Re: [Harp-L] Good Philharmonic Gig Story

[Mike Wilbur <mike@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Great Michael
And couldn't agree more about Rockin Ron...

Mike Wilbur



On Feb 3, 2014, at 10:52 PM, Michael Rubin <michaelrubinharmonica@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> About two weeks ago I receive a call from a woman named Toni.
> 
> Toni:  Do you play chromatic harmonica?
> 
> Me: Yes.
> 
> Toni: Can you read music?
> 
> Me: Yes.
> 
> Toni: I'm with the Laredo Philharmonic. We are putting on a show on Friday,
> January 31st.  We are playing John Phillips Sousa's Harmonica Wizard.  We
> had a harmonica player but he plays the wrong kind of harmonica.  He cannot
> read music and he was learning the song by ear.  He just realized he can't
> do the song.  We're still having him perform.  It would be great if you
> would do a dueling harmonicas song with him.  Could you do that?
> 
> (Laredo is 4 hours drive from Austin, where I live)
> 
> Me:  Sure.
> 
> Toni:  You would have to come down on Thursday and practice for an hour.
> Then we'll pay for your dinner and hotel and give you $250.  Can you do it?
> 
> Me: Let me discuss it with my wife.
> 
> I get the okay.
> 
> Due to previous experiences with trouble getting paid, I sent an email to
> Toni explaining exactly what I understood was expected of me and how and
> when I was to be paid.  Then I included a clause that if the concert was
> cancelled within one week of Jan 31st, I would still be paid.
> 
> She agreed.
> 
> The race was on.
> 
> Me:  Overnight me the music and I'll get to work.
> 
> The next day:
> 
> Toni:  We don't have the harmonica part, just what the orchestra will
> play.  Buy the harmonica part and we'll reimburse you.
> 
> I google the song and discover plenty of websites carry the music and they
> can all ship it to me in 4 short weeks.
> 
> I call on a friend.  Thanks, George Miklas.  He sends it over right away
> but warns me the music is written in the key of C, but sometimes orchestras
> play it in the key of Bb.  If so, he suggests I just buy a chromatic in the
> key of Bb.
> 
> Sure, only $160 out of a $250 check.  That and gas and I'm making $50. (I
> own a Prius hybrid, gas is not so bad.)
> 
> I send Toni an email.  Is it in C or Bb?  She sends me to the conductor.  I
> leave a voicemail and an email and get to practicing the song.  3 days
> later, the news arrives.  It's in Bb.
> 
> Now, I could easily transpose to Bb on the C chromatic, but it would mean
> relearning the song and the note layout could be very difficult.
> 
> I call Rockin Rons Music For Less.  Can you do anything on the price?
> Suffice to say,  they could only do so much, but I want to shout it from
> the hills:  Rockin Rons Music For Less is the best online harp store ever!
> And you can quote me.
> 
> I tell him I have to think about it.  I hang up and begin transposing the
> song to Bb.  In less than a minute, my brain hurts.  I am 44 years old.  I
> have proven to myself I know how to transpose.  I call Rons back.  "Ship
> it!"
> 
> So I work on the song.  Especially over a certain speed, there are always
> mistakes.  There are 3 types of mistakes:
> 
> 1.  Easily covered up so that the audience would never know.
> 2.  Not so easily covered up but still small enough to be forgivable.
> 3.  Total derailment.
> 
> You know that line about pros practicing so much that they cannot make a
> mistake?  I guess I am not a pro.  I return my card.
> 
> I order 5 CDs from Amazon to make the drive easier.  Two Muddy Waters, a
> Don Byas collection and an Art Pepper collection plus the Art Pepper bio,
> Straight Life.  The latter two don't make it in time for the trip.  I've
> got them now though.  Byas and Pepper's music is new to me, although I've
> seen the Pepper documentary.
> 
> On the drive down I discover Don Byas is a genius and I still love Muddy.
> (Also a genius)
> 
> The drive is uneventful.  Then the storm appears.  Toni picks me up from
> the hotel and is a high energy, constantly talking, sweetheart of a woman.
> Also along for the ride is the other harmonica player, Larry Delawder, who
> is a great guy and great harp player.  He grew up playing, singing and
> touring in his family gospel group and has the quickest ability to create
> harp harmonies I have ever seen.  We worked up Down By the Riverside for
> our tune.  His wife and two little girls also were in Laredo.  Then there
> was Emma Resmini and her Mom,  a 13 year old flute prodigy.  She was very
> smart and polite but the feeling that I was in a car with one of the best
> classical musicians the world will ever know could not escape me.
> 
> Upon arrival at the University where the concert hall was, it was clear the
> was a nice venue.  But on the stage was an orchestra of high school
> children.  Surprise.  I was playing with a high school orchestra and the
> show was put on by the Philharmonic.  I did get to meet the conductor of
> the Philharmonic and 3 other members who backed Emma in a quartet setting.
> 
> The kids were great and knew the tune.  I am very glad we practiced because
> there was a note that I played that was VERY different from the note that
> they played.  After my song I calmly said, there is a discrepancy with one
> of our notes.  The conductor found it.  He pointed to it and said, "We're
> playing this."  It was around 10 feet off the staff.  I can read music but
> my brain couldn't handle it.  He saw my confusion and said it was a B.
> That's when I put my transposing to work and said Bb is to B as C is to
> C#.  I need to play a C# and my harp will make the B note.  Success!
> 
> The dinner was incredible at a Mexican restaurant Toni said was very
> authentic.  Larry and I got to know each other.  He's a friend of Todd
> Parrott's.
> 
> The next morning I did the show to an audience of 600 elementary school
> kids.  They were a great audience and whatever mistakes I made fell under
> category number 1.
> 
> Then we were ushered to a table for autographs.  Emma was basically The
> Beatles.  Larry's two little girls also sat at the table giving autographs,
> I think my popularity was just a bit under the seven year old's.  She
> didn't have to rub it in, though.  600 autographs later (no kidding.  Every
> kid went to every performer.) and I headed home.
> 
> There was traffic in San Antonio.  It took 90 minutes to go 5 miles to make
> sure everyone got a good look at the crash.
> 
> Then the bank almost didn't cash my money order because it was made out to
> Michael Rubin Performer.  But all is well.  Hopefully videos will come soon.
> Michael Rubin
> Michaelrubinharmonica.com