The Octoberfest Thread

[the elephant]

Post up gig photos. If anything out of the norm happened tell some stories. My gig today was a repeat that I have done for years. The "book owner" (contractor) bills us as the Delta Krauts. It is two trumpets/flugelhorns, a sax, a trombone, me, drum kit, and accordion. For a pickup reading band, it is pretty good, too. Here is a shot of me with my oldest friend, MSO's former principal trombonist, Craig Tucker, who is a monster player, but decided to dump our low-paying orchestra to pursue his much better-paying rock band gig and a Systems Administrator position at one of the State agencies. I miss playing Mahler with this man. That was a fine low brass section!

This is about as Tyrolian or Bavarian as I can afford to look these days. I have not owned real lederhosen in 20 years.

And yes, this is one of my 1971 Miraphone 186 tubas. Would anyone care to take a guess at which one? Is it the factory CC or the cut CC?

Post your pics!

[Three Valves]

In our county, safe outdoor events were all cancelled.

We drove up to Frederick for O-fest there.

German Band is my next goal.

Looking good!!

[bloke]

New tuba and new man both lookin’ good, Wade

Around here, the good accordion players have either been sent on to the underworld (per Far Side jokes) or are really old.

I actually own a very high-quality accordion with built-in pick ups… I wish there was somebody around here to whom I could loan it, so we could play some gigs together. … all those changes in my head, and no band to play them with… The two remaining decent players - accordion to them - are well into their 80s.

(while I was posting, I just remembered that I have a “reading“/no-accordion Oktoberfest gig coming up past the middle of the month. I’ll take a couple of pictures. If I’m remembering correctly, that guy (the same retired lead trombone guy from the Navy Commodores - who ran the cruise ship lounge gig jazz band) calls us the “Sauerkraut 4/5/6/7“, depending on how much dough there is…
…Our clarinet/sax player died suddenly of colon cancer, and this will be this troupe’s first get-together since he’s been gone… That’s pretty sad.

[Three Valves]

I have not owned real lederhosen in 20 years.

I’m convinced the cows keep getting smaller.

[the elephant]

I’m convinced the cows keep getting smaller.

[bloke]

ahh…
…the old spit-take ani-gif gag…

[the elephant]

Pretty much, yeah.

[York-aholic]

"book owner" (contractor) bills us as the Delta Krauts.

——————————-

Delta?

That’s awesome!

[the elephant]

The Mississippi Delta is the entire western/northwestern part of the state. We gig up there. I live in the Delta. (Yazoo City is called the Gateway to the Delta.) It is the flat, alluvial plain between the Yazoo and Mississippi rivers. Most of the rest of the state is pine forest. The Delta is where most of the farming takes place. On the map, it is the green area. I live on the eastern border, about level with the top of Louisiana.

My friend Pat Retger, who teaches at Jackson State and subs for me in the MSO on occasion, is the regular tuba player for the DKs. I have subbed into the group for 28 years, though — many more than he has even been here. Is it one of my semi-regular things, but I have never been available for all of the gigs, so I never got the gig officially. It is a fun group and pays cash, which is a nice change from all my other work on the horn.

[Three Valves]

@York-aholic I got it.

[bloke]

Maps show that the counties in the green area on - on Wade’s map - all vote the same way.
I’ve pointed out that the Mississippi Delta has two capitals:
Jackson at the south end, and Memphis (where it - geographically - comes to an end, on the east side) at the north end

[bloke]

This is Wade's thread, BUT he invited posts/pictures of others.

Pictures below are of the "reading"/no-accordion polka band with which I occasionally work.

The "no-charts" band ("The Edelweiss Band") - a totally different band (of which I have no pictures) - featured Bob Westbrook (who taught both Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake voice lessons, when they were teenagers) on accordion, as well as Jim Mahannah (on seven-or-eight woodwinds-and-brass), Joe Smith (drums/vocals), and I played, tuba/euphonium/bass trumpet/trumpet. Bob Westbrook passed away - after quite a few years of - very stubbornly - defying extremely serious illnesses, last year.
Bob Westbrook

MIDSTREAM EDIT:
OK...I found ONE picture (on Bob's "legacy" facebook page...)
This - I believe was only five months after I walked away from my tuba teaching job (so: Scott Watson's very first year, up there...1979...?? ) at KU.
This was some stupid stunt - that we cooked up - whereby I had a "contest" with Jim Mahannah - playing the "Clarinet Polka". I would play all three strains, Jim would play all three strains FASTER, I would begin to play it faster than Jim (but Jim would come over and turn my tuba around backwards - so as the OPPOSITE fingers were on the keys (which prevented me from playing it faster than him), and - subsequently - he would "win". It was a hoot, and people seemed to like it (??)


====================================================================

I didn't ever PERSONALLY save any past pictures of the "charts-reading" band (pictured below, either - "The Sauerkraut however-many"), but Howard Lamb (again, the former Commodores lead-trombone guy, who books/leads the band) saved a few on his fb page, and searching "sauerkraut lamb" found these...

(Again...with a couple of variations, these were the same folks who played jazz in the lounge on the Mississippi River cruise ships on Saturdays during their embarkations.)

The timestamp on this one indicates over six years ago. I'm thinking this was a high-rollers/car-giveaway party at one of the Tunica, Mississippi casinos...and during the time that I was messing around with that 1980's-vintage Rudy 5/4 C, which @cjk now owns.



...and this one was years before that (same guys...) at a church October-Oktoberfest, where I appear to be blowing "ooms" through the Mighty Thor. Kim Trammell was/is just about THE BEST set drummer (ANY/ALL styles, and whether you want her to be to the fore, in the background, to keep it simple, or to "show out") I've ever worked with. For several years, Kim was the house drummer (down on the Gulf) at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville restaurant/bar. She moved back up here to care for her dying father, and - since his passing - now maintains two residences: here and there...though she's playing less drums (and making mo' money doing physical therapy). The drummer - on this gig - Jim Pettit (and the regular drummer on that cruise ship lounge jazz gig) is the owner of the world-renowned Memphis Drum Shop (' heard of it?) The guy to my right, Mike Krepper, is the one that we lost to cancer. Prior to retiring he had been the director at Christian Brothers High School, which features THE LONGEST CONTINUALLY-EXISTING HIGH SCHOOL BAND in the USA. - since 1872: https://www.cbhsband.org
\


I don't know if Howard set this fb-hosted video to "public" or "friends", but here's a video of us sight-reading out of some little book... I have no idea where we were...(??)
https://m.facebook.com/watch/?v=10158888438959483

bloke "OOM !!!"

[bloke]

@the elephant

As far as which 186-C you're holding in the picture...

I don't get amazing resolution, but I don't believe I'm seeing any engraving on the rotors...
(Didn't you utilize "the best four or five - out of the batch of eight - used ones") to build the cut-down one...??)
...so (making a couple of guesses), I'm going to GUESS that you're holding the ORIGINAL C, in your picture.

[Furguson11]

The St Paul Bavarian Musikmeisters http://www.musikmeisters.com/ have been running a normal schedule with gigs outdoors in Minnesota. Some of the crowds have been a little lighter, but it's been a lot of fun.

[bloke]

@ParLawGod (Jeremiah Eis) works regularly with this band in the Sheboygan/Manitowoc, Wisconsin area.
I heard them - once playing a huge beer tent behind a big Catholic cathedral just southwest of Manitowoc.
The tuba man was fine, and was playing a two-piece King.

It's a fine band. Jeremiah might want to post about it...

There are several pictures of Jeremiah (with his oval style euphonium) here on the band's website:

https://www.newtonburgbrassband.com/oktoberfest.html

I just stole this picture from his fb page - taken only a week ago - in (less than 20 miles straight west from Sheboygan) Plymouth, Wisconsin:

[bort2.0]

Wade -- I think this is the first time I've seen you smile in, like, ever. The smile looks good on you. I hope you wear it often!

[ParLawGod]

@ParLawGod (Jeremiah Eis) works regularly with this band in the Sheboygan/Manitowoc, Wisconsin area.
I heard them - once playing a huge beer tent behind a big Catholic cathedral just southwest of Manitowoc.
The tuba man was fine, and was playing a two-piece King.

It's a fine band. Jeremiah might want to post about it...

There are several pictures of Jeremiah (with his oval style euphonium) here on the band's website:

https://www.newtonburgbrassband.com/oktoberfest.html

I just stole this picture from his fb page - taken only a week ago - in (less than 20 miles straight west from Sheboygan) Plymouth, Wisconsin:

My favorite season! I'll definitely post some pictures sometime tomorrow (just got back in town after being gone for a few days). No rest for this guy!

[bort2.0]

Re: Octoberfest...

When I was in college, I realized that a group of me and my friends all had birthdays in October. So we threw a party and called it "Octobirthfest".

The next year, we realized there were 8 of us... And the party from then on was called "Octo-birth-fest"

[bloke]

Re: Octoberfest...

When I was in college, I realized that a group of me and my friends all had birthdays in October. So we threw a party and called it "Octobirthfest".

The next year, we realized there were 8 of us... And the party from then on was called "Octo-birth-fest"

We used to have grown-ups Halloween parties (back in the den), with the FRONT of the house dark/spooky (actually friggin' SCARY)/spooky music going.
(Secretly one of our birthdays was very close to Halloween, but we always had a "Halloween" party, to avoid all the "birthday" jazz...
great good, things to drink, etc..)
Men attending our party would take turns wearing my tails and Dracula full-head rubber mask (and a black cape that Mrs. bloke had picked up at a thrift store) to greet the Trick-or-Treaters...

Some kids were too scared to come to the door...

[bort2.0]

About 10 years ago, my brother bought me a $1 "scary CD" from the dollar bin at Target. My birthday is the day before Halloween, so naturally, I love it.

That damn CD was actually scary as hell! Weird(!) music, with people speaking very strangely in Chinese, and with some legit sounding screams. Like, WTF was that?! My wife suggested we stop playing it at the house for trick or treaters. Probably better that way.