[Dixielandjazz] Tuning the Double Bass - have you lost your marbles?

[Stephen Barbone]

> "Richard Stevens" <thejazzfactory at ozemail.com.au> wrote
>
> I know of a bass
> player who left his bass leaning against a wall at a gig. From the bar his
> mates noticed a kid over at his instrument fiddling with the tuning pegs.
> The bass player ran across the room to rescue his axe and a few moments
> later his fellow musicians followed, concerned that the instrument had been
> damaged. The bass player was bawling his eyes out as the guys, fearing the
> worst gathered around. Noticing no apparent damage, the trombone player said
> "be cool man, there's no harm done" The bass player through his sobbing
> replied, "the damned kids run off, If I can't find him, I'll never get it
> back in tune"

Reminds me of a funny story Oscar Peterson told bassist Chuck Traeger and me over dinner at
Chuck's pad in the Village circa 1959. Chuck's wife June is, like Peterson, Canadian, grew up
with Peterson and she had invited us all to dinner (gourmet cook) on evening when Oscar was
in NYC for a gig.

Seems that the trio had been gigging in Toronto at a club and Ray Brown would leave his bass
on the stand every night and just re-tune it running, on the first number the following
night, since it did not vary much during the intervening day.

Peterson got to the club early one night and radically de-tuned Brown's bass. Some strings
up, some down, considerably. Then he kept Brown busy talking until they took the stand and
immediately call a very up tempo number. He just about cracked up while Brown with a
bewildered look on his face rushed to play and tune at the same time.

Brown, being no dummy knew exactly what had happened but said nothing. He waited a few days,
then kept Oscar talking until they started to play the first number of the first set. Lo and
behold, he had placed marbles onto the piano strings which when he heard them, absolutely
cracked Peterson up. Oscar spent the next few minutes picking the marbles out of the Steinway
while Brown smiled like the Cheshire Cat.

Just proves what we already know, that you cannot grow up and be a jazz musician at the same
time. :-) VBG

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

PS. Yep, "to have fun" is the second only to "to get women" as most oft quoted answer to the
question, "why  do you want to be a jazz musician."  ;-) VBG.