[Dixielandjazz] International travel with musical instruments

[Stephen G Barbone]

> From: "ROBERT R. CALDER" <serapion at btinternet.com> wrote:
>
>
> I still remember the words of Gary Burton ---
>
> "Even as we're playing here, informally dressed and with borrowed  
> instruments, our clothes and our own equipment are either on a  
> 'plane or even being unloaded at your local airport, if they haven't  
> arrived there since?we started this set. "

In 2006 Tom Wiggins took a New Orleans Jazz Band to the Red Sea Jazz  
Festival in Eilat Israel. The trombone which was supposed to be in  
checked baggage never arrived. The festival organizer supplied a very  
ratty trombone, student model, from a local school. It was awful and  
the trombonist, tried it out and could hardly play it.

Luckily, I knew a trombonist Frank (Kuumba) Lacy who was there with  
the Mingus Dynasty band and he kindly lent his trombone to Wiggin's  
trombonist. Luckily our set times were an hour apart each night and it  
all worked out.

The missing trombone was still at JFK airport when we got back to the  
USA. Seems the guy had put the trombone case into a wooden ammunition  
case to protect his horn. We flew to Israel on EL AL and they refused  
to put the ammo case on the plane. (Gee, I wonder why? <grin>)

Lacy is a great modern jazz player. (short bio on Wikipedia) Also a  
very funny guy who spent some time with Bob Wilber when they were on  
the jazz faculty at Rutgers University in New Jersey. We jammed with  
him in Eilat and he blew the doors off Sweet Georgia Brown. He got us  
all to laughing very hard when in the middle of talking about his time  
with Bob he said, "Steve, you sound like Bob Wilber on Crack".

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband