What we're doing

[BflatBass]

Started my "other" 3rd community band tonight playing 3rd trombone parts (and even one bass trombone part). The "big" community band finished it's annual run about a month ago and now this band is what a lot of people in this area do for the rest of the year. It's the local junior college's community concert band and I really like our conductor and the tunes he's selected for this semester. It's typical community band stuff, movie medleys etc.. But it's still fun and I'm staying connected with people in the local music community.
Since I'm playing tuba parts on my bass in one of the bands a few people said they are keeping there eyes open for a good deal on a used tuba for me. We'll see if I can talk my wife into letting me buy a tuba if an outstanding deal crops up ha ha.

[SwissTbone]

Just finished a great session with our local orchestra and Brass Band competition season begins. Working on a more "brass bandy" sound now.

Means: play even louder...

[LeTromboniste]

In sessions with my new group recording demo materials. Video and promo pictures two days ago, audio yesterday and again today. The line up is one cornetto, one violin (who's playing a gorgeous 1684 Matthias Albani!), one trombone, and harpsichord (or organ when we have access to one). All very good friends who I've known for years; we'd been wanting to form a group for a long time and the timing was finally right. The music for this first programme we're making a demo of is all Venetian virtuosic chamber and solo music; Castello, Riccio, Marini, Dalla Casa - all stuff that is both gorgeous and quite challenging. We had a week of intensive rehearsing and now three days of recording. I've never been part of a group where the sound comes together so fast (it helps that we all frequently play with one another in various combinations) - it's quite thrilling!

[Geordie]

Practicing Big Band pieces for our demo recordings in two weeks as well practicing parts for Soul band demos a week later plus a couple of gigs. Keeping the long notes and flexibilities going to. Enjoying what might be the last sunny spell of the English summer - probably.

[BflatBass]

Bought my first tuba!
It's an old St. Peterburg 202L BBb yellow brass/laquer 4 valve (rotary) in decent condition.
The guy I bought it off of had a Miraphone 186 for sale that I was interested in but he said he had another horn for sale that he hadn't listed yet because it needed a little work (that would be the St. Pete). After driving for 6 hrs to meet this guy I tried the Miraphone and it was hard to play. I had trouble finding the "tone centers". Then I tried the St. Pete. It just about played itself!! I haven't played the tuba in over 35 years so I really suck at it but when I played the St. Pete it was so easy. I just played a Bb scale and it came out fine. It was like playing my King DG. It was effortless. When I wanted a note it produced. My lips weren't saying "where the hell is it?" like it was with the Miraphone.
Anyway, it needs a sonic cleaning and the valve linkage needs to be upgraded to miniball linkage as well as lapped and cleaned up. The whole horn has LOTS of usage markes (dents) buts it's plenty playable and since tuba is just my doubling instrument, it will do. As soon as it gets cleaned up I'll finally be able to play the tuba parts I'm playing in one of my community bands on an actual tuba instead of my bass trombone

Cheers,
Robert

[blast]

Just back from Krakow, Poland. Playing in a small contemporary ensemble (only brass player) at a music festival. Krakow is a beautiful city, the people friendly and the food and drink fine and good value. The festival staff looked after us like royalty. If only all gigs were as nice.

Chris

[imsevimse]

Just back from Krakow, Poland. Playing in a small contemporary ensemble (only brass player) at a music festival. Krakow is a beautiful city, the people friendly and the food and drink fine and good value. The festival staff looked after us like royalty. If only all gigs were as nice.

Chris

Sounds like a pleasant tour

In Stockholm we start our series of gigs with the Johan Stengård Jazz Big Band. We'll do ten gigs monday evenings in September-October starting tomorrow. This will be to intruduce our own jazz scene - "The Olympia Theatre" - near Odenplan in Stockholm. To establish a new jazz scene is a quite rare thing to do here in 2018 and to have a professional band who have played regularly and trained together for three years to be prepared is also very rare. We will see what happens. The bar will be open. Anyone in Sweden who visits the capital and likes jazz (and beer) is welcome.

/Tom

[StevenC]

This is a season of transition for me. I've changed schools where I teach, and have a very challenging course load. With some regret, I told the college+community orchestra where I have played for years that I would not be available this season. The college+community orchestra I joined this past spring plays higher level music, and is closer to home, so that is where my focus will be.

Yesterday I found out that they would like me to play tenor, not bass like I played last season. I am a better tenor player, so this sounds like goodness, but I am still shaky with clefs. I can mostly play tenor clef, but in alto clef I need to write in lots of notes. I wish I had one more week to prepare, but first rehearsal is this Monday. I'll be bringing in my own copies of music, printed from imslp, full of my markings. For all I know, the real copies will also be marked up with notes. If so, hopefully they are correct.

[BurckhardtS]

Start classes on Wednesday, have auditions for ensemble placement on Thursday (big bands) and Friday (classical ensembles). Then I get to start cranking away on the Bourgeois III for my recital this fall.

[shider]

Yesterday, I finally had my first rehearsal with the (british style) brass band i joined.
They have their rehearsals scheduled on the weekends, mostly from 9 am to 4 pm (i hope that checks out timewise.. It basically spans over 7 hours) with two small breaks and a lunch break in between. They don't get together every weekend, but sometimes twice on the same weekend. As i'm playing bass trombone there i got through quite well and didn't have any problems with endurance, which surprised me quite a lot! But man... I can't remember when i last moved so much air in a day!
All members (except the conductor) are amateurs and some of them live more than 2 hours (by car) away from the practice location and the conductor himself even drives to rehearsal from another country
well... he's from switzerland and the german-swiss border is only 1.5h away from us, so it's not as impressive as one might think

To finish the day, i had a rehearsal in the evening with a bunch of people playing traditional german/eastern european Polka, Waltz and Marches.. I can't make the next gig with them but enjoy playing that stuff so much i had to sit in I played tenor and had to dial back my air a LOT from basstr. in brass band, which was really challenging aswell.
When i came home at 9pm i realised i had just finished a day of 12 hours of practicing and playing the trombone.. Not bad for an amateur i dare say

[MrHCinDE]

Hi shider,
Glad you enjoyed your brass band rehearsal. I‘m a UK expat living in Southern Germany and often get homesick for the music I grew up with. Have you got any concerts coming up?

p.s. if you need any deps on anything lower than tenor horn let me know.

[Burgerbob]

Wrapping up my trip to Europe in the next couple days by visiting Antwerp. Had a great time in Amsterdam and at the DBTO in Ede. Met some really great folks at the Open and closed down the bar both nights!

[shider]

Hi shider,
Glad you enjoyed your brass band rehearsal. I‘m a UK expat living in Southern Germany and often get homesick for the music I grew up with. Have you got any concerts coming up?

p.s. if you need any deps on anything lower than tenor horn let me know.

It's completely new for me but i appreciate the challenge it provides and i love the sound of brass bands!
We just started with concert preparations after a summer break, so the first concert will be on November 4th. Not sure we can hold up to british ears (and expectations) though

i'm not sure what you mean by "deps", sorry... assuming you mean subs i would have to disappoint you, the band is set up quite good for the season, just introduced two new members to fill open positions (me on bass trombone and the flugelhorn player).
Oh.. and a new conductor of course!
Also i assume they have a list of regular subs they already know..

I can really understand your homesickness, i would feel the same! Where are you located? I'm between Stuttgart and the "Bodensee" ("lake of constance" i believe..) and i only know of two brass bands around here, so it's really not much

[MrHCinDE]

i'm not sure what you mean by "deps", sorry... assuming you mean subs i would have to disappoint you, the band is set up quite good for the season, just introduced two new members to fill open positions (me on bass trombone and the flugelhorn player).

To me a "dep" is a deputy, same as a sub. Perhaps dep isn't the best choice of words, it could easily be confused with a "Depp". For people who speak even less German than me, the polite translation of the German word Depp is an idiot/loser (alternative translations available by request!).

I'm located near to Ludwigsburg, I couldn't find a brass band to the North/North-West of Stuttgart so far. I had planned to go down to a brass band near Göppingen and play a bit of Eb tuba but so far that didn't work out due to other events.

Enjoy your banding!

[SwissTbone]

Come to switzerland! Plenty of brass bands here

[shider]

I'm located near to Ludwigsburg, I couldn't find a brass band to the North/North-West of Stuttgart so far. I had planned to go down to a brass band near Göppingen and play a bit of Eb tuba but so far that didn't work out due to other events.

Enjoy your banding!

Yeah i would expect it to be hard to find one here.. Brass Bands are a rare breed in Germany!
I think it's especially hard to get people to comit to the instruments that are (in Germany at least) only used in Brass Bands.. And to find a conductor that understands what he's doing with a brass band.

I will for sure enjoy banding!

Come to switzerland! Plenty of brass bands here

And apparently a few conductors willing to leave for a band in Germany
Joking aside, i would love to visit switzerland in the future to experience the scene there!

[SwissTbone]

I'm located near to Ludwigsburg, I couldn't find a brass band to the North/North-West of Stuttgart so far. I had planned to go down to a brass band near Göppingen and play a bit of Eb tuba but so far that didn't work out due to other events.

Enjoy your banding!

Yeah i would expect it to be hard to find one here.. Brass Bands are a rare breed in Germany!
I think it's especially hard to get people to comit to the instruments that are (in Germany at least) only used in Brass Bands.. And to find a conductor that understands what he's doing with a brass band.

I will for sure enjoy banding!

Come to switzerland! Plenty of brass bands here

And apparently a few conductors willing to leave for a band in Germany
Joking aside, i would love to visit switzerland in the future to experience the scene there!

Best occasion to visit montreux is the last weekend of november when our national brass band championship takes place.

[djdekok]

Getting ready for an all-Bernstein concert--selections from "On the Waterfront", "Candide", and "West Side Story". Also learning neume notation in preparation for participation in Latin Mass.

[StevenC]

The orchestra I play in is preparing an all Czech program, Dvorak, Smetana, Suk,... Should be fun.

[Kingfan]

Tomorrow is my last gig with the big band I have played in for over ten years and took over from the founder a year ago when he could no longer play. I was really enjoying it and growing into the job of leading the band until the personnel manager got a new drummer and bass player who think the band revolves around them. I am having some medical issues outside of the band, and sold my half to the personnel manager a few weeks ago. I can't stand to go to rehearsals and deal with all the drama and egos even as just a player, so for my own well being I'm walking away from it.

[StevenC]

I can't stand to go to rehearsals and deal with all the drama and egos even as just a player, so for my own well being I'm walking away from it.

Do you have other groups to play with?

[harrisonreed]

In sessions with my new group recording demo materials. Video and promo pictures two days ago, audio yesterday and again today. The line up is one cornetto, one violin (who's playing a gorgeous 1684 Matthias Albani!), one trombone, and harpsichord (or organ when we have access to one). All very good friends who I've known for years; we'd been wanting to form a group for a long time and the timing was finally right. The music for this first programme we're making a demo of is all Venetian virtuosic chamber and solo music; Castello, Riccio, Marini, Dalla Casa - all stuff that is both gorgeous and quite challenging. We had a week of intensive rehearsing and now three days of recording. I've never been part of a group where the sound comes together so fast (it helps that we all frequently play with one another in various combinations) - it's quite thrilling!

Sounds like Caecilia-Concert! Or the album Lindberg did a few years ago. How do you get by without another violin and a bassoon?

[Kingfan]

I can't stand to go to rehearsals and deal with all the drama and egos even as just a player, so for my own well being I'm walking away from it.

Do you have other groups to play with?

I play in a brass quintet playing the French horn parts on trombone, and will be re-joining a community band. I may go back to the big band at some point, I don't know. There are a few German bands in the area looking for trombones, but I don't know if I would enjoy that.

[LeTromboniste]

Sounds like Caecilia-Concert! Or the album Lindberg did a few years ago. How do you get by without another violin and a bassoon?

No need for a second violin or a bassoon since we already have two trebles (cornetto and violin) and a tenor/bass instrument (me). We can of course add one or a few guests sometimes (an extra violin, cornetto or trombone, a viol or bassoon, a theorbo...) and play pieces that we can't play otherwise, but the four of us will be the core group. There is tons of repertoire for one or two trebles and trombone (trebles often unspecified, sometimes specified as cornets or violins, and trombone is very often specified, often 'or bassoon/or viol'), or more generally for unspecified 2 canti e basso. We did two Castello sonatas (book 1 no 4, book 2 no 12), a few pieces by Riccio, a Marini, a Picchi, a Scarani. Cornetto and trombone playing Bassano diminutions for soprano and bass after Palestrina. Violinist has a Fontana solo sonata, I play a Dalla Casa crazy bastarda diminution piece. Harpsichord has some A. and G. Gabrieli intinazione to play in between pieces within sets and a Merulo toccata as a longer feature piece. We also play a Dalla Casa diminution piece were the diminutions are passed around between the four of us. Little bit of singing too.

It's going to be a very fun (and challenging) program to play.

[ronnies]

This Saturday is a Charity Opera Gala for Target Ovarian Cancer.

Cavalleria Rusticana - Easter Chorus
Turandot - In Questa Reggia
Nabucco Overture
Nabucco Act 2 Finale
Lucia Di Lammermoor - Verano a te
Macbeth Act 1 Finale

Carmen - Aragonaise and Votre Toast
La Boheme - Quando m'en vo
Turandot Finale

And more that doesn't include the orchestra.

I'm playing the Cimbasso/Contra-bass parts on my normal Chinese bass trombone. Should be fun but we haven't seen all the music yet.

Ronnie

[harrisonreed]

Very cool, Maximilien

[imsevimse]

I played Bruckner "Te Deum" in Tyska Kyrkan (The German Church in Stockholm) this Saturday. It was to celebrate the restoration of an 80 year old organ. It turned out to be a nice concert where the local church choire with a little help of the church choir of The Gustav Wasa Church filled every seat in the hall. A lot of Germans were there, and of course the minister held the cermonie in German. There are obviously a large german community here in Stockholm that I did not know of and they had collected all the funds needed for the restauration among this community. It turned out several people had donated more than 10 000 swedish crowns each to bring this old organ back to life. I'm happy to have been a part of this. It turned out to be a good orchestra and a good choir and everything come together nicely at the concert

/Tom

[CalgaryTbone]

OK - wasn't going to toot my own horn (pun intended) but just finished two performances of the world premiere of a new trombone concerto - Sandman's Domain by Vincent Ho. Had a great time the last 2 nights, and the piece got a great reaction from the audience. It was a great experience, and a major milestone in my career. It's a real high to have something to do with adding a new piece to the solo rep for trombone. Vince did a great job with the piece, and it's a unique new sound for the instrument. Hope I can share it with others sometime soon.

Jim Scott

[Tetraphosphate]

OK - wasn't going to toot my own horn (pun intended) but just finished two performances of the world premiere of a new trombone concerto - Sandman's Domain by Vincent Ho. Had a great time the last 2 nights, and the piece got a great reaction from the audience. It was a great experience, and a major milestone in my career. It's a real high to have something to do with adding a new piece to the solo rep for trombone. Vince did a great job with the piece, and it's a unique new sound for the instrument. Hope I can share it with others sometime soon.

Jim Scott

Oooh, sounds awesome!

[Savio]

Im playing La Boheme, big opera from Puccini. Its a big experience for me and very fun. Not often I get the possibility to play such things, so I enjoy every note! I even have some few notes with the text "Solo"! Seven I think. Anyway, some magic moments in the soprano arias.

Leif

[imsevimse]

Im playing La Boheme, big opera from Puccini. Its a big experience for me and very fun. Not often I get the possibility to play such things, so I enjoy every note! I even have some few notes with the text "Solo"! Seven I think. Anyway, some magic moments in the soprano arias.

Leif

Good for you I bet your solo notes will sound beautiful

[BurckhardtS]

Substituting in a regional orchestra this week, and speaking of that long post I made about jazz band setups and how the 2nd player gets wrecked by the drum set, guess what chair I get to play this quarter...

[imsevimse]

Substituting in a regional orchestra this week, and speaking of that long post I made about jazz band setups and how the 2nd player gets wrecked by the drum set, guess what chair I get to play this quarter...

I know the feeling. Second trombone placement has it's troubles. The drummer is one of them. The second trumpet in your neck is the second problem, the first trumpet in your left ear is the third. Fourth problem is first trombone because you need that seat...

Well to take care of troubles one by one you could begin and ask the drummer if he has other cymbals. He might have another setup. To play drums is not all about force it is a lot about using the things right which we often forget. How many times have we heard; "The band consists of 15 musicians and a drummer".
There are lots of drummer tools, and cymbal sounds can be very different. The drummer we have in our band ("The Johan Stengard Jazz Big Band") is one of the best in this country and he plays very musical. I'm sitting right next to his high-hat often very close but it is no problem at all. He is also very humble and ask how I'm doing. Some drummers go berserk on their crash and other cymbals but he does not play like that.

/Tom

[BflatBass]

After purchasing the tuba I've been practicing on it exclusively for the last two weeks trying to develop enough "chops" to be able to play our next concert on Nov. 6. I don't know if It'll happen. Adjusting to the larger mouthpiece is harder than I thought. My lips keep fluttering between partials. Very frustrating.
Switching back to trombone, especially bass, is a lot easier than I thought it would be. Once I get the hang of this tuba thing I think doubling will be really fun.
We're already practicing Christmas music in of my bands. The holiday season is already upon us.

Cheers,
Robert

[hyperbolica]

I've been playing with my tbone quartet and arranging tunes for that group. I play mostly bass bone there, which keeps me practicing and learning, although it doesn't really help my tenor chops much.

Also playing with a local chamber orchestra. This can be very rewarding, but our brass section seems to be in decline this year.

I also decided to play with a tbone choir at a local university which needed a couple extra voices. I guess I was hoping for a higher level of playing. Still, I love the trombone sonority, and the blend from high to low.

[JohnL]

We're already practicing Christmas music in of my bands. The holiday season is already upon us.

Christmas season starts early for musicians and crafters...

[AndrewMeronek]

It's cool to see a variety of ensembles represented here. I feel I'm in a good place here in Detroit, given that there are some great jazz orchestras, symphonic orchestras, and brass bands in the area.

I have my regular gig with the Rhythm Society Orchestra, which is almost 20 years old (and I'm an original member) and IMHO it has developed into a great regional band. Lots of fun to work in. I'm currently working on some transcriptions for this band. Listening to and writing down what I hear in recordings for many hours per day for weeks does strange things to the brain, though . . .

[BurckhardtS]

The drum set thing is not actually as bad as I make it out to be. It's pretty loud sometimes, but mostly during the shouts when the drummer is doing ensemble punches and loud set-ups. I usually just wear an earplug in my right ear during the shout sections, and it's not unreasonable at other times.

[LeTromboniste]

This week (concert tomorrow), a project of fun but not so easy 17th century polychoral music from Italian composers who worked outside of Italy - playing bass sackbut. Some of my parts are in sub-bass clef and I'm just generally hanging out in the low range, with parts full of low Ds and Cs with a few Bbs and even an A (something quite rare in a sackbut part!). Having quite a blast filling our 13th century church with those majestic low notes! I kind of wish I had access to a contrabass sackbut for this...

Two projects next week, the first playing tenor sackbut in a fun program of music of Ludwig Senfl at the Antiquarium of the Munich Residenz (old palace of the Bavarian monarchy), where the composer himself served at the end of his life (also where Orlando di Lasso spent most of his career) - I can only imagine that playing there will be quite inspiring, really looking forward.

For the second I play ophicleide in Mendelssohn's Elias for concerts in two towns in the Black Forest. Even though that part is not very hard, playing gigs on the ophicleide is stressful - in a good way; because I've only been playing for a few months I really need a high level of concentration to keep up with my colleagues and play at a high level. It is both humbling and very stimulating. It also makes me realize just how much fun it is to learn new instruments and take on new challenges.

[imsevimse]

This weekend I did a tour with the wonderful "Torgny Hansson Wind Orchestra to Tranås in the south of Sweden. Tomorrow starts a two day vacation. To be able to do a two day cruise to Finland where I'm playing rock/pop/soul with a big band. We will leave at 3 pm Monday and will return at 3 pm Tuesday The band will alternate with another smaller band and play every second hour. When we don't play the other band play and we'll eat and do shopping, and of course socialise. We will finish with a beer in the bar around 1 am. Then the day after we do a two hour concert before we return to Stockholm.

/Ton

[Savio]

You play in lot of bands Tom! Never been in Finland, sounds fun.
Leif

[imsevimse]

You play in lot of bands Tom! Never been in Finland, sounds fun.
Leif

The secret is
1. a good job that's not associated with music with regular good money and a good employee that allows vacations.
2. a lot of musical contacts, also professional musical contacts.
3. I play at a reasonable level.
4. have no family, only two grown children now 24 and 27 years.

I can do what I want, go anywhere, play anywhere, at anytime of the day and nobody asks questions.

/Tom

[Zandit75]

Some of you may remember that I also play the guitar and sing, which I mentioned in the thread "what else do you play?"
Saturday night was the Tasmanian Independent Country Music Awards night, and as a winner of the Most Popular New Talent award from last year, I was asked to perform at this years event.
This year, I was nominated for the Most Popular Male Vocalist, and was in the final three, just missing out on the gong. So, while I wasn't the winner, being nominated was still a real honour.

The most emotional part of the night though was being asked to present my Father with his Induction as a Legend of Tasmanian Country Music. He has performed around the state for around 60yrs, and has done so mostly without any interest in gaining recognition for his efforts. We somehow kept it secret from him, and while I knew I would be emotional, we feared that he would also be too emotional if we presented him with the award before he performed.


While I was a blubbering mess, he was quite composed.
One little anecdote that I mentioned was a small event in the mid 70's where he was plucked out of the crowd to perform a couple of songs at. While waiting to go on stage, he was talking with the lead guitarist and he asked him if he knew the intro to a particular song. The guitarist assured him it would be no problem. Dad stepped up to the mic, and the then promptly forgot his words when Tommy Emmanuel opened up with a perfect intro!! I highly recommend you check him out if you want to see one of the most highly regarded guitarists in the world!

Later in the night, I had my second go on stage to perform my 2 songs, Eddie Rabbit's old classic, "I Love a Rainy Night", and Dan Seal's "Everything that Glitters". My new guitar performed beautifully, my voice thankfully didn't waver, and the band followed so closely, it was just as perfect as it could be!


Something that I haven't mentioned on this site was that recently I was able to tick off one of my bucket list items by building my own acoustic guitar from scratch under the guidance of a professional luthier. This was an intensive 2 week course in Miami, Queensland, and the results have blown me away.

I had so many people asking about my guitar, what brand it was, and also wondering how on earth I was able to build it myself!! I couldn't help but start beaming as soon as someone asked me about it.

For those who may be interested in my build can check out this link - https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/for ... 297&page=6
The link I provided starts on page 6, as that's where the build officially starts, the previous pages were me starting to dream a couple of years ago, listing some setbacks, getting prepared for the trip, and then finally starting the build. I would love to have this same experience with building a Trombone, but believe that would be a near impossibility!

Lastly, going back to the Awards night, after I finished my songs, I was then informed that my version of "Everything that Glitters" had just reached the #1 position on the local country music charts. To say I was deeply humbled would be an understatement!!

[Bassmike]

I'm doing Fountains and Pines of Rome on the same concert this weekend, Brahms 1, a World Premier Fanfare, Macmillan "Vien Vien, Emanuel" percussion concerto next week, and a Harry Potter Concert the following week. The Macmillan is one of the most difficult pieces I've played. I'd rather play "Rite of Spring."

[blast]

I'm doing Fountains and Pines of Rome on the same concert this weekend, Brahms 1, a World Premier Fanfare, Macmillan "Vien Vien, Emanuel" percussion concerto next week, and a Harry Potter Concert the following week. The Macmillan is one of the most difficult pieces I've played. I'd rather play "Rite of Spring."

Macmillan's music can be very, very hard to play.... but it is well worth it He is a Wonderful musician and a very genuine human being.

Chris

[norbie2018]

We have a community band concert this Sunday; a varied program with some good charts including American Overture. I may have mentioned this, but I am planning a recital with my wife who is a fine soprano. The idea is we each perform solos with piano and then perform a few pieces written for trombone and voice. I've chosen a Galliard, Elegy for Mippy, and Piece Concertante (I forget the composer); going to add another piece but undecided.

[LeTromboniste]

Not a musical story per se but...en route to my gig today, was quite an adventure. Headed to the meeting point in France with my gear without knowing if everything would fit in the car. Turned out, through an epic game of real-life 3D Tetris, we managed to fit :

-one organ+bench in their travel chests
-two wheeled bogies to transport the organ
-one spinet harpsichord+bench
-one ophicleide
-one sackbut
-a few cornetts
-music and camera stands
-three suitcases+hand luggage
-a printer+spare toner cartridges
-a large pile of printed scores and parts
-3 people

That made for a very fun five and a half hour drive up and down the winding mountain and country roads of the Schwarzwald and the Swabian Alps!

[LeTromboniste]

This weekend I did a tour with the wonderful "Torgny Hansson Wind Orchestra to Tranås in the south of Sweden. Tomorrow starts a two day vacation. To be able to do a two day cruise to Finland where I'm playing rock/pop/soul with a big band. We will leave at 3 pm Monday and will return at 3 pm Tuesday The band will alternate with another smaller band and play every second hour. When we don't play the other band play and we'll eat and do shopping, and of course socialise. We will finish with a beer in the bar around 1 am. Then the day after we do a two hour concert before we return to Stockholm.

/Ton

This sounds like tons of fun. A boat a and trombone, what more could one possibly want!

[timothy42b]

We're already practicing Christmas music in of my bands. The holiday season is already upon us.

Christmas season starts early for musicians and crafters...

Yes. This month I started cycling through the recorder collection (rotating a week on each, reviewing how to play high F#, etc.) because they always want a little recorder fill during the Christmas pageant. Something to kill dead air while shepherds and angels are retrieved and moved to their places.

But last night I found out it's worse than that. There is no they - the person who ran the Christmas pageant retired. My daughter was at last night's vestry meeting and volunteered me to take over.

[timothy42b]

This sounds like tons of fun. A boat a and trombone, what more could one possibly want!

Life jacket.