What a gig! Confessions of an elderly amateur.

[Seymor B Fudd]

Yesterday I was lucky enough to sub in one of the best Big bands in Southern Sweden. The gig took place at the annual festival of the third biggest town in Sweden.
The huge tent bursting at the seams with music lovers. A truly hot night (23 degrees Celcius) in the old town (first mentioned 1275). The band, a mixture of pros and amateurs, 5 saxes, 4 trombones, 4 trumpets (me subbing on 4), drums, guitar piano,bass.

There was electricity in the air, yes the night became somewhat clouded, a bit damp. The crowd murmuring, as crowds do; and to my big satisfaction and joy my daugther and her husband greeted and hugged me from the front rows. BTW long time ago, I was playing in the swing band beginning 1970s, nervously getting in touch with the obstretic clinic every hour only to be summoned exactly after the final chorus of April in Paris running to chime in at the birth of the most precious stone of my life.
Special Delivery Stomp!

Anyhow - as usual (must be a default setting..)the bandstand became thoroughly crowded. Why on earth must every bandstand be that small.....
Anyway We started out with Basically blues, in a really driving groovy tempo and the heat was on!
Soon Gunhild Carling joined us, playing a formidable swingy trumpet, singing and then playing, equally swinging, trombone solos - how on earth is she capable of using these completeley different embouchures???
The murmuring of the crowd went to roaring after each performance. The band has a lot of own formidable soloists, all of whom really got the spirit.
Song after song, many Gordon Goodwin arrangements, not that simple...
And I entered that "hypnagogic state of mind necessary for every performance of the foremost degree" (Wagner). Or wanted to.

In reality I sat on my guitar stool, legs dangling, back pain, tinnitus getting higher in spite of ear protection by Etymotic, trying to catch up with the sometimes quite fast tempos, 180 bpm, extended solos where the soloists left the score so to say forcing us to listen/calculate where to jump in. And that at a tremendous sound level sometimes making it hard for me to judge where the h-ll is the pulse...

But it was a fantastic experience for an elderly chap - and after all I did quite well, good enough. Not that I am inexperienced, I´ve played incalculable big band gigs but mostly during the 1970s and again 1990s and forward, and since 2015 many more. But noticing the effects of becoming older (thank God for that - becoming older, not the side effects).

Upon return to home I had to use that period so well known to me from back in the day, the transition from "all systems alert" to sleep mode...takes a while. Which I´m sure you are familiar with.

Oh what a night!
_________________
Cornets: mp 143D3/ DW Ultra 1,5 C
Getzen 300 series
Yamaha YCRD2330II
Yamaha YCR6330II
Getzen Eterna Eb
Trumpets:
Yamaha 6335 RC Schilke 14B
King Super 20 Symphony DB (1970)
Selmer Eb/D trumpet (1974)

[kehaulani]

Gunhild Carling? Wow!
Love her beer.
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"If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird

Yamaha 8310Z Bobby Shew trumpet
Benge 3X Trumpet
Benge 3X Cornet
Adams F-1 Flghn

[Seymor B Fudd]

[cgaiii]

Now that seems like a great fun gig to be part of. Congratulations.
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Bb: Schilke X3L AS, Yamaha YTR-6335S
C: Schilke CXL, Kanstul 1510-2
Bb Cornet: Getzen 800 DLXS
Pic: Kanstul 920
Bb Bugle: Kanstul
Bb Pocket: Manchester Brass
Flugel: Taylor Std
Bass Tr: BAC Custom
Nat. Tr: Nikolai Mänttäri Morales Haas replica

[Seymor B Fudd]

[teeeweste]

[stuartissimo]

Great story! Nice to read you had a good time.
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1975 Olds Recording trumpet
1997 Getzen 700SP trumpet
1955 Olds Super cornet
1939 Buescher 280 flugelhorn
AR Resonance mouthpieces