Go on, yo know you want to

I have actually been doing a fair bit of playing recently, lots of practise / rehearsal on trombone for a concert in a couple of weeks, and a bit on the electric bass for services at Church, and of course my regular nights at CSB on tuba.

I have taken a plunge that I meant to make months ago, I have resigned as MD of the Brass Band, although I have enjoyed the job enormously and found the musical challenge very stimulating, I just don't have the time for the commitment, sometimes family is just more important.

And a Pie !?

I think I have played in this section

Well we have got to the middle of January and I am trying to stick to my resolutions, but it is not as easy as I had hoped, of course if they were easy then I would have been doing them anyway.   I am pleased to be able to say that I have been doing some practise, but so far only on trombone, and I have managed to tune the van radio into Classic FM as well as Radio 4.

I am concentrating more on teh trombone as my next couple of gigs on bass trombone, and I need to build up a bit more strength in my lip, and develop my tone.   So back to basics lots of long note practise and some basic solid studies.

Rochester?

I received an e-mail the other day just titled Rochester, I assumed it was something to do with the diocese, this is not unreasonable for me since I was on the Synod and am currently on the committee of the RSCM. I forgot that I also have a customer ( a Methodist Minister) who lives on Rochester Avenue, and it was about their garden.

Of course many people will think first of Mr Rochester the bigamist and love interest in Jane Eyre. I was put in mind of him earlier today listening to Woman's hour on BBC Radio four as they discussed suitable holiday reading, there was much discussion as to the character of Rochester, and Jane's suitability as a feminist icon. Personally I find the Brontes generallyhard work needing a bit more reader input than I am prepared to give.


Mrs T Herself

Next month I am playing in a last night of the proms style concert in Basingstoke, the music has just been sent through to me so I could have a look at it before actually having to play on the day. Even a quick glance immediately told me that I would be using my EEb, the register and the keys just scream EEb, on the CC every single piece would be bit harder, and on the BBb a lot harder. This means that at some point I will have to go up into the attic and get my trusty old customised Besson down. We have quite a small house so I only have the CC (which is in a very large case) and what ever other instrument is in use in the house, the others along with mutes and stuff live in the attic.

Over the last couple of years I have used the CC as my main instrument, but the EEb comes down quite often, when the parts are higher or more active. I have also had quite a few occasions to play the Trombone and the Euphonium, but the poor old BBb ~ Mrs T Herself ~ has not been down for a couple of years. I am beginning to feel a bit like Mr Rochester keeping my mad first wife in the attic while I dally with younger prettier models downstairs.

No Tuba

Nobody wants me to play tuba these days, it seems like ages since I last played a tuba in performance; that's not to say that I haven't been playing, I have had my fair share it's just not on tuba.   Of course for the Brass Band I am the stick waver, a position I am still surprised and honoured to hold, and at the Croydn Symphonic Band I am currently on Bass Trombone.   We have had a bit of a change round in the heavy brass section, still looking for a regular Euphonium player we have a "friend" who plays with us when ever he can, on top of that we lost one of our bass players and our bass trombone.   The first trombone is very committed to other things and finds it hard to make every rehearsal, so that leaves our new bass player, just back from Cardiff University, and me.

Having said all that we will be having a full section of three trombones, euphonium and two basses at our concert on Wednesday as well as for the National Concert Band Festival on the 1st of April.   The concert on Wednesday is at the excellent hall at Trinity School, we have played there a couple of times, and the only draw back it has as a venue that I can see is the lack of a bar.   The whole Croydon/Bromley/Sutton area has a real problem in that there is no suitable venue for amateur music outside of school halls.   We have the wonderful Fairfield hall, but this is simply too big, an audience of two or three hundred will just get lost, everything else is a theatre, very good theatres but they all have a presidium arch which causes acoustic chaos for some of us.   What we want are halls like the QEH and the Purcell Room.

No way to treat a trombone

I won't say how I came across this photo, but once I had it pointed out to me I had to share