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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! >
Good Philharmonic Gig Story
Good Philharmonic Gig Story
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Michael Rubin
851 posts
Feb 03, 2014
7:53 PM
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About two weeks ago I receive a call from a woman named Toni.
Toni: Do you play chromatic harmonica?
Me: Yes.
Toni: Can you read music?
Me: Yes.
Toni: I'm with the Laredo Philharmonic. We are putting on a show on Friday, January 31st. We are playing John Phillips Sousa's Harmonica Wizard. We had a harmonica player but he plays the wrong kind of harmonica. He cannot read music and he was learning the song by ear. He just realized he can't do the song. We're still having him perform. It would be great if you would do a dueling harmonicas song with him. Could you do that?
(Laredo is 4 hours drive from Austin, where I live)
Me: Sure.
Toni: You would have to come down on Thursday and practice for an hour. Then we'll pay for your dinner and hotel and give you $250. Can you do it?
Me: Let me discuss it with my wife.
I get the okay.
Due to previous experiences with trouble getting paid, I sent an email to Toni explaining exactly what I understood was expected of me and how and when I was to be paid. Then I included a clause that if the concert was cancelled within one week of Jan 31st, I would still be paid.
She agreed.
The race was on.
Me: Overnight me the music and I'll get to work.
The next day:
Toni: We don't have the harmonica part, just what the orchestra will play. Buy the harmonica part and we'll reimburse you.
I google the song and discover plenty of websites carry the music and they can all ship it to me in 4 short weeks.
I call on a friend. Thanks, George Miklas. He sends it over right away but warns me the music is written in the key of C, but sometimes orchestras play it in the key of Bb. If so, he suggests I just buy a chromatic in the key of Bb.
Sure, only $160 out of a $250 check. That and gas and I'm making $50. (I own a Prius hybrid, gas is not so bad.)
I send Toni an email. Is it in C or Bb? She sends me to the conductor. I leave a voicemail and an email and get to practicing the song. 3 days later, the news arrives. It's in Bb.
Now, I could easily transpose to Bb on the C chromatic, but it would mean relearning the song and the note layout could be very difficult.
I call Rockin Rons Music For Less. Can you do anything on the price? Suffice to say, they could only do so much, but I want to shout it from the hills: Rockin Rons Music For Less is the best online harp store ever! And you can quote me.
I tell him I have to think about it. I hang up and begin transposing the song to Bb. In less than a minute, my brain hurts. I am 44 years old. I have proven to myself I know how to transpose. I call Rons back. "Ship it!"
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Michael Rubin
852 posts
Feb 03, 2014
7:53 PM
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So I work on the song. Especially over a certain speed, there are always mistakes. There are 3 types of mistakes:
1. Easily covered up so that the audience would never know.
2. Not so easily covered up but still small enough to be forgivable.
3. Total derailment.
You know that line about pros practicing so much that they cannot make a mistake? I guess I am not a pro. I return my card.
I order 5 CDs from Amazon to make the drive easier. Two Muddy Waters, a Don Byas collection and an Art Pepper collection plus the Art Pepper bio, Straight Life. The latter two don't make it in time for the trip. I've got them now though. Byas and Pepper's music is new to me, although I've seen the Pepper documentary.
On the drive down I discover Don Byas is a genius and I still love Muddy. (Also a genius)
The drive is uneventful. Then the storm appears. Toni picks me up from the hotel and is a high energy, constantly talking, sweetheart of a woman. Also along for the ride is the other harmonica player, Larry Delawder, who is a great guy and great harp player. He grew up playing, singing and touring in his family gospel group and has the quickest ability to create harp harmonies I have ever seen. We worked up Down By the Riverside for our tune. His wife and two little girls also were in Laredo. Then there was Emma Resmini and her Mom, a 13 year old flute prodigy. She was very smart and polite but the feeling that I was in a car with one of the best classical musicians the world will ever know could not escape me.
Upon arrival at the University where the concert hall was, it was clear the was a nice venue. But on the stage was an orchestra of high school children. Surprise. I was playing with a high school orchestra and the show was put on by the Philharmonic. I did get to meet the conductor of the Philharmonic and 3 other members who backed Emma in a quartet setting.
The kids were great and knew the tune. I am very glad we practiced because there was a note that I played that was VERY different from the note that they played. After my song I calmly said, there is a discrepancy with one of our notes. The conductor found it. He pointed to it and said, "We're playing this." It was around 10 feet off the staff. I can read music but my brain couldn't handle it. He saw my confusion and said it was a B. That's when I put my transposing to work and said Bb is to B as C is to C#. I need to play a C# and my harp will make the B note. Success!
The dinner was incredible at a Mexican restaurant Toni said was very authentic. Larry and I got to know each other. He's a friend of Todd Parrott's.
The next morning I did the show to an audience of 600 elementary school kids. They were a great audience and whatever mistakes I made fell under category number 1.
Then we were ushered to a table for autographs. Emma was basically The Beatles. Larry's two little girls also sat at the table giving autographs, I think my popularity was just a bit under the seven year old's. She didn't have to rub it in, though. 600 autographs later (no kidding. Every kid went to every performer.) and I headed home.
There was traffic in San Antonio. It took 90 minutes to go 5 miles to make sure everyone got a good look at the crash.
Then the bank almost didn't cash my money order because it was made out to Michael Rubin Performer. But all is well. Hopefully videos will come soon.
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robbert
273 posts
Feb 03, 2014
8:04 PM
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Good story. Thanks!
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GMaj7
348 posts
Feb 04, 2014
2:17 AM
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Hey Michael,
Good stuff. I lived down in Laredo for a bunch of years carrying a gun for the Gov..Hard to get musical culture when you are 150 miles from anywhere... but the Laredo Philharmonic seemed to do a pretty good job.
They had just paved a bunch of the streets when I moved there.. literally..
I just got turned on to Larry Delawder when friends saw him at the Rock Box in Fredericksburg, Texas. He lives just up the road a bit. Great player and he has a great musical ministry. He also has a Barney Fife act that he incorporates into his shows.
Larry is certainly an off-the-radar player but that takes nothing away from his playing which is spectacular.
Laredo, Texas, did well to have 2 greats like you guys in one performance. Good stuff and good on LPH for finding a great Austin chrom player for the job...
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Greg Jones
16:23 Custom Harmonicas
greg@1623customharmonicas.com
1623customharmonicas.com
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Todd Parrott
1192 posts
Feb 04, 2014
9:16 AM
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Glad you got to know Larry. He really is a nice guy and a great player.
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Slimharp
179 posts
Feb 04, 2014
9:37 AM
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Wow, what a journey. when it's for the kids it's well worth it. At least the Money Order cleared.
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nacoran
7526 posts
Feb 04, 2014
10:04 AM
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Good story, and well told! :)
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Nate
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Greg Heumann
2582 posts
Feb 04, 2014
11:14 AM
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Great story - thanks for writing it up. What's that old saw about never working with dogs or children - you always get upstaged?
Apropos of nothing, I was just watching this. No harp content - nine year old Dutch girl with the voice of an angel. See if you don't need to dry your eyes.......
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/Greg
BlowsMeAway Productions
See my Customer Mics album on Facebook
BlueState - my band
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dougharps
539 posts
Feb 04, 2014
11:54 AM
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Great story, Michael! Thanks for posting it. You committed and made it happen, taking the challenges as they came.
@Greg Heumann
Dammit, Greg!!!
I am either getting really suggestible, or getting far too sentimental in my latter days, because I sure had to dry my eyes. What a voice for a 9 year old. Thanks for posting.
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Doug S.
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Michael Rubin
853 posts
Feb 04, 2014
7:49 PM
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Thanks everyone!
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STME58
638 posts
Feb 05, 2014
11:46 AM
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Michael, Thanks for sharing the story. I think musicianship and storytelling are related. You do both well!
Greg,
World class music is always great to hear but when it comes for a child there is something even more touching and mysterious about it. The clip you posted had a similar effect on me to the clip of a 13 year old Mellisa Venema playing Il Silenzio on the trumpet. Is it a coincidence that both of these talented girls are Dutch, or does Holland have something good going on in music education?
Last Edited by STME58 on Feb 05, 2014 3:11 PM
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