Jim Allen

The Buffalo News is reporting that members of Chuck Mangione's band were on board the plane that crashed in Clarence NY last night. His concert, schedule tonight with the Buffalo Philharmonic has been cancelled. When I get more information on the names of the band members, I will post them. RIP...

The Allen family is all present and accounted for. We are still awaiting word on the passenger list to see if there is anyone we may know. This is so frightening when it happens so close to home.

Wow...I wish I would have had the opportunity to be taught by all of those cats!! Oh wait, I have learned from all of them and continue to learn more every day just by knowing them.

So how about a report on the Hilton Night of Jazz and the Chez Big Band...and of course, the Half Ton Horns' performance!!!

Time to get back to enjoying your hobby!!!

Bump...apparently Ryan Codd is asleep at the wheel. C'mon Codd, this is your job!!!!

Ryan was there but he wasn't taking anything up. He was probably intimidated by Seeley and Jimmy!!!

UB students were very impressed with all of the Empire contingent but the trumpets were disappointed that Dave Seeley and Jimmy Steele didn't take anything up an octave. I guess next time I better invite Jamie Gibbs and Jeff Gibbens...LOL.

Thanks for reminding me. Empire's Hard Corps brass will be joining the UB Pep band to perform at the UB Basketball Doubleheader. The MAC leading UB Men will be hosting Toledo at noon with the ever-improving UB Women taking on Western Michigan at 2 p.m. There will be some volume for sure. Check out UB pep band's arrangements of Brick House...Thriller...Walk this Way (kick-butt jazz arrangement)...Get it On...Vehicle...September Song...Paint It Black...Time Warp...Rock Lobster...and the list goes on!!! Great basketball and great sounds...who can resist???

Be careful or Nicole will be jumping off your bandwagon too. She's jumped off mine and I'm not sure what I can do to get her back on. But I can guarantee you that dissing her man is not the way. She is definitely in a Tammy Wynette state of mind!!! So...be careful; be very careful!!!

Happy birthday, Timmy! Did your father get you a box of vibrator as a birthday present? Although I'm not sure how much vibrato you need to play all that Celtic music!!!

I received a turntable for Christmas that converts all your LPs to mp3 files. It's called a USB Turntable/ Vinyl Archiver with Line Input by ION. You hook it up to your computer/laptop and convert your records to mp3 files. I have some DC albums to convert but Fleetwood has many more that I plan on buying, especially Brass by Night, which somebody borrowed years ago and never gave it back!!!

Tom and Karen, congratulations. My wife Linda and I will be celebtating our 40th anniversary this year and as such I know how important it is to have a spouse that understands our crazy activity. It certainly helps that Linda and I met while we were both marching in St. Joe's. But that being said, we have a theory as to why we were able to stay together all these years. Given my crazy schedule with drum corps, marching band, colorguard, indoor percussion, etc., I'm not around half the time!!! In that way, a year in our activity is really only a half year in real time and although the calendar says we've been married almost 40 years, we've only been together literally only 20 years. So, in real years you've been married 40 years; in drum corps years you've only been together 20...you're practically newlyweds!!!

Vinnie Ratford told us that he started in the Phoebe Hearst Post corps and most if not all of them went to Skyliners (Gabarina Post) after the WW II.

Does anyone know if Vinnie Ratford was teaching the Queensmen in '61 or '62? I know he also taught Blessed Sac at about the same time. When he taught us at St. Joe's in 1962-64, it was an incredible experience. He taught the same style "leg lift" the Queensmen used-- instep to the knee, with toes pointing down.

Happy Birthday Donny and isn't Timmy's birthday on Saturday?

Thank you Frank- I had a similar reaction to the Queensmen in 1961 seeing them for the first time at the NYS Legion Championship ( in Niagara Falls as I remember). Hearing Eager Beaver, Exodus, Tin Roof Blues(?) blew me away...I didn't know that you could play that kind of music on bugles. I was marching in the Irondequoit Statesmen and we came in third behind St. Catherines and St. Joe's but in my mind we were 50 points behind the Queensmen. What a corps...and btw, they marched their butts off. Their marching style was light-years ahead of the upstate corps. I had the opportunity to march in St. Joe's a couple years later and was taught by Vinnie Ratford who had previously taught St. Catherine's Queensmen...what a thrill. Thanks for the memories. You transported me to 1961 and reminded me how great the Queensmen were!!!

That's why I made him read Brass Advantage re the three types of vibrato. I will quiz him at the next camp...lol.

Among the many things I learned from Vince Bruni when I was just a kid was "treat everyone you know with the respect they deserve, always." That's the only way to live your life without regret when your friends and family pass away unexpectedly.

My condolences Cakes. May she rest in peace.

I've had him read this month's Wayne Downey Brass Advantage on the three types of vibrato. He is afraid you wouldn't approve!!!

I am so sorry to hear of LLoyd's passing. I consider Lloyd one of the three most influential people, along with Vince Bruni and Fred Gebhart, in encouraging me to get involved with teaching and judging after my junior corps days were done. I will greatly miss seeing him at least a couple times a year at some DCA show that Eric Smith would drag him to or at the odd lunch date that we would have as he traveled through Buffalo on a business trip. Rest in peace Lloyd and thank you for all your encouragement and advice over the years. Another true legend has left us.

And that about says it all!!!

I saw a picture years ago of the Jersey Joes that looked like these guys.

Donnymusic said..."BTW...no one ever claimed that the quality of Nick Tahou's food was the draw...it most certainly is the uniqueness of the garbage plate, and the clientele and servers that give it the ambience that cannot be found anywhere else. LOL..." Personally, I've always been torn between the ambience and/or the decor.