Volume 23 Issue 4 - December 2017 / January 2018

SANJA ANTIC
handy on this gig. After no time at all it became clear that the people
weren’t going to pay any attention to the music, all was din. We were
playing God Rest Ye, Merry Gentleman when, thinking of the lyrics,
I glanced over at
Ted, who had a
typically maniacal
grin on his face.
Somehow I knew
this meant that he
was going to yell
out “Satan!” from
the carol’s fifth
line and when the
time came we both
bellowed “Satan!”
at the top of our
lungs. Nobody
noticed except the
other two guys
in the band, who
proceeded to join
us with “Satan!” in
the next choruses.
I still don’t know
how we managed
to get through the
tune with all the
Ted Quinlan
laughing, but we
had to take a break
afterwards from
sheer exhaustion.
A few years later, singer John Alcorn hired guitarist Reg Schwager
and me – his regular band – to play a Christmas party for a small
law firm, held in a private banquet facility in a downtown restaurant.
It was a fairly intimate party with the people close at hand,
some of them even listening to the music. All was going well until we
came back from our second break and noticed that suddenly everybody
was drunk. Particularly a large East Indian gentleman who really
had the lamp shade on, like Peter Sellers in The Party, only louder.
Alcorn called Route 66 – not a seasonal song, but a good party tune.
As he began singing it, the Indian guy bellowed out “Oh goody, it’s
Route 67!” and began dancing a ridiculous teetering boogie only he
understood. Reg and I both doubled over laughing, but still somehow
managed to keep playing. Alcorn didn’t bat an eye though; his face
was a mask of composure and he kept singing as if nothing had
happened. That, ladies and gentleman, is professionalism.
So these are a couple of examples of musicians getting their own
back amid the minefield of Christmas gigs. A few years ago some of us
found a new way of having fun with seasonal music: a mashup game
in which we combined the names of Christmas carols/songs with
jazz tunes and standards to form wacky new titles. “Hark the Herald
Angels Sing Sing Sing,” “Joy Spring to the World,” “Sippin’ at Jingle
Bells,” “Silent Night in Tunisia,” “What Child Is This Thing Called
Love?” and “O Little Rootie Tootie Town of Bethlehem” were among
the first of these; later I expanded the game to include readers and
wrote a piece about it. If you’re interested, google wallacebass.com
and look for the title “Birth of the Yule” (or use the direct link:
wallacebass.com/?p–4462).
I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a joyous and
safe holiday season and a Happy New Year. The latter usually comes
with resolutions, some of which are easier to stick to than others. A
few years back I resolved to stop taking New Year’s Eve gigs, only to
discover they’d disappeared. All New Year’s resolutions should be so
easy to keep.
Toronto bassist Steve Wallace writes a blog called “Steve Wallace
jazz, baseball, life and other ephemera” which can be accessed at
wallacebass.com. Aside from the topics mentioned, he sometimes
writes about movies and food.
Beat by Beat | Bandstand
Pride of Performance and
Canadian Connections
JACK MACQUARRIE
Here we are, it’s December already, but with many community
ensembles still more focused on sesquicentennial projects as
the year draws to a close than on events that could be described
as special for the Christmas season. Let’s start with two band projects
we have recently learned of that warrant mention, both of which have
significant historical aspects.
Cobourg: The first of these is the announcement of a CD by the
Cobourg Concert Band. Although this CD, Pride of Performance, was
officially released on Canada Day at the band’s concert in the Cobourg
Victoria Park Bandshell, it did not come to our attention until a few
days ago. There are a number of ways in which this CD is special. Not
only is it a sesquicentennial project, but it marks the 175th year that
there has been a town band in Cobourg. That’s 25 years longer than
Canada has been a country. Whether that sets a record for the establishment
of a town band in Canada will be left for this Cobourg band
to dispute with the Newmarket Citizens’ Band and any others that
might claim such a title. Every track on this recording is either a new
arrangement of an established work or a completely new composition.
All are by local musicians, including some band members.
Even the cover artwork was created by contest winners from the local
St. Mary’s High School. I hope to see a review of this CD in a future
issue of The WholeNote.
(A side note: this band also bears the title The Band of Her Majesty’s
Royal Marines Association – Ontario, and is allowed, by royal assent,
to wear the uniform of the Royal Marines. How could this be, you
might ask. Some years ago a man named Roland White moved from
England and took up residence in Cobourg. He just happened to
have been an assistant bandmaster in the Royal Marines working
under the renowned conductor Sir Vivian Dunn, and had studied
conducting under Sir John Barbirolli. When the town band needed a
new conductor, there was White to take over, get that royal assent and
change the image of the town band to its present pride of Cobourg.)
London: Where else might we look for a sesquicentennial band
project? The first place that comes to mind, of course, is Henry
Meredith’s Plumbing Factory Brass Band in London. On Wednesday,
December 13, 7:30pm at Byron United Church – 420 Boler Rd.,
London, Ontario – the PFBB will celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday
with “The Golden Age of Brass,” featuring music from the 1800s on
period instruments. Since Confederation-era music will be highlighted,
von Suppé’s exuberant Jolly Robbers Overture, written
exactly 150 years ago in 1867, will open the program. Then, band
music by big name composers will include Beethoven’s Marsch des
Yorck’schen Korps and Mendelssohn’s War March of the Priests. The
centrepiece of the program will be the challenging Raymond Overture
by Ambroise Thomas.
Last month I mentioned the importance of musicianship for ensembles
to really tell their story. Well, in this program, Dr. Hank has
selected a set of four up-tempo compositions to test the skill of his
band’s musicians. One highly regarded composer of the 1800s, famed
for his toe-tapping pieces based on popular dance forms of the mid-
19th century, was Claudio Grafulla. To demonstrate their skills, the
band will play a set of four of his works: Cape May Polka, Freischutz
Quick Step, Skyrocket March, and Hurrah Storm Galop. Another
seasonal favourite, Johann Strauss Sr.’s famous Radetzky March from
1848, will bring the concert to a rousing close. I’m sure that many
instruments from Dr. Hank’s vast collection will be front and centre at
this concert.
(Another sidenote: While brass bands have many loyal followers,
36 | December 2017 / January 2018 thewholenote.com