Mexican Banda gig....continued

I went to the mall today and got measured for the suite I will use with this banda. Today, the band owner gave me 4 nice dress shirts from Vitorrio Forti. He takes care of everything which is nice because I was sick of all the bands I played in back home that made me go get some outfit that I A) had to pay for and B) had to wear (i.e. cheezy blue shirt, beige pants and white tennis shoes....eek)

Anyway, tonight we played at two Cantinas! As the weekend approaches we get bigger crowds. I'm still struggling with some of the songs that I don't know. The pianist in the group helps me out with the bassline until I start to "get it"
This is all very good for my ear training but when you're used to reading off the page, it sure makes you frustrated!

We had a group of fans tonight following us from cantina to cantina....it was fun! I met some very cool people :)

Tonight, during one of the sets when I was playing one of the songs that had a very tough tuba part, one of the trombone players put his cell phone on my stand and it started playing some weird porn scene! It was hard not to crack up...it just started out of nowhere. Meanwhile, I'm trying to makes sure I don't miss any of the chord changes but it was tough not to start laughing! All the horn section was in on it. They were trying to get me to mess up on the hardest song! I managed though. I did miss a few notes but I controlled my laughter. The guys in the band are very cool...everyone is very nice and helpful! There are no egos and we all get along. I asked some of the guys about that since i'm the rookie, and it's always been that way. I'm learning so much. Greg, the principal trombonist in the orchestra did this gig for about 1 year and he says it really built his endurance!

I had a good time tonight. Off to bed I go:)

Thanks to all my friends who have read my blogs. I miss you all very much :)

ABEL

MEXICAN BANDA

WOW! What a night! Today was my first "on the job" training for an authentic Mexican Banda.

Now, don't get me wrong...I'm not a big fan of the style of music but it does pay well. The second thing I noticed about this particular band is the trombones don't like using valve trombones...they prefer the real thing, which I thought was very cool! Clarinets don't overblow and the trumpets don't all play super loud and in unison. OH, and that whole VIBRATO thing...yeah, it's there but it's done on purpose...it's just part of the style.

We had a quick rehearsal at 22:30 and then went straight to the Cantina where we had to be ready to play by 01:00 hours. The place was packed and of course we all had the same outfits on. I'm glad this band does not wear what some of my friends would call "Chunty or Choonty" outfits that we sometimes see Mexican Bandas wear. We wear nice suits:) and tomorrow we wear black dress pands with yellow dress shirts which actually look quite nice!

Anway, tonight I was totally reminded about what Jeff Jung said to me once about the workforce in Mexico. He said, "you'll notice how everyones assistant has an assistant, who's assistant, assistant has another assistant" and that was exactly the case tonight. Carying around a big sousaphone is no longer a big deal because there is someone always there to help me out! Especially when setting up the stage, stands, mics, music, etc. Basically, I get up there with my sousaphone (which the band has provided me with) and they come over, set up my stand, my music, my water bottle, my chair, my stand light, and then they stick a microphone down in my bell!

Which brings me to a very important point! Have you ever listened to some of those Mexican bands? Well, lets be honest, not all of them sound very good or play in tune but did you notice that the tuba players always sound great and RARELY or NEVER mis a single note?
When the stick a microphone down your bell it is so much easier to play...you don't have to work as hard and you can play for hours on end without fatige or strain. Contrary to the "Marching Band" mentality of the "states" where your tuba players are blasting away and defintiely not soundind very good. Well, tonight I could hear myself very well and wasn't working too hard to get those notes out. The only thing that got me tired was the weight of the sousaphone on my shoulder but that is just the nature of the beast when you play the tuba.

Well, after the first gig we had a one hour break before our next gig at another cantina. These places get packed! The people really like to hear the live bands. The name of the band I'm playing with is called "Los Aces" which translates to "The Aces". I'll find out the story behind it because right now I have no idea why they chose that name.

This next part is 100% true...no BS.

I have to learn 267 songs as soon as possible because their repertoire is HUGE! (as my Astronomy professor Dr. SALAMA used to say in his middle eastern accent..."Universe is....is ...universe is is HUGE...is HUGE...is so HUGE..ya") yeah, the songs range from classics to standard Mexican songs to Reggae to Waltzes to Polkas to Pop and even Rock songs...it's a lot of stuff!

The wonderful things about all this is that some of the songs are written down on paper for me which is good to help me get started. The rest they have given me on a CD which I basically have to completely learn by ear. I think this will be great for me because it's something I have put off for a long time and learning to play by ear is very important.

I once scheduled a lesson with Mr. Jim Self (tuba professor at USC) and what I remembered most about the lesson (it was fantastic by the way) was that he had me play happy birthday in all twelve keys...at the time this was so difficult but it was his way of proving a very important point...we must learn to improvise, we must play along with recordings, we must fine tune our ears and be able to transfer what we hear or sing directly to our fingers so that the same sounds immediately come out of our instruments! I've got a lot of work ahead of me! At least it will keep me busy!

The musicians in the band are all trained musicians...some of our local competition bands don't read music at all..which is not to say that they suck because they don't but being able to read music does make practice more interesting because we can speak "musically" and talk about how we want to work out a particular section. They are all very nice...on stage we're all but 10 maybe 12 and all together with helpers and managers etc maybe 20. We perform 5 days a week mostly at night but done early enough that I can get some good rest before walking into orchestra rehearsal.

So, the next time you see one of those Mexican bands...hold your tounge and don't judge because the tuba player or any member for that matter might just be in a professional orchestra where they play the real deal and where they read music on paper ;)

Good night

TIME OFF..

I've got the entire week off because the orchestra is playing Beethoven Symphony No. 3 and Symphony No. 9

So what do I do...

well, I practice most of the day of course! but I do get bored sometimes...my housemates are in rehearsal for 3 to 4 hours. We usually hang out until they come back. Often, they go teach so I end up waiting much longer.

I'm getting to know this city a lot better. There are some areas which I have not been to but as you get more gigs and start teaching more you end up driving all over the place.

The good thing about being off is that Thursday I get to walk into orchestra rehearsal hall and pick up my check for all that practicing I did at home :)

Mahler Sym No. 5

Hello friends,

Below is a short excerpt from the Mahler Sym No 5 concert with the Monterrey Symphony. Unfortunately my camera ran out of memory which is why I did not catch the entire symphony but I think it turned out pretty good. Of course, it sounded much better in the concert hall. Sorry for the cheap quality of video/sound but it's all I have right now.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW VIDEO

Otoberfest In Monterrey

Stephan is one of the french hornists in the orchestra. he's a very nice man and is married to a beautiful Mexican woman. Last week he sold me a ticket for an "Oktoberfest" celebration which took place last night.

Earlier in the day, Greg and I cleaned the entire house....it looked and smelled great! We had some guests over for wine later in the afternoon.

Przemeck had a wedding gig and when he returrned to the house wee took a cab to the Oktoberfest Celebration. When we arrived we noticed many non-Mexicans in attendance. Well, as soon as we walked in a lady greeted us with a huge glass beer mug and gave us our tickets for dinner and beer of course!

We found our other friends from the orchestra and joined them. People started dancing and talking. I met a lot of Europeans who are living right here in Monterrey. It was a lot of fun.

Did I get drunk? No, I did not. I'm glad I didn't becausee I wanted to have a productive day today. I had a few beers because they were directly imported from Germany. It was good!

I had a good time, met some cool people, danced a little bit and made it home safe.

Before the Mahler Concert

WOW! todays rehearsal was FANTASTIC! Maestro Felix was even more demanding and pickier than ever before.

The orchestra sounded great. There are times during a rehearsa when everyone is "on it" (baum cha baum cha baum) and it's the best experience ever.

If the Maestro does not stop, we know we're doing it right (um, yeah...I'll leave that one alone) but anyway, he's not one of those conductors that stops to say something nice or tell us how good it was...that's a waste of time. If he stops, that's bad news, it means someone, or some people (any section of the orchestra) did not play their part right. It especially irks him if it happens after he's explained it to you. If he keeps conducting through the movement it's a good thing and that is what happened today. Sure, he paused here and there for interpretation changes and phrasing but people were pretty much on it!

In the first movement, when I got to my solo, he asked me to play it several different ways. He'd sing it and then I'd play it just he wanted me to. It sure put me on the spot!

I felt like Adolf Herseth when Reiner kept picking on him on "Also Sprach Zarathustra" (I think it was Zarathustra?) and eventually Herseth looks at his watch, after nailing the solo every time, and said something like "i've got a gig at three."

So anyway, he eventually said..."look, I know it says "piano" but...(and here's what made my day) he said "I like the tuba..I want to hear the tuba!"

Greg, our principal trombonist has the purest and sweet sounding high register! it really sings up there and I'm very proud to be in the section with him. I'm always listening to what he is doing and he leads the section very well. As section leader is is always leaning over and making suggestions as well as interpretive observations and balancing the section.

the bass trombonist is very powerful. We make a good team and when Maestro Carrasco lets us play out, it gets pretty scary back there!

We have SEVEN french horns on this Mahler piece and they are LOUD, POWERFUL, and BALLS TO THE WALL!

Tomorrow is the dress rehearsal where it basically must be perfect! I am very excited to be playing this work as I have been listening since I first fell in love with symphonic music.

I spend my afternoons practicing for several hours. Greg is planning a sectional tomorrow before the concert to polish a few phrases and what not.

Today, after rehearsal we had several orchestra members over at the house for lunch. Przemeck (pronounced She-mek) and I cooked POLISH food...I assisted, he cooked. It turned out great and everybody loved it. Then, people had to leave so I gave one of the violists a ride home (he just moved back to Monterrey after being in Germany of 7 years. He's Mexican and speaks great German....lucky man!) Then, Pablos, Mary Beth, and I went to the Superiora Music Conservatory to look around. I will visit later this week and post some pictures. Basically, it's the most famous and largest full scholarship music conservatory.

So here I am writing to you and now I'm going to go practice some more because tomorrow is the concert. ADIOS!

You Can Have Anything Done in Mexico

Saturday night I went to a huge concert. A Japanese percussion ensemble was performing live outdoors. There must have been 30 thousand people there! It was very energetic and inspiring.

At some point during the concert I lost my car keys. I did not realize this until I returned to the car and started searching my pockets for my keys.

I did not panic but I was frustrated. My friend Pablo and I back tracked our route and searched for the keys but it was already dark. The concert ended at 11 pm and people hung out until 1 or 2 am. Eventually, I got desperate and ended up taking a taxi back to the house.

Like back in LA most places are not open on Sundays. I waited until Monday (today) to call a locksmith. I looked in the phone book and there were literally hundreds. I basically had to do one of those "close your eyes and just point and call that one" type of decisions. I did just that! Actually I played it smart and called about 10 and then picked the one that charged the cheapest to come and check out the car problem.
Basically, I could not open the car not start it because like I said, I lost the keys. Also, the low-jack system was active so I could not even use my remote to open it because it would go off.

So this nice guy shows up downtown where my truck was parked with a tool box and immediately gets to work. Since I had previously called, he had already selected keys that were made for Nissan trucks and cars. He found one that was just the right size but still had to cut it into shape. He ended up opening the car with whatever that tools name is that they stick into the side of the glass to open the car and removed the door key hole. He took it apart and began using a regular shop file to design the key. He was very precise and eventually made me brand new key that both opened and started the truck! I was very happy. They only charged me $400 pesos which is about $36.00 USD

I appreciated the fact that he did ask me to prove that the car was indeed mine immediately after opening it! I showed him my paper work and he began working on the key.

I was very happy and enjoyed my drive home. Actually, I did stop by Wal-Mart to get a car wash for $50.00 pesos....that's about $4.50 USD
They power washed my car and used the high intensity water pressure gun to wash my tires, then they sprayed it with some kind of bug/dust remover, they ran it through the machine and hand dried it and cleaned the inside. I was impressed and the price was fantastic! Then I came home and waxed the truck! (Waxed cars actually get better gas mileage because there is less friction on the road as you drive!...just thought I'd point that out)

So here I am, chillin' at home. I've got some cold beers in the fridge and tomorrow we continue with Mahler Symphony No 5.

Today we worked on Movements I and II.
Mahler is not only technically and phrasingly challenging but interpretively difficult as well. He is very specific about what he wants and our director, having studied in Germany, is very good with German music. It's going to be an intense week.