Regular Band: Nobody puts Baby in a corner, but trumpets are another story
We're getting close to our concert date. At this point we're finalizing what we need to do for the performance. Primarily--and this is a constant for any performance, with any band--it's getting down the nuances. We know the basic structure, but we need to fine-tune it. This is always the hard part.
And we're also dealing with more concerns as a group. Last week, we were told that the husband of one of the sax players, K, had gone into hospice. He passed away a few days later. I wasn't sure we'd see K anytime soon, but there she was, ready to roll. She called it her musical therapy. A number of people gave her hugs and told her they were sorry for her loss; I didn't know her well enough to hug her, but she sits right by me and I know she'd lost another husband already--I actually knew her one husband years before I met her. (He'd already passed away by that point.) She went, yeah, I don't think I'll be doing this a fourth time. ...Fourth? Wait, what? Yep, she was on her third husband. I had no idea. She's also looking for another group to play with, hopefully closer to where she lives. Her last husband lived on the North Shore and she moved in with him. People had asked her if she'd come back to the western suburbs and she said no, I have nothing here; my home is up there. So she'd like to find something closer to her and was asking if anyone knew of any bands up that way. Alas, the groups we mentioned were either too difficult to get into, too far away, or had a conflicting time with Regular Band, and she's been here so long she's not looking to leave. Anyway, we were glad to have her back and I admire her strength.
When rehearsal started, AD2 got up on the podium and said, one of these times I'll get up here and give you good news, but today's not that day. She then invited S, the son of our beloved emcee, up to the podium. That kind of made everyone pause, because we all know him, and with that intro we were concerned. So, the bad news: The emcee had a stroke on Sunday. The good news: It was mild, and she'd made tremendous progress just in the past 24 hours. S was impressed with her because, post-stroke, she grabbed up her phone, put in her passcode, and was checking her email. She's 92. S was like, I have trouble doing that at my age! Yes, our emcee is pretty remarkable. We were glad to hear she was improving, though she has to get through her recovery and rehab and such, and that will likely take a number of weeks. He asked that nobody call her, because she likely couldn't talk anyway (I'm guessing her hearing is as good as my grandma's, based on how he said that), but her speech was affected. So that was tough to hear and I'm guessing we'll be seeing S at our concert as he has subbed in for his mom before.
We got a visit from the director emeritus. We ran through one of his march arrangements, done for the 150th anniversary of the city, and that was pretty much it. He'll be doing a few more things at the concert but I guess he's saving his energy for the dress rehearsal next week.
Early on the docket was ADB's march, the one with the piccolo solo. This week he pointed at the piccolo player and two of the flutes and had them play the solo. ...Oh. I'll admit to feeling pretty deflated at that. I've been working pretty hard at it, but you know, that's okay; I haven't been playing the actual piccolo part so it really makes sense for her to do it. Once the song was over, I packed up my piccolo and figured, at least I don't have to work so hard on that solo any longer!
One of our pieces that will honor veterans is based on Arlington Cemetery. AD2 had gone through a whole explanation of what the various parts of the piece remind her of, having been there and seen the expanse of neat grave markers. The piece calls for two offstage trumpets. One was missing, and when A the...less-than-delicate trumpet player got up to cover the part, AD2 was quick to go, are you playing this at the concert? If not, thank you, but we need you to play your own part. P the trumpet player, the other offstage person, was there and he did get to go offstage, which in this case meant waiting in the vestibule that leads to the front lobby of the building. This is sort of a boring part for him, because I think he really only gets to play twice, and the rest of the piece he's just standing there waiting around. It was also funny to me because he basically got put in the corner, like he was bad. (He's kind of like a mischievous 12-year-old a lot of the time, so it's not too far off.) His part sounded fine, and that's why he gets called on to do certain solos; he's a very good player. He could probably be in Fancy Band, to be honest, but his schedule isn't conducive for it.
The piece that is probably the most difficult collectively is also the one that has multiple little solos throughout it, so ADB pulled those people outside and they worked on the solos in the space behind the band. As we learned, it's not soundproof back there, but it did the job. Also, C the oboe player somehow missed that she should be going and AD2 went, don't you have a solo in X measure? C went, oh yeah, oops! And got up. I then said, she's just trying to get rid of you. AD2 totally played into that, which was pretty funny--yeah, she's right. Luckily C knows our senses of humor and just made a funny face at us before walking back there. There were a fair amount of people gone--the oboe, the piccolo, one of the horns (another was missing), clarinet, maybe bassoon. Maybe flute, but our section leader had taken ill and wasn't there this week. The percussion section, particularly the mallets, have really improved their parts in the past few weeks, which is great to hear. They have similar lines to the flute part so I know it's a bit of a challenge, and even if they don't have awkward fingerings, they're still playing a bunch of accidentals and having to do patterns that they're not used to. That's why it's nice to hear when they've gotten the part down.
For our last piece, we ended on the whisper song, which is taking on new meaning for this concert. So much loss for this band in just the past few months. It's a beautiful piece, and flute E was saying how much she enjoyed it. I said to her, as an '80s kid, would you agree that X part toward the end sounds sort of like it belongs in The Goonies? She got upset at that thought--don't ruin this piece for me! Heh. I then went to big clarinet B after we finished and posed the same question to him; he totally heard it. I promise I didn't mean any harm; it's just that it totally reminds me of the scene where the pirate ship makes it out to the ocean. Just the chords, and maybe the French horns. I love that movie. I was telling DB that I used to watch it a lot as a kid, since it was one of those movies that got replayed all the time on TV, and when we watched it at camp one of those last years I basically recited the whole thing. DB is just enough older than me that she didn't watch the movie when it came out, but the look she was giving me was one of understanding. I should offer her some rocky road ice cream. Maybe a Baby Ruth.
After rehearsal, I remembered something I'd wanted to bring up to AD2. When W the trombone player passed away, I had looked at the website to see if he'd even made it on there. Not only was he not there, but people who are no longer with the band are still listed. The glaring thing to me was someone in the flute section who only subbed with us in the summer of 2021--and who is now in Fancy Band with me. Yeah...this needs to be updated. I wasn't sure who was in charge of that so I brought it up to AD2, who admitted to me that the website was likely going to go through a major revamp. As she put it, there are pictures of (deceased) clarinet B at the bake sale on there. ...Yeah, that's a little awkward. (Also, aw, B. I miss her.)
There was also an interesting moment as I was packing up. I'd gone to the bathroom and came back to the setup to grab my stuff, and ADB called my name. He came over and said, you know, the piccolo player has a solo in the one piece...why don't we try the march solo with you next week? Oh, okay. Thanks for letting me know--I'll make sure to keep practicing it! Okay, phew. I mean, I've put a lot of work into getting that solo good, and I'm pretty close to having it down pat, but at the same time it's still kind of awkward since it's really the piccolo player's part, you know? In the meantime, I'll probably bring my good piccolo to band on Monday, just in case...
And we're also dealing with more concerns as a group. Last week, we were told that the husband of one of the sax players, K, had gone into hospice. He passed away a few days later. I wasn't sure we'd see K anytime soon, but there she was, ready to roll. She called it her musical therapy. A number of people gave her hugs and told her they were sorry for her loss; I didn't know her well enough to hug her, but she sits right by me and I know she'd lost another husband already--I actually knew her one husband years before I met her. (He'd already passed away by that point.) She went, yeah, I don't think I'll be doing this a fourth time. ...Fourth? Wait, what? Yep, she was on her third husband. I had no idea. She's also looking for another group to play with, hopefully closer to where she lives. Her last husband lived on the North Shore and she moved in with him. People had asked her if she'd come back to the western suburbs and she said no, I have nothing here; my home is up there. So she'd like to find something closer to her and was asking if anyone knew of any bands up that way. Alas, the groups we mentioned were either too difficult to get into, too far away, or had a conflicting time with Regular Band, and she's been here so long she's not looking to leave. Anyway, we were glad to have her back and I admire her strength.
When rehearsal started, AD2 got up on the podium and said, one of these times I'll get up here and give you good news, but today's not that day. She then invited S, the son of our beloved emcee, up to the podium. That kind of made everyone pause, because we all know him, and with that intro we were concerned. So, the bad news: The emcee had a stroke on Sunday. The good news: It was mild, and she'd made tremendous progress just in the past 24 hours. S was impressed with her because, post-stroke, she grabbed up her phone, put in her passcode, and was checking her email. She's 92. S was like, I have trouble doing that at my age! Yes, our emcee is pretty remarkable. We were glad to hear she was improving, though she has to get through her recovery and rehab and such, and that will likely take a number of weeks. He asked that nobody call her, because she likely couldn't talk anyway (I'm guessing her hearing is as good as my grandma's, based on how he said that), but her speech was affected. So that was tough to hear and I'm guessing we'll be seeing S at our concert as he has subbed in for his mom before.
We got a visit from the director emeritus. We ran through one of his march arrangements, done for the 150th anniversary of the city, and that was pretty much it. He'll be doing a few more things at the concert but I guess he's saving his energy for the dress rehearsal next week.
Early on the docket was ADB's march, the one with the piccolo solo. This week he pointed at the piccolo player and two of the flutes and had them play the solo. ...Oh. I'll admit to feeling pretty deflated at that. I've been working pretty hard at it, but you know, that's okay; I haven't been playing the actual piccolo part so it really makes sense for her to do it. Once the song was over, I packed up my piccolo and figured, at least I don't have to work so hard on that solo any longer!
One of our pieces that will honor veterans is based on Arlington Cemetery. AD2 had gone through a whole explanation of what the various parts of the piece remind her of, having been there and seen the expanse of neat grave markers. The piece calls for two offstage trumpets. One was missing, and when A the...less-than-delicate trumpet player got up to cover the part, AD2 was quick to go, are you playing this at the concert? If not, thank you, but we need you to play your own part. P the trumpet player, the other offstage person, was there and he did get to go offstage, which in this case meant waiting in the vestibule that leads to the front lobby of the building. This is sort of a boring part for him, because I think he really only gets to play twice, and the rest of the piece he's just standing there waiting around. It was also funny to me because he basically got put in the corner, like he was bad. (He's kind of like a mischievous 12-year-old a lot of the time, so it's not too far off.) His part sounded fine, and that's why he gets called on to do certain solos; he's a very good player. He could probably be in Fancy Band, to be honest, but his schedule isn't conducive for it.
The piece that is probably the most difficult collectively is also the one that has multiple little solos throughout it, so ADB pulled those people outside and they worked on the solos in the space behind the band. As we learned, it's not soundproof back there, but it did the job. Also, C the oboe player somehow missed that she should be going and AD2 went, don't you have a solo in X measure? C went, oh yeah, oops! And got up. I then said, she's just trying to get rid of you. AD2 totally played into that, which was pretty funny--yeah, she's right. Luckily C knows our senses of humor and just made a funny face at us before walking back there. There were a fair amount of people gone--the oboe, the piccolo, one of the horns (another was missing), clarinet, maybe bassoon. Maybe flute, but our section leader had taken ill and wasn't there this week. The percussion section, particularly the mallets, have really improved their parts in the past few weeks, which is great to hear. They have similar lines to the flute part so I know it's a bit of a challenge, and even if they don't have awkward fingerings, they're still playing a bunch of accidentals and having to do patterns that they're not used to. That's why it's nice to hear when they've gotten the part down.
For our last piece, we ended on the whisper song, which is taking on new meaning for this concert. So much loss for this band in just the past few months. It's a beautiful piece, and flute E was saying how much she enjoyed it. I said to her, as an '80s kid, would you agree that X part toward the end sounds sort of like it belongs in The Goonies? She got upset at that thought--don't ruin this piece for me! Heh. I then went to big clarinet B after we finished and posed the same question to him; he totally heard it. I promise I didn't mean any harm; it's just that it totally reminds me of the scene where the pirate ship makes it out to the ocean. Just the chords, and maybe the French horns. I love that movie. I was telling DB that I used to watch it a lot as a kid, since it was one of those movies that got replayed all the time on TV, and when we watched it at camp one of those last years I basically recited the whole thing. DB is just enough older than me that she didn't watch the movie when it came out, but the look she was giving me was one of understanding. I should offer her some rocky road ice cream. Maybe a Baby Ruth.
After rehearsal, I remembered something I'd wanted to bring up to AD2. When W the trombone player passed away, I had looked at the website to see if he'd even made it on there. Not only was he not there, but people who are no longer with the band are still listed. The glaring thing to me was someone in the flute section who only subbed with us in the summer of 2021--and who is now in Fancy Band with me. Yeah...this needs to be updated. I wasn't sure who was in charge of that so I brought it up to AD2, who admitted to me that the website was likely going to go through a major revamp. As she put it, there are pictures of (deceased) clarinet B at the bake sale on there. ...Yeah, that's a little awkward. (Also, aw, B. I miss her.)
There was also an interesting moment as I was packing up. I'd gone to the bathroom and came back to the setup to grab my stuff, and ADB called my name. He came over and said, you know, the piccolo player has a solo in the one piece...why don't we try the march solo with you next week? Oh, okay. Thanks for letting me know--I'll make sure to keep practicing it! Okay, phew. I mean, I've put a lot of work into getting that solo good, and I'm pretty close to having it down pat, but at the same time it's still kind of awkward since it's really the piccolo player's part, you know? In the meantime, I'll probably bring my good piccolo to band on Monday, just in case...