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Just a thought.....

Having a church gig (2 services even) on Christmas Eve makes one feel good about being a musician. At least it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, and valued as a player also.

Even though it's the same tunes every year, the congregation enjoys the brass a lot. Plus the contractor I play with has some smokin' quintet arrangements. Another plus is that the organist is not a flake like most. He knows how to keep a beat, is organized, plays well, and never gives us "THE HAND". We play big in a small hall and the crowd loves it!

Merry Christmas To All, And To All.......A Good Gig!

What we did, for the second year in a row, was pile a brass quartet in the car and do hit-n-run brass carols for people we thought would appreciate or enjoy it. We managed seven visits this year in a couple of hours, the night before Christmas Eve. 'Tis the season for giving, and this mode of it feels a lot better to me than spending $$.

MA

was pile a brass quartet in the car

There's nothing like a Peace and Love Flower Power brass quartet around Christmas time. I suppose if Santa can get down any chimney, you can put brass quartet in one of these.

I have for years put together a quartet and went around town playing at day care centers and nursing homes. I get to try out new arranging tricks and play with some really great folks. A big part of this season in giving my gifts back to the community at large. Of course, we have to go during the day when the kiddos are actually at day care.

Got around to several elementary schools this year for John Reno and the Creekers sixth annual Eastern Shore Tour. We are off Christmas and New Years but are pleased to return to The Tropical Isle at 700 Block of Bourbon Street , New Orleans January 14th for Pardi Gras 2006- the first big convention to hit New Orleans since Katrina drowned it.
tubatooter1940
www.johnreno.com/

Since I do the church thing all year round, the Christmas stuff tends to be just a somewhat pumped up version of what we've been doing all along. But Dec. 11 was when the place did its big Christmas concert -- all choirs, all instrumental groups, and singing by the audience too -- with the Rutter Gloria being the highlight. A good sized crew of pro brass was hired in to make the Gloria solid.

We amateurs played David Willcocks arrangements along with the carol singing prior to the main event. When it was clear to the trumpet players (7 of them) that they were free to crank that puppy up, they did. Although the local tuba guru on his Hirsbrunner (or Hirschbrunner ... is this another one of those Mirafone / Miraphone things?) was probably not inclined to break from good decorum, I figured what the heck and put the pedal to the metal (tastefully, without blatting, mind you). I'd say the bank of trombones joined in too. The pipe organ was more or less rendered superfluous by all this brass. Combine all that with a good acoustic and at least 400 people singing the carols, and it was an impressive sound. The music director was thoroughly enjoying every minute of it; and at the next rehearsal remarked how great the low brass was (whilst looking at me ).

Since I'm usually busy performing with the brass, woodwinds, or choir, I don't often get to sit back and listen. I decided not to participate in the Rutter, and a pleasure it was to listen to the pro brass players do it up nice.

This year it was a return to the THREE services routine for me. I do an hour-15 or so service for our church, usually on st. bass(young guy comes in to play w/brass)which is OK, saves wear and tear for the other 2 paid services @ an Episcopal service out in Franklin TN. This is one of the oldest churches in the state and has a very small sanctuary, which translates to a second service and not much help in the acoustic realm.

Being that it's such a small room, the people can hear you breathe. Along about midnight in the 2nd service everyone was getting a little punchy and the priest calls an audible and skipped ahead to where we were to play a hymn that had 6 verses, the 4th and 5th of which we were supposed to tacet on.

Well, when we did this, we forgot about the tacets and were trying to fake our way through the order, relying on facial directions from the organist/director. This ended up with us sort of playing the first note of the 4th and 5th verses and getting waved off, much to the amusement of the congregation members who had enough awareness to pay attention to what was happening. After blushing through the giggles and playing the postlude, Richard Price's "Joy to the World"(tuba has melody )with a repeat, the folks seemed to have been entertained and hung around for the finish expressing much appreciation and hope for a repeat performance next year.

Ike