Sackbut journeys

I'm pleased to see that top sackbut player Adam Woolf has launched a website. There are lots of bits of information on there about his various playing activities, including Oltremontano, the early music / jazz / gypsy (etc) fusion group, his great chamber group Caecilia Concert and of course, His Majestys Sagbutts and Cornetts.


I've also recently been heavily involved in launching a group based on sackbuts and cornetts called La Spiritata. The music is tremendous, and it's a fantastic experience experimenting with it and presenting it to audiences, many of whom will not have heard much of it before.

Byron Fulcher in Time Out

Time Out did a quick interview with Byron Fulcher last week.

Our principal trumpeter was once asked what he would be if he wasn’t a musician. He said “a trombonist”.

Trombonist humour

F trigger abbreviation Originally used when the first one failed in the middle of a concert and the player was overheard to say "F*!@ing trigger" as he tried to make it work.

More wit to keep you sane during the tacet movements in The Trombonist's Dictionary

Lip massage device

I was amazed to see a new product on the market called 'Vibrass'.



According to one site (you can't make this stuff up):
"Electronic Toggle switch"
"The labial zone is massed as a whole and reinforces blood circulation"
"Vibrass allows a regular blood irrigation"

Takes two AA batteries. You at the back, stop sniggering!

You guessed it, the price is £69.

The stolen trombone, the policeman and the tarts

Corrupt police in Sweden have been demanding tarts from hapless trombone players, according to The Local.

The hapless musician had initially turned to the police after somebody stole his beloved trombone. Sensing the opportunity for a workplace feast, the policeman said that he could probably speed up the investigation if the trombonist promised to buy a 'smörgåstårta', or savoury tart, if and when the case was solved.

When the sickening deal was struck, of supplying tarts enough for ten hungry police-officers, the police turned the heat up on the criminal and the trombone thief was caught. But the PC got his just desserts, because the tarts were brought into the police station on a day that the officer was off work and he was fined nearly three months wages!

A Developing Neish

For the past 18 months, Manchester-based tuba player Les Neish has been writing an occasional blog for brass-forum.co.uk that gives a taster of this energetic young players's mission to promote the tuba. It makes me breathless just reading all the activites he gets up to!

He's just written to tell me he's restarted his blog on his own site and it looks like he'll be writing a bit more frequently and personally.

Tomorrow he's off to Michigan to play with the Brass Band of Battle Creek, so expect photos some photos of that, but in the meantime you can read it so far here.

John Kenny toasts whisky residency

I'm sure that many Hotbrass readers will be jealous when hearing about John Kenny's new role as "Glenfiddich composer in residence" - is it the dream music job? Last week he was performing at the Malt Barn coffee shop and Whisky bar at the Glenfiddich Distillery, directing the Carnyx Youth Brass Ensemble, before leading them in concerts in Germany.

And the week before he was playing in Glasgow for the Last Night of the Proms - a real tribute to this man's many talents. He has a wonderful character and I had an inspiring time chatting with him for an article in the August issue of Brass Herald. He has lots of great stories about projects that stemmed from completely chance meetings with people, such as getting a gig in the Taj Mahal!