[Trombone-l] :Re: Gilbert Kaplan's guest appearance

[Earl Needham]

mcclurefamily at srt.com wrote:
> Great art can inspire the audiences. And pension benefits.
> Great audiences can inspire the orchestra. So can conductors of
> any level, for good or for bad.
>
> Dave's hit the quality issue on its head. 
>
> We've had whole bands think that about our conductor/officer
> (military field band, nameless individuals--to protect everyone).
> Of course, to voice the issue--it became insubordination, a right
> we didn't have. At least, not without repercussions  (think
> Uniform Code of Military Justice). 
>
> But reality meant that if Senator So and So wanted ____ field
> band to play at _____ Festival, we went, no matter how ridiculous
> it seemed and pulled it off. For the non military musician world,
> it does often become  "Dancing for Dollar$$" 
> (and even sometimes in the military band world).
>   
    Yep, absolutely true.  My wife was in the field band at Cherry 
Point, back in the '70's, and I STILL remember, with great disdain, the 
names of some of the senior NCO's who made life so rough, just because 
they could, or because they couldn't direct, or they were poor musicians 
and only in the music program to avoid carrying a rifle/tool 
box/whatever.  Not really musicians, just looking for an easy out.

    I wasn't even in the band, I just heard it from friends who were, 
but those names are still right on the tip of my tongue, some 30 years 
later.

    Earl

-- 
KD5XB -- Earl Needham
Clovis, New Mexico DM84jk
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cw_bugs
Quoting from the Coast Guard: ZUT