AirlineFracturesThere
AirlineFracturesThere was a time, whenmusicians would gettogether in a band roomor bar and the talkamong certainly theyounger players wouldbe about wine, womenand song, while theolder hands might remiJazz Notesby Jim Galloway..,i_ .Galloway was planning to talk about jazz thismonth but once again the airlines got his goat.Jazz FestivalsWe are swinging into the festival season this month-let's hope that" all the performers manage to arrive in time to play- and from June4-8 the 3nd Annual Art of Jazz Celebration will take place at theDistillery Historic District in Toronto when Three Lifetime Achievenisceabout the booze and broads, but the main topics would be aboutailments and creaking bones.Well, the playing field has levelled and there is one topic everybodytalks about now-one common hardship that has made themusic almost a secondary thing, that has united us to the degree thateven drummers are accepted as equals'Around the world members of the musical community suffer thesame indignities, humiliations, contumelies, (don't look it up-itmeans the same as the other discourtesies), sometimes rudeness andoccasionally even violence. I'm not speaking of rude, noisy audiences,so what is this common bond that today unites musicians of anystylistic persuasion?AIR TRAVEL. Airports have become something akin to humanstockyards, where you have to arrive up to two hours before a flightthat will be merely delayed if you are lucky and cancelled if you arenot. That is, of course, after you have gone through that Weapon OfMass Distraction, the security gauntlet, which is, at best, less thanreally effective, but without any doubt, less than convenient andsometimes absurdly intrusive (I have observed at least one little oldlady being patted down for hidden no-nos).There is absolutely no guarantee that you will arrive at your destinationon time, or even on the same day as your electronic ticketsays. More and more musicians (and other business travellers) areopting to travel a day early, adding to the costs of the club or festivalemploying them, just so they can be there on time for a performance.Airlines oversell flights, which can mean that if you have atight connection and get to the gate too close to flight time your"confirmed" seat may have been given to somebody else. Then thereare the flights where they load the passengers on to an aircraft thatthen sits on the tarmac for a couple of hours or more. My personalrecord is 6 hours at JFK without being offered so much as a glass ofFeaturing some of Toronto's best jazz musicianswith a brief reflection by Jazz Vespers ClergySunday, June 8th at 4:30 p.m.JIM GALLOWAY (sax) & IAN BARGH (piano)Sunday, June 29th at 4:30 p.m.THE BRIAN BARLOW TRIOROBI BOTOS (piano); SCOTT ALEXANDER {bass);BRIAN BARLOW {drums) Toronto Jazz Festival eventChrist Church Deer Park, 1570 Yonge Street(north of St. Clair at Heath St.) 416-920-5211Admission is free.An offering is received to support the work ol the church, including Jazz Vespers.water. Air travel is in disarray and airline employees, who for themost part try to be helpful, are stressed and frustrated and knowwhat we suspect-it is only going to get worse.As a proud Canadian, for years I have been loyal to Air Canada.Over the past couple of years the decline in service has changed mefrom an AC supporter to a frustrated and angry victim. However,the sad reality is that the other carriers are just as bad- and we are attheir mercy. (As I write, American Airlines have just announced thatthey are slashing domestic flights by 11 % this year). If Kafka werearound today he would write "The Airport" instead of "The Castle".ments will be awarded. Brazilian composer, guitarist and pianistEgberto Gismonti will be honoured on June 6; composer and multiinstrumentalistHermeto Pascoal (also from Brazil) on June 7; and onJune 5, the most significant evening from a Canadian standpoint,John Norris, founder of CODA Magazine and Sackville Records,will be acknowledged for his significant contribution to jazz. Theevening includes feature performances by the Wray Downes Quartet(with Reg Schwager, Dave Young and Ethan Ardelli), The DanBlock/Jon-Erik Kellso Quintet (with Mark Eisenmann, Steve Wallaceand Terry Clarke), a solo set with Randy Weston plus Jim Galloway'sWee Big Band and guest performances by Phil Nimmons,Gene DiNovi and Andrew Scott. Details at www.artofjazz.org.The TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival runs from June 20-29 with a preview concert featuring Al Green on June 19 and a postfestivalperformance on July 2 with Dave Brubeck and The TorontoJazz Festival Orchestra. Throughout the actual festival dates there isa wide-ranging array of talent with headliners ranging from Dr. John(on opening night) to Michel Legrand with Phil Woods.It is a tendayjazz marathon and full details are available atwww.torontojazz.com.Some of the other events within striking distance are Toronto'sLuminaTO, June 6-15, the Brott Music Festival in Hamilton, withevents throughout the month, and Orangeville Blues and Jazz Festival,June 5- 8.Back To The FutureBefore I leave you, this from AHN Media Corp. on September 8,2007: "Frustrated with numerous and repeated technical problems thathad grounded its entire international route fleet of two Boeing 757s,officials for Nepal's state-owned airline committed the ritual killing oftwo goats. Nepal Airline officials hoped that the sacrifice would appeasethe Hindu Sky God, Akash Bhairab. Ritual animal sacrifice is a commonand accepted practice in the Hindu religion.An unnamed airline official said that the air carrier sacrificed the goats infront of the airplanes, hoping to end the nagging problems that havecaused the airline to cancel flights and leave passengers stranded. Anothersenior airline official, Raju K.C. stated to the local press, "The snagin the plane has now been fixed and the aircraft has resumed itsflights ... " The difference is that now we are the lambs being led tothe slaughter.Happy live listening.Brass - Woodwind -String Instruments - GuitarBuy direct from the DistributorAUTHORIZED DEALER FOR:Armstrong, Artley, Besson, Buffet,Conn, Getzen, Holton, Jupiter,Keilworth, King, Noblet,Selmer, Vito, YanagisawaJ...J~~HARKNETJ:Musical Services Ltd.MUSIC BOOKSBEST SELECTIONOF POPULAR&EDUCATIONAL MUSICPiano - Guitar - Instrumental905-477-11412650 John Street, Unit 15Uust North of Steeles)www.harknettmusic.com28 WWW,THEWHOLENOTE.COM J U N E 1 - J UL Y 7 2008
BAND Standby Jack MacQuarrieHaving attended a strictly academic high school with no music program,my first introduction to band music was in boys' bands: Girlsdidn't normally ever get in. My first band had two girls as members,but they were special cases: the bandmaster's daughters. Our wintermonths were spent honing our skills for the summer ahead. We rarelyappeared in public until the grass was green and skies were blue. Wellour skies are showing that inevitable blue cast, and I have had thebright blue cast removed from my leg, so it's time to think of summermusical activities.For most community bands there are two seasons: summer and therest of the year. By June 1, most of the community bands whichprogram concert series will have performed their final concert of theseason and will be preparing for the summer. A few bands take summeroff, but most just shift gears . Whether it be performing at festivals,in parades, concerts in the park or country fairs, the summerseason brings out a different repertoire from the band's library.Reminiscing about my early banding days, I have fond memoriesof very busy summers travelling almost every weekend to band tattoosthroughout Southwestern Ontario. But this is one kind of tattoothat seems to have faded. The only one that we are aware of this yearis the Canadian International Military Tattoo in Hamilton, and it is anindoor military event, with no community bands participating.What of other summer band events? It appears to be a time ofuncertainty with little on the horizon. We have learned that the Brassin the Grass festival in Etobicoke has been cancelled for this year. Ona happier note, we understand that, after some somewhat uncertainbirth problems, the first Ottawa International Brass Festival, sponsoredby the Maple Leaf Brass Band, will be proceeding as we go topress with this issue (May 30 and 31). David Druce, conductor of theMaple Leaf Brass Band has also reminded us to seek out the Band ofthe Ceremonial Guard if in the Ottawa area this summer. David is alsothe musical director of that renowned group.In last month's column we suggested that the end of the school yearcould be a good time for community bands to reach out to studentswho are leaving their high school bands behind as they head on tohigher education or a slot in the working world. In response to thatwe received mail from Mr. Lawry Sax, President of the ThornhillCommunity Band telling us of their band's initiative in that area. Hisexcellent response is reproduced below and needs no further comment.As a follow-up to your article in WholeNote regarding the summerreturn of students to community bands, I thought I would make youaware of the Thornhill Community Band's outreach program to highschool students. This year, on June JO at Westmount Cl, Vaughan,we will be sponsoring our 5th Annual Festival of Winds. All of ourlocal high school bands are invited to perform along with our band.An informal reception after the performance helps students becomeaware of community music opportunities after high school. Graduatingmusic students are given leatherette music folders as a keepsakewith our website (www.TCBand.ca) engraved in gold on the cover sothat when their studies are completed and they want to return to instrumentalmusic, all they have to do is look us up again on ourwebsite. I hope your readership will be interested in this endeavourand start their own program to promote music student graduates'awareness of community bands.In our ongoing quest for information on older community bands inCanada, this month we have two more bands which trace their rootsin their communities back to the late 1800's. In their recent concertannouncement, the Brampton Band state: The City of Brampton ConcertBand (www.bramptonconcertband.com) was founded in 1884 bythe mechanics of the Haggert Foundry of Brampton, Ontario. Today,it is one of Canada's oldest, continuously performing concert bands.We had no sooner received that information when the following arrivedfrom Oakville: The Oakville Wind Orchestra is Canada's oldestcontinuously-operating community concert band. It was formed byCaptain R.B. Albertson in 1866 who trained it for the 20th HaltonInfantry, which was the predecessorto the Lorne Scots.Sponsorship of the band wasassumed by the Town ofOakville in 1881, and hascontinued to this day.Their statement of claimtells us that the predecessor ofThe Oakville Wind Orchestrapresented its first public performanceon Canada's confederationday, July 1, 1867.Although not a communityband news item, here's onepiece of band news worthnoting. After more than fortyyears without a band to play atsporting events and other campusactivities, the Departmentof Athletics at the Universityof Toronto has announced thatthey hope to form a studentband in the near future. CONGRATULATIONS; it's longoverdue.Coming Events:The Canadian International Military Tattoobrings music and more to Hamilton's CoppsColiseum, June 14and 15.Thursday June 12 6:00 pm The City of Brampton Concert Bandpresents its Community Appreciation BBQ and Concert Gage Park,Brampton. Saturday, June 14 7:30 pm and June 15 2:30 pm CanadianInternational Military Tattoo, Copps Coliseum, Hamilton.Saturday, June 14 8:00 pm Brass Conspiracy presents BrassTreats featuring Vivaldi's Concerto in C Major for 2 Trumpets andJupiter from Holst's The Planets. St. Thomas' Church, Toronto.Please write to us: bandstand@thewholenote.com\'cdsm'a>L musicFine quality instruments & accessories to suit any budget- Woodwinds, Brass, Strings & PercussionExpert Instrument Repairs in one of North America'slargest and best-equipped facilitiesComprehensive Band & Orchestra Rental Programwith over 9,000 instruments in inventoryYork Region's Largest Music Schoolserving over I ,200 studentsSALES• RENTALS• REPAIRS• LESSONS• PRINT MUSICJ UNE 1 - JULY72008WWW. TH EWHOLENOTE.COM
