[Dixielandjazz] Trombone players who can both read & fake

[Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis]

That's true - I have done several Mississippi and American Queen big band 
cruises.  The pay is fair to poor but I was looking at them more as a 
vacation.  We only played two hours a day - the rest of the time was laying 
around on deck watching the river move by, listening to a killer Dixie group 
and enjoying the cuisine.  Someone who was seriously trying to make their 
living at this couldn't do it unless they had extended trips.  The house 
bands do get the extended trips where they aren't paying rent or for food 
for six weeks at a time.  I think they work six and are off 2.  That's the 
schedule for everyone on the boats.

Even though the crews are  models of decorum we were treated to the Rocky 
Horror Picture Show with the crew showing up in full costume at midnight on 
the last cruise I did.  What a hoot.
Larry
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steve Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
To: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 25, 2006 11:24 AM
Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Trombone players who can both read & fake


> "Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis"
>
>> The problem Ginny is the almost age old one - If they can fake they can't
>> read and vice versa.  People who can do both well are generally in demand
>> and somewhat rare.  Most musicians fall on one side of the fence or the
>> other.  Personally I feel a whole lot stronger on improv than I am in
>> reading and as I get older reading becomes even more problematical.
>>
>> Many of the young whiz kids are dynamite readers but take the paper away 
>> and
>> you might as well have twisted a key off their horns.  Most of their 
>> improv
>> comes right out of a book and just doesn't flow because they don't learn 
>> how
>> to make it flow.  Doing arrangements on the fly is also becoming a lost 
>> art.
>> I doubt seriously if they will find a group that can do both.
>>
>> As you know trying to find someone who can do both has been the problem 
>> in
>> my never ending quest for a trombone player.
>
> Dear Larry:
>
> You need to move East. :-) VBG
>
> We have scads of trombone players who can read and fake with the best of
> them. Played with one yesterday in beautiful downtown Warbasse NJ. . . Jim
> Fryer who is a monster reader, monster faker and monster singer.
>
> Others here include Glenn Dodson, Herb Gardner, Clint Sharmin, Herb 
> Roselle,
> Clarence Watkins, Brian Priebe, Pete Pepke, Pete Reichlin, Jim Parker, 
> Dave
> Sager, and a bunch of others who if they read this, will please forgive me
> for leaving them out. (Not to mention Rick Knittel who lives in the 
> boonies
> of Maine, "outside" the NY-Philly-Wash D.C. area)
>
> Experienced jazz improvisers all, any one of them could cut a cruise ship
> gig without breaking a sweat. Why don't they? Because for them, cruises 
> have
> very little to offer in the way of either psychic or monetary benefits.
>
> Cheers,
> Steve Barbone
>
>
>
>
>
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