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This article has a great photo of the band, bell-front tuba and all.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/ ... aldorf/?hp" target="_blank

TMB

Thomas Maurice Booth wrote:This article has a great photo of the band, bell-front tuba and all.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/ ... aldorf/?hp" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

TMB

"The Sweetest Music This Side of Heaven"

Any one wanna get in an argument about the tuba in the video in the link? (There is a picture of the 'latest' RC'ns with a 2340 King. Wooooo! World's Greatest Horn!!! )

Lombardo had some mighty fast Gold Cup racers post WWII- the 'Tempo' series of boats.

Just think of the possibilities!

"My parents were killed by a freak brewing accident when I was only 2, so I was raised by wild tubas. Even though I've mostly conquered it, when I get nervous, I sometimes grab people's noses and try to empty them like water keys... "

That's not THE Guy Lombardo Band. That's Al Pierson fronting what is now known as the Guy Lombardo Band. (Guy actually called it the Guy Lombardo Orchestra or The Royal Canadians.) Al bought the rights to the band many years ago (probably mid 80's)) after the Lombardo family realized they were struggling to keep the band going.

Here's a picture of me and the King CC bell front tuba I used back then (1976-78). In hindsight, a BBb would have been a much better choice for the sound, but as a 25 yr. old only playing CC back then, I was nervous about joining the band and screwing up on fingerings. However, when you're playing a lot of whole notes, it's ind of hard to screw up fingerings. I thought about selling it and buying a BBb for the gig, but I was already used to using the CC and guy liked it.

They called it the sweetest music this side of heaven. Yeah, maybe from a distance. The band played loud and I was usually pretty beat after a 4 hr. dance gig - a lot of whole notes with wide vibrato.

Happy New Year to you all!

super stories both bloke and bill!

bloke wrote: We were instructed to fabricate names, locales of birth, and other stuff about ourselves...and to pretend that the GLO was our full-time job.

This could be fun:

Name: Gord Simonson

Hometown: North Battleford, Saskatchewan

Instruments played: baritone saxophone, piccolo

Musical Training: School band, Canadian Forces Band

Years with the Royal Canadians: 20

Thing most liked about the Royal Canadians: I like the neat blazers Mr. Lombardo makes us wear. He hasn't changed the book of music in the twenty years I have played for him and I can play it really good now. Mr. Lombardo looks a little bit different now, though. Don't know what it is....Oh, yeah, and the paychecks don't bounce.

Interests outside of the Royal Canadians: I help my wife make children, make smoked pork products in my own home smokehouse and watch curling on the CBC. That Sandra Schmerler was one hot babe!

Jeff "Eh? Eh!" Benedict

Many of the ghost bands do that, from the early 80s on. Not the biggest, like Miller or Tommy Dorsey. But, Lombardo (obviously), Russ Morgan, Jimmy Dorsey (I couldn't do a weekend in Pittsburgh with them, sadly), and I can't come up with any more specific names. But, I know it's still a fairly common practice.

The Miller and T. Dorsey bands don't go that far, but they are very spotty in scheduling and often have different players from trip to trip.

I did my turn with the Al Pierson/GLO in spots from 2004 to 2007. Doubled on string bass and tuba. I never had a bell front horn available at the time, and ended up having to mike a horn at one gig. I had to turn down a riverboat cruise tour because I was teaching full time when the tour came.

I did get to play with some good players in the group, and was thankful for the opportunity. They almost didn't have a jacket that woiuld fit correctly, but did manage to squeeze into something that I could get by in. I also enjoyed looking at the charts. Not much happening with mostly two beat bass patterns, but I liked looking at the books.

Tom Mason

Tom Mason wrote: I also enjoyed looking at the charts. Not much happeninh with mostly two beat bass patterns, but I liked looking at the books.

Were these the "actual" books that guy Lombardo himself put together? Anything interesting written on the pages that you can remember?

The Big Ben wrote:

Tom Mason wrote: I also enjoyed looking at the charts. Not much happeninh with mostly two beat bass patterns, but I liked looking at the books.

Were these the "actual" books that guy Lombardo himself put together? Anything interesting written on the pages that you can remember?

I doubt that the parts were the original, but most appeared to be carbon copies of the originals. I don't remember any special notes when I used the book, except for a couple of notes telling the bassist to go to 4, or back to 2, but I am sure I only played maybe half of the material. They were Lombardo charts.

I am not sure about the usual practice, but I would assume that original books are kept somewhere, and copies go on the road. I would like to hear form someone who has been on the road as a full-time musician about this practice.

I've played with Al many times with the Royal Canadians, both on Tuba and 2nd Bone. He's a real task-master, and very demanding, but he pays fair and treats you right if you are a pro, top-to-bottom. Good Italian guy; feeds you, pays fair travel... the whole nine yards. But you're expected to play everything right on the first go around, and there's almost never a rehearsal (maybe a run through of Auld Lang for a sound check).

I've used a few King recording Bell instruments, and he's the main reason I keep one in my arsenal - Al loves it! Had a Buescher he loved, and a King rotary he loved too... Never took to my Alex very much.

If you have the chance, do it - you'll grow as a reader and a professional. The tuba book is not too bad, but you musn't fall asleep on the job - the concert goers are expecting THE GLO and they musn't be clued in that it's anything but that...

J.c.S.

When I was with the band, we played on the original charts, even though some were a bit tattered. I wrote in some markings over the years, mostly in terms of whether to play on 1 and 3, or play whole notes with vibrato. Guy had various arrangers over the years, and some would write tuba parts mostly with the 1 and 3 quarter note patterns and others would write mostly whole notes. But just because it was written either way, didn't mean you played it that way. I learned from Guy's cues and from the tbn. player sitting next to me, which way he prefered it on which tunes. After a short while, I came to realize that the tempo usually dictated the bass style, with the more slower, lush ballads using the whole note with vibrato technique.

Also, there weren't many fills written in the parts, but if you listen to recordings, the tuba players did some fills. So, I started incorporating some in the music. If they got a little complex, Guy would give me a look, so I knew not to do it that way again. The piano player listened to me and gave me full license as to how to play the line and he would basically copy it in his left hand. Then, the drummer and I would feed off each other on some simple rhythms too. Over time, we developed a tight cohesiveness between piano, bass(tuba) and drums, much the same as in any other ensemble. We developed that over time, playing with each other.

That's why in Guy's band, changing too many players at one time, would yield an entirely different ensemble and sound. When Guy passed away, and various other leaders filled in for about 6 months (and even before he died, but was sick and couldn't come on the road with us), business got bad quickly with cancellations on the road causing financial hard times for Guy and the family. It was becoming a ghost band without Guy there. An exodus of the musicians began with replacements coming on board, and although some of these musicians were very good, they basically read the charts with no regard for the sound, articulations and phrasings. That's the impression i got when I heard the Al Pierson Lombardo band on TV. They played well, but it didn't quite sound like Lombardo, which was a very unique sound. i don't remember whether I'm addressing a question here, or just rambling.

Bill Troiano wrote:I don't remember whether I'm addressing a question here, or just rambling.

No, no, Bill. Good stuff. Just what I wanted to hear. My HS band director was an itinerant band member and leader in the midwest in the late 40s and 50s and directed our HS big band just like it was done in the 'old days'. Other HS bands would have 'modern' jazz arrangements (Maynard Ferguson, etc.) while we had vintage books from the "old days"- his personal stuff. He taught us that making music was more than reading notes off the page. We never went to competitions but we did have variety shows and dances which were very well attended. He would tell us stories about the 'old days' on the road in North Dakota in the middle of the winter. It's surprising that some of the band members went on to professional careers after hearing his stories. His name was Percy Bronson but his band was known as "Sonny Bronson and His Boys".