A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away . . . well 1982 . . . I was driving down Interstate 10 and my pager (remember those?) went off. I pulled into a gas station with a phone booth (remember those?) and my answering service told me to call Jeff Reynolds. Jeff told me if I called this guy in Italy – right now – there might be a free trip to Italy in it.

Apparently, Zubin Mehta had requested American alto, tenor, and contrabass trombone players to play Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder, a work of epic proportion, at the Maggio Musicale in Firenze, Italia. To wit, Ralph Sauer, Sonny Ausman, and Jeff – none of whom could go. To be sure, there was absolutely zero shortage of highly qualified European trombonists (Coals to Newcastle); I suspect an LA Phil reunion was the idea. Jeff indicated the guy in Italy would figure this out in short order and great haste was necessary. I called right then and there from that phone booth and was hired to play contrabass trombone. I called two of my pals about the other two chairs, but they dawdled and I alone was Italy-bound. Fifteen, expense-paid, days in Florence. Seven rehearsals and one performance. Glorious!

I got the part and practiced it diligently for a couple months. I owned a Larry Minick, hand-built, double-Bb, double-slide, double-valve, contrabass thunder-whistle. It might be the one in this picture (photo by Bob Malone) – he built a couple. It’s previous owners were Jeff and Bill Reichenbach – I don’t recall in which order. As BBb contras go . . . it was excellent, but BBb contras combine all the worst features of the tuba and the bass trombone rolled into one. It sounded quite good below the staff – if the part wasn’t too fast. It worked fine for movie scores. I came to play BBb contra when Jeff recruited me to play it in the Moravian Trombone Choir because I already played tuba and the mouthpieces are about the same size and (with the double slide) the slide positions are the same.

However . . . actual, orchestral, contrabass trombone parts are not confined below the staff and can move along quite briskly. In Gurre-Lieder, there is a rather prominent (is there any other kind?) contrabass trombone passage that starts on a D above the bass clef, descends a tritone and goes on down . . . that D’s not a great note on that horn. I must have practiced that lick a million times before I got on the plane!

In six rehearsals, that D elicited no comment from the podium. I was feeling pretty good. The seventh, dress, rehearsal was in an enormous indoor soccer stadium. It was a double string section, with a 300-voice choir, television crew, and Klaus Maria Brandauer was the narrator. Everything was going just swimmingly – until that D. Again – six rehearsals – no comment.

So . . . Maestro Mehta cut the orchestra off and the following dialogue ensued:

“Contrabass trombone.”
“Yes, Maestro.”
“That note there . . .”
“Yes, Maestro.”
“It has a little ‘burr’ on the attack.”
“Yes, Maestro.”
“Well . . . I’m not crazy about it.”
“Me neither.”
 Long pause . . .
“Oh . . . We start again.”

Mercifully, he was an absolute gentleman about it.

So, at that evening’s performance, I was determined to nail that D. . . . I sprayed it every which way but loose! Upon my return to the U.S. of A., I as quickly as possible sold the BBb and bought an F and never looked back! (Hence, my advice.)

That said, Roger Bobo (RIP) played the living daylights out of his old Conn BBb, but that’s a very exclusive club! Apparently, Murray Crewe (RIP) took Roger’s place (and horn) in that club.