Klarinet Archive - Posting 001182.txt from 2000/12

From: Daniel Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Herb Blayman
Date: Fri, 22 Dec 2000 13:41:29 -0500

I just spent a pleasant half-hour chatting with Herb who is recovering
from a heart attach followed by the implantation of two stents in a
hospital in Albuquerque. He is improving, I am happy to say, and he
asked me to thank Lori Lovato for her kindness in sending him a gift
basket.

Herb is unable to do much writing. He has slowed down over the last few
years. My wife and I were driving from El Paso to Amarillo last April
and we took the long way round to be able to stop in Belen and see Herb
and his wife Peg. At that time he was hale and hearty but the heart
attack has slowed him down.

He also asked me to get the telephone number of Eddie Daniels if I could
because he wants to call him and thank Eddie for a disk he sent to Herb.
If someone knows the number, please transmit it to me privately because
I don't want to blast Eddie's number to the whole world.

For those of you who did not know of Herb's work, he joined the Met as
solo clarinet following on Gino Cioffi's leaving. Herb's first season
was the 1950-51 season. Later he and Roger Hiller shared the chair of
co-principal players. Herb had been playing a great deal of tenor sax
before he joined the Met orchestra, and the story goes that he was
playing a dance job following his audition, and someone came with the
news that he had won the spot. So the dance band leader made a little
speech that went something like this: "Our lead tenor man is going to be
leaving us to play tenor sax at the Metropolitan Opera." And the guy
did it seriously. He only knew Herb as a tenor man and had never been
to an opera in his entire life. What did he know?
--
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** Dan Leeson **
** leeson0@-----.net **
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