New Year's Eve?

[John Caves]

Did anyone play a good New Year's gig? My polka band played a public dance for 40-50 people, and had a great time!

[MikeMason]

I got to sub with the Pensacola Symphony where Chester Schmitz was the guest soloist( he has also been subbing with them this season).It was a blast.Chester was very entertaining and quite the ham. He did Morceau de Concert,Carnival of Venice(on a bell front BBb) ,Jabba the Hut,and The World's Longest Note,where he attempts to break the record for the longest note.Chester plays a d below the staff on a huge 24"bell top action York for about 10 min. while the orchestra plays a few tunes that the d fits with.The audience cried. A good time was had by all, especially me...

[Carroll]

My jazz combo (I play trombone and euphonium) played a 7:30 to 12:30 party at a cuntry club in a nearby retirement village. The party goers all ponied up $100 each so we were paid very well. The all night buffet was quite a treat, as well. It was like a cruise ship where we ate every hour. We played 45 minutes and took a 15 minute break. Most of the night was very good, but the drunker they got, the more they wanted rock & roll. We play mostly jazz/big band standards, so we could not quite keep all the crowd happy. All in all, though, it was a good time and we are booked for the next three New Years' there and contracted for six more jobs this year as a result.