Met my tuba hero today

[bort2.0]

I had met him once before, like 25 years ago... Today, I sold a tuba to him. What a great guy!

[Three Valves]

So, what’s ol’ Chuck playing on now??

[the elephant]

So, what’s ol’ Chuck playing on now??

Apparently Bort's old horn…

[Three Valves]

I’ve lost track.

[LargeTuba]

Must play pretty good.

[bort2.0]

Besson 983 Eb

[TubātōTubŏtō]

Dude, that’s awesome. I met Chuck once after a very poorly promoted (and then attended) show. He was very accommodating and happy to talk tuba stuff with an excited high schooler!

[bort2.0]

The first recorded music I ever bought was a Canadian Brass cassette tape, when I was 8 years old. I knew from that moment on that I wanted to be a tuba player, and have never forgotten that.

[Dan Tuba]

I grew up listening to Chuck with the Canadian Brass. He is so awesome. One of the first "CDs" that I owned, lol "The Essential " Canadian Brass.

[LeMark]

I've had the pleasure of playing with him on stage twice. He couldn't have been nicer

[the elephant]

Same. They have played with us a couple of times. Very personable. To give you an idea of the last time they were here, he was using his Palm Pilot during the reception. HAHAHA!!!

My first Canadian Brass album was the Fats Waller one, on vinyl. My mom gave it to me for Christmas in 1979.

[hrender]

So, what’s ol’ Chuck playing on now??

Apparently Bort's old horn…

Membership in that club is growing steadily.

I saw the CB in 1981, I think, when they played at my college. A great show as I remember it.

[cktuba]

That's AWESOME! I met him once years ago, when I was on college. He was very kind and not above talking to a stupid college kid.

[YorkNumber3.0]

.

[DonO.]

Did he buy it because he saw it advertised in the classifieds here? If so, that’s pretty cool that a noted player such as he spends time looking here!

[Three Valves]

I saw the CB in 1981, I think, when they played at my college. A great show as I remember it.

1981 was a little sketchy for me too!!

[bloke]

CD called me, because he had either seen an ad that I ran (for another 983, here, a short while back), or someone else had told him of my ad.
As I had seen that Brett had lost interest in his - after a month or so of ownership (??) - I gave CD Brett’s contact info.
We briefly talked about losing Ryan, and then I had to tell him about the time I ended up playing one of their stock arrangements - that features the tuba - in front of his sister, when I was on a recruiting tour - in Alabama.
He also mentioned that he would be passing through Brett’s town, so I knew this would be the perfect 983 for him…
…so there is no indication - one way or the other - whether he actually visits this site, and I didn’t think to ask him.
I am particularly pleased that Brett so enjoyed the personal contact, as has been expressed here.

Did he buy it because he saw it advertised in the classifieds here? If so, that’s pretty cool that a noted player such as he spends time looking here!

[bort2.0]

Joe, thank you for remembering me and connecting me with Chuck. I'm glad you had a nice chat with him.

And besides the cool factor of all this, it became a local transaction, which is infinitely better than shipping, and I'm grateful for that, too. This was about 4 miles from my house; about 1/2 mile from where I used to live downtown.

Sometimes, you just get lucky.

[bloke]

I believe that most people make their own luck, and that their friends can help them to be lucky. When friends consistently help friends – and when EVERYONE (wouldn’t it be nice?) is friendly, there can be a hell of a lot of good luck, can’t there?

Joe, thank you for remembering me and connecting me with Chuck. I'm glad you had a nice chat with him.

And besides the cool factor of all this, it became a local transaction, which is infinitely better than shipping, and I'm grateful for that, too. This was about 4 miles from my house; about 1/2 mile from where I used to live downtown.

Sometimes, you just get lucky.

[Rick Denney]

I've had the pleasure of playing with him on stage twice. He couldn't have been nicer

Me, too. I was even his chauffeur for one of those events, for a clinic and a concert. He’s funny, with humor every bit as dry one-on-one as on stage.

If told this story before:

At one of those gigs, he was sporting a Yamaha 621, and it had a big bell wrinkle. Not surprising given the condition of the plastic case, which was a Yamaha case that is definitely not a flight case.

It was just me, Chuck, and a couple of the others, and I said, “Chuck, I know you guys aren’t sponsored by Yamaha these days, but I bet they would put a new bell in that 621 for you.”

Without the slightest hesitation and a deadly straight face: “That was a special order—it came that way from the factory.”

The great performers are often just good people. I had been introduced to Sam Pilafian once several years before, and he greeted me by name like we were childhood buddies. And it was not in the least an act.

And Gene Pokorney sought me ought at an Army conference to introduce himself, and I had not talked with him in person since a group of at least a dozen of us had shared dinner at a restaurant after a Summit Brass concert in the middle 80’s.

Or Roger Bobo, to whom Ken Sloan presented a TubaEuph name tag in the Men’s Room at an Army conference (a geek badge if there ever was one, and not the setting for such an introduction). This was over 20 years ago. He wore that badge the whole weekend.

It really was a universal brotherhood.

Rick “not so much any more” Denney