anonymous mail to the Cincinnati Tribune, > claiming that what they are trying to do is wake Cincinnati up to the > plight of artists and musicians. They say that it's especially > important to support the arts in a down economy. > > Interest in tubas has soared in recent weeks, with many teens choosing > that as their instrument in band class. It's not uncommon to see a > group of young "tubers", as they call themselves, sitting on the lawn > and jamming. > ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 11:42:38 -0500 From: "Michael B. McCreless" Subject: Worst Gig What is your worst gig played. I remember playing at a high school in south Alabama, when I was in the Air Force, called Beauregard High. The hall had spittoons every few feet. We were a jazz band and you can imagine the cool reception from students in the heart of "cuntry" music. I swear I thought every male student had a bag of chewing tobacco in their back pockets. Michael McCreless Alabama ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 13:20:38 -0400 From: Dale Cruse Subject: Re: FW: [TubaEuph] Things That Go Phoomph In The Night Cool story! Too bad it's fake. "Tom Streetcar" is not the name of the Cincinnati police chief. And as far as I can tell the Cincinnati Tribune hasn't been published in quite some time. And forgive my ignorance, but do the tubas play at the intro to the William Tell Overture? --- Dale Cruse dale@dalecruse.com www.dalecruse.com On 9/20/02 12:14 PM, "Walter Barrett" wrote: > I saw this on the TubaEuph list and couldn't stop laughing! Hmmm, one way to > get kids interested in the tuba... > > Walter Barrett > > "Glenn's death turned out to be a good career move." > - Artie Shaw, on Glenn Miller > > > Yamaha Artist/Clinician > Tenor, Alto, Bass Trombones > Euphonium > Bass Trumpet > Tuba > >> To: TubaEuph@yahoogroups.com >> Subject: [TubaEuph] Things That Go Phoomph In The Night >> >> Things That Go Phoomph In The Night >> >> >> CINCINNATI, OH - Police Chief Tom Streetcar held a news conference >> today, to announce a new "get tough" policy on a local practice known >> as "tubing". >> >> A small group of unemployed musicians calling themselves Wake Up >> Artists has been bothering residents of some of the wealthier suburbs >> of Cincinnati. They creep up to the houses in the middle of the night >> until they're right under a bedroom window, and then give several >> mighty blasts on their tubas, before running off. >> >> Mrs. Lenore Chadwick was awakened at around 3:30am last Thursday, by >> the first few seconds of the William Tell Overture. "These musicians >> think it's funny," she says angrily, "but I was plain scared. I >> didn't know if it was an earthquake, or the end of the world, or >> what!" >> >> The Wake Up Artists sent anonymous mail to the Cincinnati Tribune, >> claiming that what they are trying to do is wake Cincinnati up to the >> plight of artists and musicians. They say that it's especially >> important to support the arts in a down economy. >> >> Interest in tubas has soared in recent weeks, with many teens choosing >> that as their instrument in band class. It's not uncommon to see a >> group of young "tubers", as they call themselves, sitting on the lawn >> and jamming. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 12:33:05 -0500 From: Nancy Vogt Subject: Borgogni Accompaniments Anybody have a copy of volumes 4, 5 or 6 of the Bordogni melodious etude accompaniments (piano part, Tezak edition) they'd like to sell? I own the first three volumes but have had no luck tracking down the rest. Thanks, Nancy Vogt ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 10:52:02 -0700 From: Gabriel Langfur Subject: Re: FW: [TubaEuph] Things That Go Phoomph In The Night --- Walter Barrett wrote: > > A small group of unemployed musicians calling > themselves Wake Up > > Artists has been bothering residents of some of the > wealthier suburbs > > of Cincinnati. They creep up to the houses in the > middle of the night > > until they're right under a bedroom window, and then > give several > > mighty blasts on their tubas, before running off. One question: how exactly do you "run off" with a tuba? Gabe __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! http://sbc.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 13:20:47 -0500 From: Nick Walenczak Subject: Re: Worst Gig I don't have any worst gig stories... Just horrible memories of bad conductors. The one I was under this summer (who shall remain nameless) seemed to despise the brass. Typical. But the manner in which he treated the musicians and even the vocal coach for the opera was attrocious. When the vocal coach was double checking about the change in the scheduling, this conductor gave him a patronizing stare and said: "I'm not going to tell you one more time. THIS! Is the new schedule. The old one is out!" Such disrespect for people he works with. He also came down rather hard on the horn players who missed their entrance ("This is unprofessional... blah blah blah"), when it was actually his conducting that was at fault. He would, on occassion, not conduct some beats... which is especially annoying in the middle of a ritard. I had a bass trombone hit on 4... he stopped conduction on 3 and didn't start untill 2 of the enxt measure. I did the best I could, of course... but coming down hard on the french hornists who tried,! but couldn't follow is unnecessarily rough. In the prelude to Tristan and Isole, there's a bar of silence. While doing the pick up to the next bar, he performed a huge, obnoxious snort. I heard it all the way in the back... so I'm sure the audience heard it. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or to cry. Let's just say that most of the brass players had to suddenly stoop down to tie their shoelaces. In the front, we could see some of the strings smiling and shaking their heads. The associate conductor and I went out for for a drink or two... and he managed to convince me that "va fanculo" (or similar) means "Thank you very much." I knew by the angry looks that I was getting that it couldn't be nice. Heh... evil bugger! Tricked me... not too hard when you know little Italian. Then... there's the birds. It's seems the conductor wasn't alone in his dislike of the brass (especially the trombones). Let's just say we heard a SPLAT!... and we're like "What was that?" We look and we see our principal trombonist leaving in a hurry. Nobody likes us. :-( I'm always very peculiar about my stand and chair... don't like them being moved and unaligned. So I got my stuff all set, the orchestra warmed up. I left for lunch/snack as they started rehearsing Don Giovanni (for those of you who know this... let's just say I had some time to kill). I come back two hours later... just began the second act... plenty of time. However, during the break the orchestra took, the bassoonist decided to take MY stand and MY chair. I came in to the pit... no place for me. There was one chair (next to the ever-so-kind bassoonist) free... but no stand. I was next to the string basses, and there was one stand that was just holding the full score to Don Giovanni (she was the other conductor on this opera)... so I borrow the stand. I was planning on sticking my part right on top (since the trombone part is ever so extensive)... but the Bassist decides she'd rather take it of and drop it on the floor. See previous paragraph about the bird. Lots of fun stories... there we the bus passes that we were promised... that somehow never materialized. The Elixer of Love performance that was half in the dark because SOMEBODY forgot the extension cord for the bloody lights. The performance that began 45 minutes late because the conductor was nowhere to be found. The time when it rained on our parade... rehearsal, rather... and we made due with rehearsing in a tiny enclosed room... whilst playing The Flying Dutchman. The 7 hour rehearsals (4-11 PM) followed by a sectional at 8 AM. The missing harp... as had two harpists... but only one harp between them. The hiring of a principal clarinetist... even though we had 3 already who could handle it. The 5 (and you thought ONE was bad) oboists. The 3 cellos. I'm glad I had those experiences... gives me good stories (did I mention the addition of one beat in the 11/4 bar in R.O.S?). Good experiences are good... but what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. Though, I must say, I was impressed by how well the other musicians made due with the situation they were in. Such a strong bunch... the strings especially. For such a little section, they produced a lot of sound. Ah... the good ol' days... three months ago. ;-) -Nick Walenczak Bass Trombonist Williamsville, NY -- __________________________________________________________ Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 14:23:40 -0500 From: Shaun Hillen Subject: Re: Worst Gig My worst gig involved playing big band music at a snowbird (a.k.a. winter texan) r.v. park in south texas for three hours with a grand total of 10 people in the crowd. I think I got 4 bucks. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 15:47:40 -0400 From: sabutin Subject: What was your BEST gig ever? Ahhh...we all complain too much. Alternate take...what was your BEST gig ever? S. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 12:50:22 -0700 From: David Guion Subject: Re: Worst Gig I can't decide which was my worst. It's probably one of these two, both with the same big band. First (chronologically), was one where I got a ride with the bass player. He was coming down with a cold. I remember nothing about what we played or where (except that it was a longer than usual ride) or the audience. I only remember that I was not feeling very good by the end of it and had to ride back in the car with him. The next morning, I had possibly the worst case of flu of my life. My only income besides the pittance we got in the band came from student teaching. I had to turn down work that would have paid three or four times as much as I got on the gig. Second was another long drive. The Chicago area had had days of what was billed as a once-a-century rain storm. The expressway that I intended to take was flooded. I had to get off in an unfamilar place, and kept running into traffic cops making me turn a direction I didn't want to go until I finally got around the flood. (Little did I know that I went within a mile of a home owned by my future wife, that we had tremendous difficulty selling because of what the flood did to the basement.) So I was late getting there. I don't think the audience outnumbered the band. Not by much, anyway. The acoustics would have been terrible in the best of circumstances, but the thunder and heavy rainfall made them even worse. Someone who lived in the flooded area suggested a different way to get home. But it was flooded, too. So I had to get off in another unfamilar area. I found the street I needed to get home, and drove for a mile and a half before I realized that I had turned the wrong w! ay. I didn't get home until something like 3:00 in the morning -- *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* David Guion Who is General Failure? And why is he reading my hard drive? david@trombone.org *^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^* -- ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 14:21:05 -0600 From: David Wilken Subject: Re: Worst Gig Two gigs I had stick out in my mind as being pretty bad. When I started gigging around Chicago I took just about anything that came my way, just to get my name out, including some very low paying jobs and rehearsal bands. I drummer friend of mine recommended me to a big band leader, who called and asked if I could sit in on a rehearsal. I agreed, even though it didn't pay and it was a long drive. After the rehearsal the band leader asked me if I could "play on their next gig." I agreed and got the time, place and dress. The drive was even longer than to the rehearsal. We played at a posh dinner at an Elk's Lodge in tuxedoes, didn't get any food, etc. The second trombone player really stank. I don't mean he played poorly, I mean he smelled *really* bad. At the end, I stuck around to help tear down equipment. After having everything packed up, I asked the leader how I was going to be paid. He said, "We're using the money from this gig to buy new charts and equipment, none of us are getting paid for this gig." Needless to say, I learned a valuable lesson that night and no longer played with that group. The other gig was with a straight-ahead jazz combo in central Indiana. I arrived at the bar and felt like I was in the Blues Brothers movie showing up at Bob's Country Bunker. Although there wasn't chicken wire, it was that kind of bar. We scared away most of the crowd just setting up and almost everyone else left or moved to another room once we started playing. The one person who did pay attention to us was an inebriated harmonica player who insisted on sitting in with the group. We thought we might be able to let him play one or two blues and then get rid of him by playing something he couldn't keep up with, but he stuck it out on tunes he had no business playing. As the night went on he got drunker, louder, and then started playing along at all times - during other people's solos, on tunes he had the wrong keyed harmonica for, and everything else. The band leader was new to the business, and finally got fed up enough to chase him off with the help from the bartender. It was not a fun experience. Dave -- David Wilken dave@trombone.org http://faculty.adams.edu/~dmwilken ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 16:01:53 -0400 From: Chuck De Paolo Subject: Re: Borgogni Accompaniments Nancy, We carry the complete set. Check out this page on our site: http://www.hickeys.com/pages/tnstudy2.htm There is no edition of volume 6 in print. There is a volume 7 however. = It's a set of duets with piano accompaniment, sold with the piano book = included. It's not on the Duet page on our site today due to an error I = just discovered. Another version, one where the piano part performed on = CD by a MIDI synth is listed (no piano book is included). See this page = for the listing: http://www.hickeys.com/pages/tnduet.htm To force a listing of the version with a piano part as mentioned above, = visit our Search page and enter the catalog number 32912 in the "Catalog = No" box. Here is the Search page: http://www.hickeys.com/pages/search.htm (please quote this message if you reply)=20 In Music, ---Charles De Paolo General Manager & Webmaster Hickey's Music Center 104 Adams Street Ithaca, NY 14850 607.272.8262 (Phone) 607.272.2203 (Fax) chuck@hickeys.com (E-Mail) http://www.hickeys.com (Website) http://www.weather.com/weather/local/14850 ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Nancy Vogt=20 To: TROMBONE-L@PO.MISSOURI.EDU=20 Sent: Friday, September 20, 2002 1:33 PM Subject: [TBN-L] Borgogni Accompaniments Anybody have a copy of volumes 4, 5 or 6 of the Bordogni melodious = etude accompaniments (piano part, Tezak edition) they'd like to sell? I own = the first three volumes but have had no luck tracking down the rest. Thanks, Nancy Vogt ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 16:21:00 -0500 From: Nick Walenczak Subject: Re: What was your BEST gig ever? Good ones are harder to remember... I was a member of the pit orchestra for this mini opera company, who was doing scenes from Wagner pieces... an assorted mixture. We went overboard with the percussion... remember the tuned anvils? We had 18... was great fun... just loud. Our mini-production went on for a a few nights. I got a $500 check on the last show. That's that. A good gig is when I get paid and nothing goes wrong. I have fun every year with the Amherst Summer Theatre... great fun! It's non-pay... and all the $$$ goes to cover the expenses... but it's loads of fun. Fame was the greatest... we found an abandon golf cart, fixed it up, and turned it into a vechile resembling a banana. Great laughs. We did Cinderella... and during the last number, the prince's crown was tilting so much, I spent the last number wondering how it didn't fall off. Cinderella went over well with the kids. I love playing for little kids... don't know why... they just seem to really who when they appreciate it (and when you're boring them to death). In essense, any gig where I get paid is a good gig (except the one gig I took that didn't even cover gas costs when they paid). -Nick Walenczak Student Bass Trombonist SUNY Fredonia -- __________________________________________________________ Sign-up for your own FREE Personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 16:48:41 -0500 From: Jeff Albert Subject: Re: What was your BEST gig ever? Oh come on Sam. You can't put out a good one like that with out telling us your best gig. :) I'll skip the one's that were just good because of the money, because the rest of it usually isn't that good. There was the first night I played with a 22 piece very eclectic Sun Ra meets Mingus meets Gil Evans meets Schoenberg meets Ornette band called the Naked Orchestra. Some of my favorite musicians are in that band and this was one of my first times playing with many of them. I had one of those improvisational moments where it just clicked. The kind where you can't remember what you just played but it felt like you finally got out of the way and the music just came out. Two musicians that I greatly respect told me after the gig that my solo was the musical highlight of the night. That was cool. When I was a kid (about 12) I saw the ice capades. They used some live brass and rhythm to accompany the tape. I remember seeing the musicians in their tuxes with the stand lights shining on them and the headphones and all. I thought it would be very cool to do that. About 10 years later I was working on a cruise ship. We were using some horns and rhythm to accompany the tape. I was sitting there in my tux with the headphones on and the stand light shining on me, and I saw two 12 year olds in the balcony staring at the band. I realized that I was doing what I dreamed about as a kid. That was cool. The band that night stunk, and the bread was lousy, and my cabinmate snored, but it was still cool... Jeff Albert www.jeffalbert.com > -----Original Message----- > From: Trombones and related issues forum. [mailto:TROMBONE- > L@PO.MISSOURI.EDU] On Behalf Of sabutin > Sent: Friday, September 20, 2002 2:48 PM > To: TROMBONE-L@PO.MISSOURI.EDU > Subject: [TBN-L] What was your BEST gig ever? > > Ahhh...we all complain too much. > > Alternate take...what was your BEST gig ever? > > S. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 14:51:09 -0700 From: Gabriel Langfur Subject: Re: What was your BEST gig ever? --- sabutin wrote: > Ahhh...we all complain too much. > > Alternate take...what was your BEST gig ever? > > S. Yeah Sam! The Worst Gig thing has been done exhaustively on the trombone.org forum. I posted mine there, cause it happened while that topic was current. One of the keys to freelancing, I think, is to enjoy everything you can about it. There's always !@#$, but at least when you don't go to the same job every day, it's not the same !@#$ every day! I've got a few "best gigs": first of all, I love playing in both regional orchestras where I have contracts. The Rhode Island Philharmonic has a fantastic brass section, with principal players who could fill the same chair in any orchestra in the world admirably. The trombone section has a matched set (not deliberate, actually) of Shires trombones all with nearly identical bells - it's easy as cake to make a beautiful blend. The conductor, Larry Rachleff (also of Rice University) is an absolutely phenomenal musician who does it for all the right reasons, and when he's there the orchestra can sound fantastic. The Vermont Symphony is a smaller orchestra with a smaller budget but a great family feeling. There are some budget problems right now putting some strain on that, but I'm pretty sure it'll all get resolved. The music director is Jaime Laredo, the great violin soloist - not a great conductor, but doesn't pretend to be and still makes great music. We have a great low brass section there (also with a set of Shires trombones and one of the most musical tuba players in the world I think - John Manning, Professor at UMass Amherst), and since we go up there to stay for a few days at a time, we get to party together a lot! I get to teach at a fantastic Youth Orchestra program in Vermont, the Vermont Youth Orchestra Association, where even though they never seem to know where the next low brass section is going to come from, they always end up with great kids. The principal trombone and tuba player are both playing concertos with the orchestra this year. As far as specific gigs, I had a really exciting and memorable Mozart Requiem last fall with Julian Wachner conducting the Back Bay Chorale. When that piece cooks, there's nothing like it! I love freelancing, and only wish I could make a better living at it. Gabe __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! http://sbc.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 17:59:03 EDT From: David Carter Subject: Re: Worst Gig It's almost humurous how common it is for conductors not to look far enough into the score to see low brass notes after the "melody" has played on major cadences. Personally I really enjoy blowing the crap out of these notes when I see the conductor isn't conducting becuase he or she doesn't know the score well enough to know the parts are there. I can remember a few times seeing the conductors head jerk around and up when suddenly eduacated on the value really knowing what you are supposed to conduct. Once a conductor cued the cellos just when the tuba and I let go on octave g's. His head snapped around, but the next time in public performance he cued us instead. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 17:31:27 -0700 From: Barry Green Subject: Re: Worst Gig Kudos to Sam for suggesting the best gig. Best gig I ever had was in Honolulu.......getting paid well to be there beats any other gig I ever had......I would have done it for much less! Nashville ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 18:22:18 -0500 From: Jim Dexter Subject: Re: What was your BEST gig ever? Thanks for the positive spin for a thread, Sam. As far as I am concerned, every gig has good qualities. Although not necessarily the "best gig ever", I remember one gig in particular, even though it was nearly 30 years ago. Back then I was playing some nights and weekends with a small "soul music" group. Remember Soul music? - it was before disco anyways. We called ourselves Salt and Pepper. Bob Erb played trumpet, Gene guitar, Bobby was the lead singer, and we had a good bassist and drummer. We were playing some half boarded up area in a scary part of northern NJ, I think in the Oranges someplace. The room was totally filled with people, the band was really jammin, and everyone was dancing rythmically along with the band. That was one reason it was memorable, the folks completely immersed in the tunes and having a blast. The main reason I remember this particular gig is that the whole band was in a groove, like we could read each others mind, improvisations totally feeding off each other and I have never experienced anything like that again. It was a veritable musical orgasm so to speak. Jim Dexter On 20 Sep 2002 at 15:47, sabutin wrote: > Ahhh...we all complain too much. > > Alternate take...what was your BEST gig ever? > > S. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 23:49:20 +0100 From: Adrian Drover Subject: Re: What was your BEST gig ever? From: "sabutin" > Ahhh...we all complain too much. > > Alternate take...what was your BEST gig ever? Cancellation at full pay, with double time for the after midnite bit, plus compensation for the free buffet and Guinness I didn't get. Nah, I'm dreamin' again. Alternate take...what was your most mediochre gig? A. Adrian Drover ADIOS, Scotland www.adios.co.uk Personal email: adrian@adios.co.uk ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 18:05:10 -0500 From: Pat & Jo McFarland Subject: Re: Worst Gig >From 1978 until 1984, I worked my way through music and technical schools working for the Don Hoy Orchestra. We were based in West Des Moines, Iowa and travelled throughout much of the Midwest on a converted charter bus. I remember one trip in particular... I think it was January, 1979. We were driving to St. Louis in a terrible snow storm. Don Hoy was a very good bandleader and musician. He was not a good bus driver!! We had just arrived at the outskirts of St. Louis. Don was driving too fast and following too close for the conditions. Suddenly the traffic ahead of stopped. Instead of causing a 50-car (plus one bus) pile-up, Don drove the bus into the ditch (a good choice!). Luckily the bus remained upright and we didn't hit anything. The slope of the ditch caused instruments, suitcases, and musicians to fall a$$-over-teakettle inside the bus. We stopped with the front of the bus pointed back toward the interstate. Before we had a chance to recover, Don yells "Everybody out and push." Most of us thought he was joking. He wasn't. Now imagine 14 ants trying to push a cinder block up a hill. It was idiotic. Everybody was choking on diesel fumes while Don gunned the engine. All it did was bury the back end deeper. Somehow we managed to get a wrecker to pull us out and got to the gig only 10 minutes late (we usually allowed about 4 hours to check into the motel, eat, and get ready for the gig). Everybody was sick from being wet and cold and breathing diesel fumes. Instruments were banged up. That gig was one of the worst experiences of my life. But it could have been worse. Looking back, I think we were pretty lucky! Pat McFarland ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 19:16:20 -0400 From: Dale Cruse Subject: Re: What was your BEST gig ever? I don't know about "best" gig, but I'd like to share my most memorable gig. It was memorable not for the money I got (I got none) nor even for the music I played. It was memorable because of who was there. A few years ago I was a student at Ball State University and the interim professor (Jared Rodin) brought in his old teacher (Lewis van Haney) to conduct our trombone choir. At the time I was playing a Holton van Haney model bass trombone that had been opened up by Larry Minick and during rehearsals Van noticed it and he and I had a chance to chat for nearly an hour before the gig. The performance was fine but I didn't realize how special it was until a short time later when he passed on. It turned out that conducting our choir was the last time Van appeared on stage before his passing. And me getting to chat with him one-on-one for so long is still one of the most special music-related moments I've ever had. I bet the trombone choir in Heaven sounds incredible. --- Dale Cruse dale@dalecruse.com www.dalecruse.com On 9/20/02 6:49 PM, "Adrian Drover" wrote: > From: "sabutin" > > >> Ahhh...we all complain too much. >> >> Alternate take...what was your BEST gig ever? ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 16:21:20 -0700 From: Rod Ellard Subject: Re: What was your BEST gig ever? Good gigs: 1. Well, there was a week up north when I had a key to the club and could go there during the day with one of the cocktail waitresses and practice .. uh ... lip trills. 2. In my fourth year of university, I made orchestra and played Firebird in the first concert. What a rush. The next performance the first trombonist failed to show for concert. 3. I was playing with the world's worst dixieland band, getting a little drunk and trying to peel the paint of the back wall of the club by playing as loud as I could (King 2B, 12C mpc). At the break, the band leader took me aside and said, "I like it when you play out!". 4. While playing with the aforesaid dixie band, I had been out to dinner with a professor and members of his medieval music class. I generously invited them to come with me to my gig where I astonished one and all with my virtuosity on the "Pakistani pocket sopranino trombone". The following day the said prof was remarking to a friend about how impressed he was with my playing on the pocket trombone. My surprised friend replied, "It's just a kazoo!" Bad gigs: 1. There was the gig when the band fired me. 2. There was the gig playing guitar in a country band where I had to wear a purple puffy-sleeved (chiffon?) shirt. I don't think I got paid either, but at least I got to return the shirt. 3. Any dixie gig intended to drum up support for a politician. What is it about bad dixieland and politics? Rod ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 19:50:40 -0400 From: sabutin Subject: Re: What was your BEST gig ever? >Oh come on Sam. You can't put out a good one like that with out telling >us your best gig. :) =========== Ohhh, alright... There have been so many... The best most recent one was a concert Chico O'Farrill's band did in Italy last year. (I can't even remember which city...,smaller, in the north...) Anyway, it was basically a one shot gig. Chico had come with the band for all the other road gigs, but he was too sick...we all knew he was on the way out, really, although no one was talking much about it... The band played a two hour set in a piazza around sunset...good sound system, small audience. From the first note it was special, and it just got stronger and stronger and stronger as the concert progressed. I have only played a few gigs in my life that were on that level, and never for two hours straight. Unbelievable feeling. Chico died that next week. S. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 19:52:42 -0400 From: Art Triggs Subject: Re: What was your BEST gig ever? for me, either Music from Marlboro, or Jerry Mulligan's "Concert" Jazz Band ;-) both way too,too long ago.... Art Triggs ----- Original Message ----- From: "sabutin" To: Sent: Friday, September 20, 2002 3:47 PM Subject: [TBN-L] What was your BEST gig ever? > Ahhh...we all complain too much. > > Alternate take...what was your BEST gig ever? > > S. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 17:21:36 -0700 From: "Joe L. Norcross" Subject: Re: What was your BEST gig ever? My best gig, every summer playing in the Kingsburg City Band, Worst one was the hospital benefit I played with another community band, Played all through dinner and was still playing as all the food was carted away, No pay , no food, never played for them again Joe L. Norcross Tuba: Visalia CA Sequoia Winds Bass Trombone: Clovis CA Community Band Tuba and Announcer: Kingsburg CA City Band joetuba@lightspeed.net ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 21 Sep 2002 19:30:48 -0500 From: "D.J. Kennedy" Subject: BILL WATROUS FAN BASED WEB SITE hey tom wolff there has been lotsa interest about bill lately on the t list and online trombone journal which as you may or may not know is a buncha trombone and computer geeks [[[[[ not necessarily both ///////]]]]]]]] something like the ita///itf in cyberspace --your dad --the famous doc wolff etc lately a thread started up about bill and got around to fans worldwide wanting to do up something in the way of a web site for bill -several from italy to oz[australia] expressed an interest but one has the cooperation and input from everyone ken dowdy == has already done a nice ez user friendly site for urbie green urbies site has pics of the lp covers and is informational and even hicks way out can download it without a dsl ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ bob brookmeyers [currents kicks] site is awesome and so is robin eubanks[spins] as well as their participation in the jazz corner and the way they share the wonderful life of music ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ the ita/itf site is fantastic !!!!!!!!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------- anyway a talent as great as bill watrous deserves something soon in the way of an e accessable cache of cool stuff ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- so in an incredible swell of ground support the fans of bill watrous have banded together in a hardy group of explorers to try to hit notes never hit before to noodle doodle on tunes thought impossible on trombone and take jazz out of the elevators and into the streets in a massive wave of freedom of expression to promote the small bell bone and make long tones and have fun and pursue happiness etc -------------------------------------------------- so please help in this noble and worthy effort to further trombonisms ------------------------------------ signed a fan --one of many --------------------- twolff195@aol.com wrote: > DJ, I am in charge of doing Mr. Watrous's website (with his permission) - what is all this about other people trying to set stuff up??? Please explain what's going on...SOON. Anything done involving the website has to go through Bill and his manager, then through me, before it gets set up. > > -Tom ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 17:53:54 -0700 From: Daryl Burch Subject: Re: Worst Gig 1986 Ohio Governor's Election Rally in Ashtabula, Ohio (outside of Cleveland) at THE Grotto Hall. - Me on trombone - My best friend (also in high school at the time) on trumpet - My band director on electric bass - Some schmoe from another high school on marching bass drum - Some freshman on cymbals - No music ("arrangements while you wait") - No rehearsal - Played such stellar hits as "Yellow Rose of Texas," "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here," and the Ohio State March.... ....very badly. ....and it paid $30 and dinner (cabbage rolls). Haven't played a political convention since. ....and the candidate lost. -D- www.radionoise.com At 11:42 AM 9/20/2002 -0500, Michael B. McCreless wrote: >What is your worst gig played. I remember playing at a high school in south >Alabama, when I was in the Air Force, called Beauregard High. The hall had >spittoons every few feet. We were a jazz band and you can imagine the cool >reception from students in the heart of "cuntry" music. I swear I thought >every male student had a bag of chewing tobacco in their back pockets. >Michael McCreless >Alabama ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 20 Sep 2002 19:24:25 -0600 From: James Scott Subject: Re: What was your BEST gig ever? Great idea for a thread Sam! The best gig for me was on our orchestra's tour of Europe in November 2000. We played the Schumann 3rd Symphony (the "Rhenish") in Vienna at the Musikverein. It was a personal best for me, and the orchestra played "over it's head" that night. All of this in a hall that Mozart and Beethoven conducted premieres of their own works in. On top of that, it's just a drop-dead gorgeous place with an amazing sound to it. That night will always be a career highlight for me. Jim Scott Calgary Philharmonic sabutin wrote: > >Oh come on Sam. You can't put out a good one like that with out telling > >us your best gig. :) > > =========== > > Ohhh, alright... > > There have been so many... > > The best most recent one was a concert Chico O'Farrill's band did > in Italy last year. (I can't even remember which city...,smaller, in > the north...) > > Anyway, it was basically a one shot gig. Chico had come with the > band for all the other road gigs, but he was too sick...we all knew > he was on the way out, really, although no one was talking much about > it... > > The band played a two hour set in a piazza around sunset...good > sound system, small audience. From the first note it was special, and > it just got stronger and stronger and stronger as the concert > progressed. I have only played a few gigs in my life that were on > that level, and never for two hours straight. > > Unbelievable feeling. > > Chico died that next week. > > S. ------------------------------ End of TROMBONE-L Digest - 19 Sep 2002 to 20 Sep 2002 (#2002-69) ****************************************************************