[Dixielandjazz] Jazz Amputees

[dhs@ev1.net]

Dear Listers:

Most of the persons referred to in this thread are historical figures of one
sort or another.  I would like to mention a friend with a missing limb who
is just getting started in jazz.

He is Monte Price, slide trombonist for the Chaparral Dixielanders of Round
Rock, TX.  For those who are not acquainted with this group, it is a novice
band in the Austin area which started in early 2002 and has made
considerable progress in a relatively short time.

Monte lost his left forearm and hand in a West Texas oilfield
accident some years ago.  He turned to academics after that, and like many
University of Texas graduates has remained in the Austin area.  He has
carved out a nice niche as a computer systems consultant.  Monte has a
warm-hearted wife named Ann and two lovely daughters.  He has a good life.

On the musical side, Monte plays with a concert band, a couple of German
bands, a trombone ensemble, and the Dixielanders.  He wraps the cross-brace
of his trombone with a small towel, and grips it with his prosthetic hand
(spring-loaded side-by-side flat metal hooks, actually).

Monte can play trombone with a normal slide motion, but has trouble
inserting and removing mutes in the heat of the moment, and of course isn't
up to playing triggers.
He has an interesting collection of older straight tenor trombones.  I play
valve trombone with
the Dixielanders, and when we play duets, if one of us is to be muted, I
stick the mute in the appropriate bell and remove it afterward.

I don't think any of the Dixielanders think of Monte as handicapped.  He is
more than just one of the guys, though.  It was his interest in OKOM and
drive that got the band together.

Regards,
Dave Stoddard
Round Rock, TX