[Dixielandjazz] Airline Security

Thu Aug 17 21:10:03 PDT 2006

Hi Folks:

Good news, on this subject at least for now:  

I just got a report form two of my acts that travelled last weekend and 
had no problem taking their instruments on board the flights, guitars 
and saxophones and t-bones and trumpets, were no problem.

with the new move sweeping the country about SNAKES ON AirPLANES  I 
would expect them to still be a bit warry about a Clarinet or Soprano 
Sax coming on board, might raise an eyebrow or two :))  Ha ha.

Cheers,

Tom

 -----Original Message----- 
 From: barbonestreet at earthlink.net 
 To: dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com 
 Sent: Tue, 15 Aug 2006 8:46 AM 
 Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Airline Security 

    To all bands/musicians traveling internationally this word of 
advice. Call 
 your Airlines to see what is allowed and what is not. 

  Note the article below and even if a clarinetist like me who can carry 
on 
  the axe, take the reed cutting tools and/or liquids out of the case 
and pack 
 them in your checked baggage. Same with valve oil etc. 

  On my upcoming trip to play at the Red Sea Jazz Festival with Tom 
Wiggins 
 et. al, I would normally take 2 clarinets. Not this time. :-) VBG. 

 Cheers, 
 Steve Barbone 

 Tighter Security Is Jeopardizing Orchestra Tours 

 NY TIMES - By DANIEL J. WAKIN - August 15, 2006 

 Air travel for classical musicians has never been easy. 

  Those husky cellos need an extra ticket. Hey, security! Watch that 
priceless 
 Stradivarius. Double-reed players? They have long given up on carrying 
  aboard those valuable knives and shaping tools used to mold the cane 
that 
 transforms their breath into lyrical sounds. 

  And now, with new concerns about carry-on baggage in the wake of 
Britain¹s 
 reported terrorist plot, it has gotten tougher. 

  Strict regulations imposed last week forced the New York-based 
Orchestra of 
  St. Luke¹s to cancel a long-awaited tour of Britain over the weekend 
and 
 sent other ensembles with imminent trips, including the Philadelphia 
  Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony and the Minnesota Orchestra, 
scrambling 
 to cope with the new rules. 

 ³I¹m heartbroken,² Marianne C. Lockwood, the president and executive 
  director of the St. Luke¹s orchestra, said yesterday. ³I don¹t think 
I¹ve 
  been through 72 more anguished hours in my life.² The orchestra was to 
have 
  left last Thursday for concerts at the Edinburgh International 
Festival and 
  the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall in London, one of the major 
summer 
 music festivals. 

  All travelers in Britain had to adapt to the ban on carry-on items, 
which 
  was relaxed yesterday to allow one small carry-on. But not all 
travelers ply 
 their trade with highly personal artifacts made of centuries-old wood, 
  horsehair and precious metals that many musicians are loath to put in 
the 
 hold. 

  Its rules are of course in flux. The United States Transportation 
Security 
  Administration says on its Web site that musical instruments are 
generally 
  allowed in the cabin in addition to a carry-on bag and a personal 
item, but 
  it leaves size requirements and permission for the carry-on to the 
airlines. 
  In addition, it promises that security personnel will handle 
instruments 
 carefully. 

  That is of little comfort to musicians, particularly string players, 
who 
 suffer constant anxiety over the threat of damage and fears that their 
 instruments will arbitrarily not be allowed in the cabin, even though 
 violins fit into most overhead bins. 

  The violin virtuoso and conductor Pinchas Zukerman said security 
officials 
  had even asked him to remove the strings of his 1742 Guarneri del 
Gèsu. 
 ³I¹ve had unbelievable discussions at certain airports,² he said by 
  telephone while waiting at the Atlanta airport for a flight with his 
wife, 
 the cellist Amanda Forsyth. ³They want to stick their hands in my 
 instruments, and they say, ŒIt¹s my job.¹ ² 

  Cellists have it the worst, Ms. Forsyth said. ³We buy the seat with a 
cello, 
 and they treat us like second-class criminals.² 

 The new regulations have, for now, increased the complications. 

  The Bolshoi opera and ballet, which have been performing at the Royal 
Opera 
  House in London, will send their orchestra¹s instruments back to 
Moscow by 
  ferry and truck at the end of the week if the restrictions are not 
relaxed, 
  said Faith Wilson, a spokeswoman for the Bolshoi¹s promoter at the 
house, 
 Victor Hochhauser Presents. The Bolshoi orchestra¹s chief conductor, 
  Alexander Vedernikov, had been quoted as saying that the musicians¹ 
contract 
 requires them to keep their instruments with them. 

  ³Clearly this is a very unusual situation,² Ms. Wilson said. ³I¹m sure 
there 
  are insurance issues, but I don¹t think anybody¹s ever had to cope 
with the 
 security restrictions that we¹re up against.² 

  The Minnesota Orchestra is due to leave on Sunday for a European tour 
that 
 also includes stops in Edinburgh and at the Proms. Like many major 
 orchestras, it packs its instruments in specially designed and padded 
 crates. 

  The biggest ones, which hold harps and double basses, are six and a 
half 
  feet high and four feet wide. About 20 players in the 95-member 
ensemble 
  like to take their instruments or precious bows on board, but they 
will stow 
 them this time around, said a spokeswoman, Gwen Pappas. The trunks are 
 delivered straight to concert halls, so the instruments will not be 
  immediately available for players who want to practice at their 
hotels. 

  The Philadelphia Orchestra plays the Proms in early September. Its 
trunks 
 also have space for all the members¹ instruments, but it is working on 
  backup plans for about a dozen musicians who are going on to other 
jobs or 
 on vacation and not returning with the orchestra, said a spokeswoman, 
 Katherine Blodgett. 

  Those concerts, coming later, give the orchestras time to prepare. And 
these 
 are large, experienced touring groups that own the crates. 

 Not so the Orchestra of St. Luke¹s, a highly regarded ensemble that 
  nevertheless tours infrequently and saw the trip as a boost for its 
image. 
  It spent two years planning the trip and many months carefully 
polishing the 
 programs, which were to have been broadcast in the United States. 

  The trip had special significance for the orchestra¹s principal 
conductor, 
  Donald Runnicles, who is Scottish, and for its president, Ms. 
Lockwood, who 
 was born in England. 

  Ms. Lockwood described three days of phone calls, fueled by takeout 
Chinese 
  food, to find alternatives. The musicians had planned to carry their 
smaller 
 instruments by hand. 

  Charter planes were too expensive: about $300,000, which would have 
doubled 
 the cost of the tour. The orchestra scoured larger orchestras from 
 Philadelphia to Boston to borrow trunks. All were in use. St. Luke¹s 
  considered flying the musicians to Paris, having them take a train to 
London 
  and having the instruments trucked in, but there would not have been 
time to 
 make a Tuesday rehearsal. 

 Then someone from Edinburgh called Saturday to offer the loan of 
 instruments. 

 In the end, none of the efforts mattered. British Airways canceled the 
 flight that day at 5 p.m. 

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