Klarinet Archive - Posting 000259.txt from 2004/10

From: "Lacy, Edwin" <el2@-----.edu>
Subj: RE: [kl] Interesting doubles
Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2004 16:55:00 -0400

From Walter Grabner:

<<<Well, I wound up getting yelled at by Vikki Carr - and being called
an=20
incompetent. This was surely one of the highpoints of my musical
career!>>>

Ah, reminiscences! I might be able to top that. I once booked and
played first alto sax in the backup band for a show by Marvin Hamlisch,
and he insulted all the members of the band, to the audience, in the
middle of the show. He had an interesting approach to putting together
a show - for the most part, he didn't tell you what he wanted, or
couldn't figure out how to tell you what it was that he wanted, but if
something didn't go the way he thought it should, his response was to
belittle and criticize the band to the audience. That was my first and
last show with Mr. Hamlisch.

With regard to doubles, I've done two shows that called for six or seven
instruments. I can't remember the exact list for each show, and
sometimes I was playing certain parts off of other books, but it seems
to me that "How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying" calls for
oboe, English horn, clarinet, alto sax, and possibly another one or two
(maybe flute and/or bass clarinet?), plus the kazoo part. And, that was
in a place where you didn't get extra pay for doubles, nor for hauling
all the equipment in a pickup truck!

I also played the first reed book in the national touring company of
"Hello, Dolly," starring Betty Grable. After I took the gig, I learned
that the book consisted of about 40% piccolo parts. I had two weeks to
try to get my piccolo chops up to par. The other instruments were
flute, clarinet and alto sax, I think.

I did a recording session in a scab recording studio which shall remain
nameless for the moment. I was THE woodwind section for a studio
orchestra. I recorded about 12 or 15 tracks, overdubbing or layering
each time, which comprised a full studio orchestra. When I heard the
final mix in playback, I pretended to hear a wrong note. (It didn't
require much imagination.) I asked, "Hey, who played that clam?"
Nobody laughed.

Ed Lacy
University of Evansville

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