Archive
The LazyBones Septet (aka LazyBones + 2) will be playing at the Inverloch Jazz Festival in Victoria on Saturday 6th August 2022 at 2pm and 7pm. With me on trombones will be Lachlan Smith, Basil Rizopoulos and Brian Kemp, on piano Patrick Barton Grace, on bass Ben Harmsen, and on drums Larry Kean. We also welcome a new singer, Susie Cloete, who'll provide the vocal oomph to our sets.
The last time that the Septet performed at Inverloch was in 2014 when we played for the Inaugural Festival Dinner at the RACV Country Club. Prior to that we played in 2012 in the Community Hub, and the photo below shows the band on the stage there. Me and Ben are the only members from that day who are playing this weekend.
AFTER LONG SILENCE...
... "the supreme theme of Art and Song" awakens again after our long period of lockdown against the COVID-19 foe! Apologies to W. B. Yeats, but the sentiment seems appropriate.
By the way, Neil Ardley set that poem to music and Norma Winstone sang it on Ardley's 1971 LP "A Symphony of Amaranths". It's a brilliant album and very much worth hearing. Ardley's setting of Edward Lear's poem "The Dong With A Luminous Nose", recited by Ivor Cutler, is a classic.
Anyway, things are at last looking up. The LazyBones Quintet should be playing soon; the Windjammer Brass Trio will be appearing at a market near you as soon as the weather on Sundays warms up; and The Windjammer Brass Quintet is all set to perform at the Port Fairy Jazz Festival on the weekend of 11th-13th February, 2022. The brass quintet has a nice range of jazz and ragtime pieces, ranging from the beautiful compositions of Jelly Roll Morton, through some great Dixieland arrangements by Zach Smith, to sublime compositions from Duke Ellington's band.
Unfortunately our appearance at Port Fairy didn't happen - too far, lack of accommodation, musician reluctance, etc.
76 TROMBONES IN FED SQUARE
Thursday 12th December 2019 5.30-6.15pm
The Mel'Bones are augmenting to 76 to play Meredith Willson's "76 Trombones", plus some seasonal music, in Federation Square, Melbourne (opposite Flinders Street Railway Station). There could be several thousand people in the Square, so this is a great opportunity to reach and entertain a large crowd. Any trombone players who would like to participate should contact me at dontrb@gmail.com or 0488 218 185 with their standard, whether tenor or bass, preference for part (1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th/bass), need for treble clef music, and email address and mobile number.
The 4-part arrangement of "76 'Bones" that we'll play is by Kenneth Amis (a performance of this is on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpfzjZ4W28M), and we'll play 4-part arrangements of seasonal music by Bob Elkjer (and perhaps others). You can check Bob's website (www.robertelkjer.net) for mp3 files of his Trombone Quartet Christmas Carols V. 6 charts so you can get an idea of the standard. Notice of one or more rehearsals for those that need them will be sent out later.
Because of numbers, need for stands, weather uncertainty and sound focus, we'll play on the stage of the Square. To give the appearance of a flash mob, we'll leave cases and bags in a secure area by the stage and then move surreptitiously (trombones under our jackets ha! ha!) out around the square. I'll conduct the performance from a raised spot in the square in front of the stage, and I'll start playing "When The Saints" in Bb when everyone is ready. Everyone will then join in while making their way through the crowd and up on the stage. When everyone is there we'll swing into "76 Trombones".
I'll get people to bring music stands, but we'll only need half the number as two players will have to share a stand for reasons of stage space and music copying! The stage will be marked out for 1st, 2nds, 3rds and 4ths so everyone on a part will have the support of their fellow-parters. Getting such a large group playing together musically and hearable clearly by the audience may be tricky so tempos may be a bit slower than might be used indoors.
... "the supreme theme of Art and Song" awakens again after our long period of lockdown against the COVID-19 foe! Apologies to W. B. Yeats, but the sentiment seems appropriate.
By the way, Neil Ardley set that poem to music and Norma Winstone sang it on Ardley's 1971 LP "A Symphony of Amaranths". It's a brilliant album and very much worth hearing. Ardley's setting of Edward Lear's poem "The Dong With A Luminous Nose", recited by Ivor Cutler, is a classic.
Anyway, things are at last looking up. The LazyBones Quintet should be playing soon; the Windjammer Brass Trio will be appearing at a market near you as soon as the weather on Sundays warms up; and The Windjammer Brass Quintet is all set to perform at the Port Fairy Jazz Festival on the weekend of 11th-13th February, 2022. The brass quintet has a nice range of jazz and ragtime pieces, ranging from the beautiful compositions of Jelly Roll Morton, through some great Dixieland arrangements by Zach Smith, to sublime compositions from Duke Ellington's band.
Unfortunately our appearance at Port Fairy didn't happen - too far, lack of accommodation, musician reluctance, etc.
76 TROMBONES IN FED SQUARE
Thursday 12th December 2019 5.30-6.15pm
The Mel'Bones are augmenting to 76 to play Meredith Willson's "76 Trombones", plus some seasonal music, in Federation Square, Melbourne (opposite Flinders Street Railway Station). There could be several thousand people in the Square, so this is a great opportunity to reach and entertain a large crowd. Any trombone players who would like to participate should contact me at dontrb@gmail.com or 0488 218 185 with their standard, whether tenor or bass, preference for part (1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th/bass), need for treble clef music, and email address and mobile number.
The 4-part arrangement of "76 'Bones" that we'll play is by Kenneth Amis (a performance of this is on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpfzjZ4W28M), and we'll play 4-part arrangements of seasonal music by Bob Elkjer (and perhaps others). You can check Bob's website (www.robertelkjer.net) for mp3 files of his Trombone Quartet Christmas Carols V. 6 charts so you can get an idea of the standard. Notice of one or more rehearsals for those that need them will be sent out later.
Because of numbers, need for stands, weather uncertainty and sound focus, we'll play on the stage of the Square. To give the appearance of a flash mob, we'll leave cases and bags in a secure area by the stage and then move surreptitiously (trombones under our jackets ha! ha!) out around the square. I'll conduct the performance from a raised spot in the square in front of the stage, and I'll start playing "When The Saints" in Bb when everyone is ready. Everyone will then join in while making their way through the crowd and up on the stage. When everyone is there we'll swing into "76 Trombones".
I'll get people to bring music stands, but we'll only need half the number as two players will have to share a stand for reasons of stage space and music copying! The stage will be marked out for 1st, 2nds, 3rds and 4ths so everyone on a part will have the support of their fellow-parters. Getting such a large group playing together musically and hearable clearly by the audience may be tricky so tempos may be a bit slower than might be used indoors.
