Looking forward to having a blow with the Ambassadors tonight. No idea what sort of music i will be required to play on Trombone..but that's what makes this musical adventure so exciting . This weekend i am playing at a fete. I have to transpose every piece we play on the hoof. Then Sunday an intimate 8 piece gig at the Royal Oak. Music was my first love....
I hate wastage. There is more packaging than items these days . I am still seeing Vote Out placards all over the place. Sturdy well made signs...shame to waste. So here is my suggestion. Just add an 'I' and a 'D' so you can still display for two more years? Ok you might get a brick or two through your windows...but we were brave enough to stand by our principles... So why not now ? Oh the photo. Well i love #Bargain Hunt , but thought this was a rather unfortunate camera shot !!! Sorry...just my corrupted mind....x
For years, a vivid movie of soldiers going over the top at the Somme, literally haunted me. It was the one soldier, who never even made it across the top..but slumps back dead into the trench. Instantly gone. Or so i thought!! A fellow trombone player told me tonight , that it was all fake and a propaganda film probably shot on location in wales using actors?? All these years duped with clever images? What next...you will be telling me George Gershwin was not married to his lovely wife Ira ????
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jun/10/battle-of-the-somme-cinema-obsession-war
The decision as to if we played this Sunday, was down to 11 men on a football field. Even though the other team were playing with ice skates , England lost and music won...that's if i can get a band together. My landline rang this morning..a mobile number....for the last twenty minutes i have been listening to someone do their shopping in asda??? They are going to have a massive bill if not unlimited minutes. Tried putting phone down...but it rings back....just hope they don't go for a poo cos i am sensitive.
I look at other peoples lives and they all seem straight forward. Mine...well most of you know mine is the biggest roller coaster ride in the world. I saw a film when i was younger. Jason and the Argonauts. It made an impact on me for one reason only. How the gods moved lives round like a game of chess for their own entertainment. I think we are all searching for our own ' Golden Fleece' in life. Be it money,security,happiness or love. But the journey to find it is thwarted by other peoples moves. A big game and not always in our control. Just once i would like it to end in a draw. I don't need to win. Just be as one. Oh and by the way. On bike ride here, i swallowed a fly ( I don't know why)It is now firmly lodged in back of my throat causing patrons in my coffee emporium to move to other tables , thinking i have the lurgy. Damn thing has taken up residence on my clacker valve...hmm death by coffee me thinks
Oh my ..what a roller coaster ride of emotion this weekend. Send an 8 piece band out and we play to adults children chickens and rabbits and had a whale of a time!. Send the massive 17 piece out and we play to 13....?. A couple of things that have happened today that have saddened me..but the show has to go on. Tonight we played for free...but one lady...said ..i am not complaining... But..and i took the flak. Jeeeez..How do you, please the upturned shiny faces that need entertaining ???
The four photos below will make sense , i promise. Read on.
Through my life, I have played with many types of Bands. Orchestras, shows, oompah bands, pop , salvation army ( in a play) swing bands...and brass bands. Each have their own idiosyncratic ways.. But brass bands always win , when it comes to giving value for money and sheer determination to play on...even if no one listening. So the pictures below...show the organiser logic for most brass bands.
1. Wait until band has set up in the most loneliest of locations.. Wait until they have played a number...then move them.
2. Advertise two bands...which in reality is only one...but move them around.
3. Realise that actually an audience is important .
So study the photos and make your own mind up if i am right or wrong.
