Date: Sat, 08 Sep 2001 17:26:49 -0500 From: Fred Stover Subject: 9 flutes, piano, synth and harp
As promised, tape at 11:00.......... Last night I played my first "public" gig. I was invited to play with a local flute ensemble at a church (not mine) dinner, so I knew few of the 80 or so people there. Turns out the audience was, how you say, elderly, which reduced the anxiety level quite a bit. The flute group started with 3 classical numbers before I played my 3 numbers. While the flute numbers were great, I think the audience was ready for the break I provided. First was "Summertime" to a piano accompaniment. With a LO Natural Minor it was a piece of cake to play "soulfully" with lots of embellishments. Nailed it pretty well. Second was "Rock Around the Clock" (with apologies to Madcat) on a standard Special 20 to a taped accompaniment. My spy tells me the oldsters were a-reelin' an' a-rockin' to that one and can be recommended as a crowd-pleaser. Finished by playing "Georgia on My Mind" on a Bb Special 20 self-tuned to Melody Maker with the flute group. Did ok, got a little lost on # of choruses, but quickly recovered. Harmonica playing over a flute accompaniement sounded pretty cool, IISSMS. Flute group included many retired high school music teachers and supervisors and I got many compliments, to which I replied I owe it all to Harp-L. Seriously, after hearing 3 renditions of Georgia and 1 of Summertime at SPAH, I thought I'd never be able to play them again, but actually that was a good impetus for trying to improve. The best thing about the whole experience was focusing on playing a small set as well as possible, and practicing, practicing, practicing.......
For Chris M's information, I wore a dark brown shirt, brown tie with open collar, black polyester pants, and black shoes. Set me off against the white-shirted flutistes enough to make me feel like a "pro" (well, I was a "guest soloist", after all). Tons of fun, and highly recommended.
