Posts made by barliman2001

@ssmith1226 Well, you know where to reach me if you need some contacts. Or just tell me whereabouts you are going. Or just contact Nick Jones of Coronation Brass - he knows all the Welsh bands.

@ssmith1226 Steve, there is an easy solution. In Scotland and Wales, there are brass bands aplenty. Just bring a cornet - not a pocket trumpet (they are not much smaller than a shepherd' crook cornet) - and ask whether you may sit in at rehearsals of the local bunch of roughs. If you need addresses for that, just give me your itinerary and I can have a play with my contacts there. Much better than sitting in your room annoying Barbara...

@georgeb Still playing until he peacefully passed away at age 92.

A live concert Dusko played when already 88...

An old, blind Marine wanders into an all-girl biker bar by mistake.
He finds his way to a bar stool and orders a shot of Jack Daniels.
After sitting there for a while, he yells to the bartender, 'Hey, you wanna hear a blonde joke?'
The bar immediately falls absolutely silent.
In a very deep, husky voice, the woman next to him says,
'Before you tell that joke I think it is only fair, given that you are blind, that you should know five things:

1. The bartender is a blonde girl with a baseball bat.
2. The bouncer is a blonde girl.
3. I'm a 6-foot tall, 175-pound blonde woman with a black belt in karate.
4. The woman sitting next to me is blonde and a professional weight lifter.
5. The lady to your right is blonde and a professional wrestler.
   Now, think about it seriously, do you still wanna tell that blonde joke?'
   The blind Marine thinks for a second, shakes his head and mutters, 'No...not if I'm gonna have to explain it five times.'

I have just learnt that Dusko Gojkovich has passed away after seven decades of a very full career that included playing with all the greats of the International Jazz world.

It's a personal thing for me as I once had a very impromptu chance of playing with him - I was attending a concert of his big band in renowned Munich jazz club "Unterfahrt", with a friend of mine playing 4th trumpet. Shortly before the interval, my friend collapsed on stage and had to be taken to hospital by ambulance for a ruptured gall bladder (he recovered and is well). While being carried out, he told me to take his place and carry on, and Dusko okayed that I jump in. I always carry my mouthpiece, or I would not have been able to do so. And so I played the second half of the concert, on an unfamiliar instrument, sight-reading (or attempting to) a programme I had never rehearsed, and managed at least not to blunder too audibly. Afterwards, Dusko told me that whenever he played in Munich, I was to have a free ticket, and invited me to a civic ceremony where he was given the Munich Medal of Honour (only twelve living incumbents at any one time!) and the Freedom of the City...
A good friend, a wonderful musician... may he now see all his friends again.

@trumpetb In principle, some of the concerns mentioned here are correct; but the Czech Republic is a stalwart member of the European Union (much more stalwart than Hungary or he recusant UK) and a staunch NATO partner, so for the foreseeable future, armed conflict is only going to involve the US and the Czech Republic on the same side.
The comparison with UK law is lopsided as the UK does not have a written Constitution yet - they have been "muddling through" without one for the last 1,000 years - whereas the US have one that severely limits the risk of an obscure law peeking out of its corner.
Examples of such laws and ordinances:
Until very recently, taxis (or "hansom cabs" as they are still officially designated) had to carry a bale of hay for the cab horse, even though cab horses have gone out of fashion for at least 100 years...
A student at Oxford dug out a 1300's regulation that on his exam day, he was entitled to a free meal at the University Refectory, and fought that issue until he got a positive verdict and his meal. The day after the exam, he was fined an enormous sum, the equivalent of one shilling sixpence in 1264, for not wearing a sword during his exam...

@administrator You are perfectly correct.

@administrator Go for it. Czech citizienship does not - like US citizenship - require you to undergo dual taxation. There are only advantages... just imagine your plane is hijacked by Al Qaida terrorists and they select the US citizens... you can then calmly show your Czech passport...
Joking apart: I really would recommend trying. Languages can be learnt somehow, and citizenship does not require you to live there. And I suppose you are over age and therefore not liable to be drafted for Czech National Service.

@ssmith1226 Thanks; but it comes down for me to either finance the cornet (and I have another four cornets - Buescher 265, Besson International x 2, Courtois, and a B&H Sovereign Sop) or pay for two orchestral trips to Italy (one in May, to Cefalù, playing 1st trumpet with Da Capo Travel - Brahms #2 and Elgar, Enigma, and the other in August, to Pistoia in Tuscany, playing Brahms 4). And being faced with this choice, I am content to let this cornet go to someone who can really enjoy it as their only cornet.
As regards cornets... what about the second weekend in July?? Bitburg?

@ssmith1226 Steve, that Olds Recording cornet would be a perfect match for my Olds Recording trumpet... what are you asking?

@georgeb The earlier ones are very, very special...

@caburn There are wonderful horns around that have a very short piston travel, are stylish in the extreme and beautiful players... the early Buescher Aristocrat 264s. Everyone knows about the Buescher 400s - but IMHO, they are slightly overrated in that they are just well-made conventional horns. The earlier 264s, however... art déco finish to the extreme, and extremely easy players with a very warm tone - you can get them into cornet territory quite easily, and they can sizzle up there just as easily.

@jolter nice ear protectors!

@administrator That is a standard Courtois 4-valve flugel... yes, they are THAT BIG!!

@jrgroove said in Adams Sonic or Yamaha 631G:

@flugelgirl I tried all the Adams 3 valve flugels today (and the ACB dblr). I liked the sound and playing feel of the F3 the most. I was shocked by the large bell size on the F2 and F3.

You would be even more shocked at the bell size of the Courtois 154R. One inch larger than the Adams monsters.

I would go for neither of the two. My choice was, is now and will always be the Courtois 154R. I've played many, very many flugelhorns in the last 30 years... and the one I always come back to is the Courtois.