Saturday, March 23, 2013
Goin' Home.
Goin‘ Home
My
yearly musings of gigs in Germany over the past twelve months conclude with my
„end of year report“. Different
situations dictate changes in one’s life and I have long since learned that you
have to change with them. Sometimes when
you just know it is time to do something different it simply means taking a
deep breath and taking the plunge. After sixteen years in Germany, ten years in
the same band, the financial crisis, changing audience demographics, marriage
and fatherhood, I wanted to return to England.
The year began with a pub job
with Rod Mason and his Hot Five in Neuss. I remember visiting the town with Bob
Kerr and his Whoopee Band about twenty years ago to play at the week- long fair,
the “Kirmes”. In those days a different jazz band played each night to over 300
people in the main marquee. A local band then decided to take all those nights,
thereby reducing costs for the promoter. It backfired, the audience did not
want it, stayed away and now the whole event is now just a memory. The pub job
is a distant echo of those days, organised by the same guy. A similar job a few
weeks later with the Hot Five was also another one I had done with Whoopee’s,
in fact we once played for New Years Eve in the Storkshof jazz club near
Dortmund. They too, like many others here now, struggle with getting customers through
the door and one wonders “how long” before Euro and Fan collide.
My short time spent living in
Denmark is now ten years in the past and to celebrate the event, Paul Harrison,
the Yorkshire Clarinet-ist now living in Haderslev with his Danish wife Betina,
invited me back for a short but gig packed tour. Paul and I have an instant
musical rapore and it is always a lot of fun to be with him on stage. Denmark
is a cool place in January (cool as in cold!) but to my delight I found that
Paul lived near to an Indian restaurant, one of the very few in Denmark, so a
good Vindaloo was just the thing. Flying from Germany to Denmark is a story
itself. The game of “getting the instrument case of the ‘plane” is always a
tough one. The Air Berlin check-in girl at Düsseldorf Airport told me to buy
another seat for the instrument case (nearly two hundred Euros) and after
asking to kindly speak to her superior she relented and said “well, check with
the cabin crew if there is space onboard”. She was operating the knobs and
dials on the computer to check people in - surely she should know these
things?? Anyway, the case came on board and nobody said anything further.
On the way back to Düsseldorf the instrument was
passed through the security X-ray machine at Copenhagen Airport. The lady
operating it said “Who owns the banjo?” Oh no, here we go again, “I do”, I
replied. “My Dad used to play banjo, may I have a look at it?” she enquired. I opened
the case and lifted my Pietsch MasterVox #7 ArtDeco out. It is a stunning instrument, crafted by
Norbert Pietsch in Bremen and has an ArtDeco dancer inlaid in the resonator, gold
engraved metalwork, pearl, diamonds – it’s a real showpiece. She was equally
impressed and explained that her Father (Jan) had a number one hit in the
1960’s with his brother (Kjeld) singing a tune called “Play a song little banjo
boy”. I know this song, it is still popular in both Germany and Denmark, plus
my hero George Formby had recorded it, in fact it was his very last recording.
I promised to let her know next time I am in Denmark so she and her Dad could
come along to see me play. I got a nice email a few days later saying she had
told her Dad about the banjo and she had “Googled” me on the internet. It was
nice to see the more human side of the security people at airports for a
change.
Rod
Mason’s Hot Five have been making annual trips to the UK for as long as I’ve
been in the band and what turned out to be the final such tour was a well
planned and enjoyable trip. Ingrid, Rod’s wife and band manager, invested many
hours making sure that as soon as Travelodge motels offered the “special price”
they so often advertise-but seldom actually have- she was right there at the
computer, credit card poised. Our concerts were mostly sold out and included
Shipston on Stour, Plymouth, Hereford, Nottingham, Acle, Little Witley, Minehead,
Carshalton, Wantage, Harlow, Wickham Bishop and three well organised jobs
initiated by our clarinettist, Andy Leggett. I love playing to an English
audience and having a chance to play my uke-banjo on a Formby number or two. I
cannot do that in Germany, as George was not such a “hit” here in the
Fatherland of the 1940’s!
During the
summer I had a couple of opportunities to do some more concerts with The
Pasadena Roof Orchestra. I love their music, playing the arrangements and being
part of a big 1920’s style dance orchestra. The management had organised a
hotel room for me the night before the concert, so I set off by train from Erkelenz, our local
station, to Bern in Switzerland fully loaded with banjo case, guitar case and
suitcase. The guys flew in from London the following day, having had an early
start. From Bern we travelled to a small five star hotel in Thubingen, the Hotel
La Casa. What a beautiful hotel, friendly and welcoming. It must be one of the nicest
concerts I have had with the orchestra so far and even the 0500 start the next
day for a mid-day job with the Hot Five in Solingen did not dull the
experience.
I had another
chance to meet with the PRO guys in Berlin later in the year, this time to
achieve a boyhood dream - singing and fronting the Pasadena Roof Orchestra. I
have to say that in my twenty five years of playing professionally, this one
job was the most probably one of the most rewarding. Duncan Galloway, the
singing band leader/owner of the orchestra had a prior engagement and could not
attend so this was my “try-out” as his understudy, live, no rehearsal, in front
of a 600+ concert audience. After the first initial butterflies passed it was
simply just a joy to be on stage. On the last job with them as banjo/guitar
player in Ingoldstadt, Southern Germany, I met up with Ian Bateman, who was in
the trombone seat. Ian is a top musician who adapts to almost any style brilliantly
and was also with Rod Mason’s Hot Five 20 years ago. He now runs his Bateman
Brother band.
A
special treat this year was to be invited over to the AllFrets Annual
Convention in St. Louis, USA. The extra added bonus was that George Peabody,
son of my banjo hero, the late, great Eddie Peabody, had agreed to attend. Flying
from Frankfurt to Dallas and then on to St. Louis was stressful. The
inefficient check-in system for American Airlines (even though I was two hours
early and had checked in online) meant that, unbeknown to me, my suitcase did
not make the flight. Coupled with having to transfer it yourself to the
connecting flight at Dallas and waiting for a bag that was not there - I only
just made the St. Louis flight by the skin of my teeth. Once at the hotel I had
only my banjo as luggage but they had a back-up plan for such moments, so at
least I could keep fresh and clean. The case turned up two days later. The
standard of playing was extremely high and it was great to be re-united with
some friends I had previously made on earlier trips to the States. George
Peabody was a member of the audience during a special programme I was very honoured to be part of, “The
Peabody Parade”, during which friends, students and fans of the great man
presented a half hour special. It was quite an emotional moment when he entered
the stage and spoke about his Dad who has been gone now 42 years. Before I left
I got him to sign the inside of my VegaVox 4, one that Eddie had once owned. I
also got to play on a riverboat on the Mississippi. Very memorable.
Another
excellent Trombonist whom I have known and often worked for since I first moved
to Germany is Joe Wulf. His band “The Gentlemen of Swing”, are mainly younger
guys, all top readers and fun to be around. Joe is a real grafter for work, has
a very uplifting positive outlook and his terrific band is one to watch in
future. As one of “The Gentlemen” I did several memorable concerts this year
including St. Goar, Remagen (just behind that remains of that famous bridge),
Mayern and an overnight drive to Dresden. That one was my fault. Sometimes a late night after a gig and then
early morning start with very little sleep between just happens. The job was a
wedding reception in a castle overlooking the city and was welcoming, relaxed
and bathed in sunshine. We had the bass player from the Dutch Swing College
Band on that job, Adrie Braat chatting about the
DSC and the plan to keep the band’s name alive in the future by nurturing young
Dutch jazz talent. Jazz has a future and is fun to play but it needs forward
thinking or it will die out when the older generation wants to pass the mantel
on - someone has to grasp that mantel. The night was rounded off by a huge
firework display for the wedding guests, not the first big bangs and flashes
have been seen in Dresden.
November
was life changing month for me. I finally married my sweetheart Miyuki. That
was not an easy bureaucratic procedure here as we have both be married before, she
is Japanese, I’m English - and we live in Germany. Everything needed
translating and of course the famous German “Ordnung muß sein”. The close
examination of each single word by the authorities delayed our wedding plans by
six months, meaning we received our most wonderful wedding present, our beautiful
daughter Kiki Mae Moyses, just a few weeks later.
The usual end of year concerts playing
“Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” and similar crowd pleasing nonsense in
Kevelaer, Menden, Neukirchen, Moers, Duisburg and Düsseldorf were briefly
interrupted by Ralf Wagemann’s excellent European Top 6 Concert in Gelsenkirchen.
Taking part was another brilliant musician to watch for, Nils Conrad, who has
styled his drum technique on the late, great Huub Jansen. Nils is fun to watch playing
and is a really excellent drummer. We rounded our year out in Werne and a very
long journey to Potsdam.
And so back home to England. I
shall be actively looking for as many gigs as possible and it will not be easy
starting over again but I have a nice solo show which is affordable for almost
any club and I will enjoy playing music with my English colleagues. To my many
music friends in Germany and especially my colleagues in Rod Mason’s Hot Five I
say “Dankeshön und Tschuß”, thanks for the memorable times and companionship on
the road. It has been a great experience but all good things come to an end. I
return to England with an open calendar so if you can help me by offering me a
gig, please get in touch! I look forward
to meeting you along the way. It’s nice to be home.
Sean Moyses, 2012.
