Open letter to Welsh brass band colleagues (No.2)

August 23, 2020 / welshtrumpeter / Leave a comment

Dear colleague,

I hope that you and your families are safe and well and are surviving these strange times. Please forgive the long post so you might want to get a coffee and settle down to read!

Owing to the pandemic, brass banding has, like many other activities taken a huge hit due to lock-down and the restrictions on playing brass/wind instruments indoors. It is now coming up to 5 months (March 22) since I tried to arrange a gathering of interested parties to meet in Cardiff, to discuss the formation of a unified Welsh brass band organisation. Sadly lock-down was implemented just before we were able to meet therefore we initiated Plan B and met online through a Zoom Meeting. This was admittedly with limited success owing to technical issues and was met with some scepticism and even derision from certain quarters.

A unified Welsh brass band organisation. Can we turn a dream into reality?

My reason for writing is that since then, absolutely nothing has happened in moving this proposal forward and I don’t think I’m over-egging the pudding by saying that the movement is in a significantly more precarious position, than we were 5 months ago, with the prospects of “normal” banding as we know it a distant dream as things stand. There is also the concern whether players (particularly the younger ones), conductors and officers will return to the fold, having now discovered other activities and interests to occupy their time and attention. Concert/Contest venues may not even be in existence for us to perform anywhere decent in the future and with further public spending cuts highly likely, to cover the huge costs of the pandemic; music in education will be non-existent. We are also approaching the Autumn months, meaning our potential activities will be curtailed even further, further affecting revenue and membership retention/recruitment.

I have been “encouraged” by a few colleagues (some who were a part of that initial meeting in March, as well as some new faces) to once again ask the question whether now is the time for action and get the ball finally rolling, before it gets too late to salvage what is already a serious situation for brass banding in Wales. The meeting on March 22 was the warning call that an “iceberg” was on the horizon and action was required. Covid-19 happened and I believe we have now truly hit that “iceberg” and if we don’t act now, then with no representative body the “ship” WILL eventually sink, with almost all hands on board.

The response following the last meeting was to wait until restrictions and lock-down etc. had ended and then to have a face-to-face meeting to discuss the matter. Great, who’s going to suggest an appropriate central venue in Wales and then jump in the car for a potential minimum 2-3+ hour drive, plus the drive back, plus to agree a convenient date to wipe off their schedule, so that we can discuss things? It was a minor miracle that I got 20+ people to agree to meet initially in Cardiff. Yes Cardiff, not central I grant you and I got it in the neck for that too, but the geographical spread of respondents able to attend meant that it was the BEST place for those to attend.

So, is there anything really wrong, now that people are so much more tech-aware and receptive to Zoom or Teams, that we can’t meet once again, being older and wiser with it all and get things moving finally?

OR DO WE INDEED LOOK AT PREFERRED PLAN A?

PLAN A

Are you truly happy to invest in the future of Welsh banding? To invest your time, money and energy by jumping in the car and driving to Newtown or somewhere similar in order that we can discuss these matters face to face? I believe the Welsh Regional Council met this week (observing social distancing of course); therefore it seems people are prepared to get out and about in the name of Welsh banding! Either way, the choice is yours.

The “encouragers” who have prodded me to write to you have also added that as nobody else has initiated any progress do we need to wait for the approval or blessing of others? Frankly, no we don’t and as long as we can gather a decent sized cross-section of the banding world in Wales to get things started in a democratically and constituted manner, then why not? The detractors will continue to detract, the whingers will whinge and the cynics and critics will be ever cynical and critical. In fact the cynics probably won’t bother turning up because “what’s the point, nobody else will?”!!!! We are no longer a brass band movement as the hand-brake is well and truly up. We need action and fast!

This is a massive undertaking; however change can only be implemented by drawing a line in the sand and making that first step, followed by one more step, followed …… I hope you see where I’m going with this? But, yes it is really as simple as that!

We may well be looking at the long term goals, where a Welsh Brass Band Organisation is able to; organise the 2025 Welsh Youth Brass Band Festival, to provide online resources for member bands covering a geographical area from Ynys Môn to Chepstow to Pembroke Dock, to secure funding streams from Arts Council Wales on behalf of member bands or to send a Welsh Representative to the next European Brass Band Association AGM however, if we have no central organisation with proper governance, these will be just “dreams”.

If there is a majority agreement from you to have another go and make a fist of things, great, then let’s crack on with it. If not, that’s fine too, as I’m not claiming to have all the answers or any magic spell to make things right, however to sit back and suck our thumbs whilst watching the ship go down, in my view is a dereliction of duty to the pastime that we so love. By the way, did anyone ring the coastguard to say we’re sinking? Perhaps we should have a vote as to who rings? No, let’s wait until we can meet face-to-face!

This is not intended to be a “join me or I’ll have a hissy fit, throw my toys out of the pram” letter, but it is to encourage you to do SOMETHING. If I’m not your cup of tea to do something, fine, just find someone who is and who will take that first step in making some progress and I will be happy to pitch in and help them if asked.

Canva - White tablet and cup of coffee (1)

So let’s do something and get things started!

So after all that sabre-rattling, I will close by inviting you to take action and join me and other willing participants for a meaningful and productive discussion:

When: Saturday 12^th of September 2020

Time: 11.00am – 4.00pm

Where: Plas Dolerw

Milford Road,

Newtown,

Powys,

SY16 2EH

Or Online where we hope to live-stream the meeting for those who can’t travel.

Yes, I bit the bullet in an effort to appease everyone and it’s provisionally booked!

The venue can safely accommodate a maximum of 12 people observing social-distancing. “But that’s limiting how many can attend!” I hear the whingers and nay-sayers immediately cry! I’ll counter that with “So what if I book the Royal Albert Hall and only 8 people turn up ….?”

I’d be delighted if we were over-subscribed, but on current track-records, people won’t be queuing round the block!

So if you’re ready, willing and able to commit, please respond ASAP to andrew@andrewjonesmusic.com or call 07973 869621 or easier still, fill in the contact form below.

The clock is ticking! Tick-tock, tick-tock ……..

Picture by geralt

Yours optimistically.

Andrew Jones

What’s the point?

April 7, 2020 / welshtrumpeter / Leave a comment

It’s sounding a bit of a cliche now, but these are truly unprecedented times. Not only for me, but for millions of people all over the world. The Covid-19 (Corona Virus) pandemic has affected us all in ways that we could never have imagined possible and has made us re-evaluate the things that are truly important in our lives.

A quick trawl through my social media channels has highlighted the very best and also the very worst traits of the human species. These have ranged from kindness, bravery and self-sacrifice to selfishness, arrogance and sheer idiocy. We have suddenly become virtual prisoners in our own homes – that is if we’ve been true to Government guidance about self-isolating and social distancing – with boredom and a lack of freedom to do what we want, when we want to and where we want to being the major focus of our lives. Unless you count stockpiling ridiculous amounts of toilet paper sufficient to deal with a worldwide dysentery a major worry!

Thankfully during this period of virtual lock-down, Mrs. Wife and I have been perfectly safe and secure here at “Trumpet Towers” – with sufficient (but not excessive!) quantities of pasta, tinned tomatoes and loo rolls to keep us away from the shops. She is an avid reader – a book a day is not uncommon – and I have my music to keep me going. Thank God for my music!!!

It’s funny how music always ends up being the “uniting force” or “glue” that brings communities together and puts a smile on peoples’ faces during times of adversity. Footage of residents in Italy (subject to lock-down) standing on their balconies and singing was broadcast all over the world and my friends at the Cory Band featured on national television, when their players recorded remote individual recordings of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”which were was then skilfully combined to make a complete band performance online, which vent viral (no pun intended!) overnight.

For musicians, whilst there is no replacement for performing together in public to an audience, or in a rehearsal, there is great comfort and satisfaction still to be derived from playing or singing at home on one’s own. Granted, it’s not the same, but it does fill the void and those endless monotonous days pass with less pain and angst, than those who don’t have a meaningful and fulfilling pastime to fall back on.

Tools of the trade (Stomvi and Eclipse Trumpets)

So despite having my music – this saving grace, my refuge, my mental and spiritual sanctuary – this week having realised that I’d missed 2 consecutive days of blowing my trumpet, I had a moment of real full-on “what’s the bloody point?” The mind goes into over-drive. “I’ve got plenty of books waiting to be read, the attic needs clearing out and that box of archived memorabilia and “stuff” desperately could do with a sort out. Why bother practising? I don’t have any gigs in the book, there are no rehearsals I can attend, I don’t get paid to practise. Why should I bother?” So I didn’t and binge-watched “Murder 24/7” on Sky Crime or something similar.

The following day, having maxed out on my TV fix and now being thoroughly conversant with Police custody procedures, forensic techniques and how much of a mug’s game crime actually is, I had a large reality check and got that Trumpet out for my daily parp.

Why? Because I realised that life without my music, in whatever form it takes – group, individual, home, abroad, practise, performance – is just a part of me. The period of no gigs and not being paid are (sadly) part of the territory, even when there is no pandemic to worry about. Indeed if musicians charged clients for the work “off camera” and “behind the scenes” in terms of preparation and maintaining standards we’d all be blinking millionaires. Imagine a builder excusing themselves from the family viewing of “Sound of Music” on Christmas Day to go and lay a few rows of bricks because they need to keep their hand in, as they’re building a wall on Boxing Day!

That said and done, it’s what we do, it’s who we are and it’s what makes us tick. Therefore by writing this blog, it’s been a cathartic experience. I’ve answered my own question really! The point is …… because we’re musicians and we love it!

The Phil Dando Big Band Trumpet Section in action.

So the next time you ask a musician how much they charge for performing at a Wedding or to provide music for a Corporate Event, you’ll know that the fee doesn’t just cover the 3 hours the musician will be at the engagement, or the travel time and costs, or even to purchase the music, to arrange that special tune you requested or for buying that very shiny Trumpet. The cost reflects a lifetime devoted to the pursuit of excellence (I’m still chasing it incidentally!) and maintaining those extremely high standards, rightly expected by clients but demanded of the performers themselves.

I hope that all of you stay well and safe during these strange and difficult times and look forward to that first rehearsal or gig, whenever that may be.

Needs must! Martini practise session – “Any time, any place, anywhere”

Selecting a programme for a Concert?

March 16, 2017March 16, 2017 / welshtrumpeter / 2 Comments

The opportunities of hearing Brass Quintets in Concert are sadly rare, as most of our work nowadays is either for Weddings or for corporate events, so when Music for You were invited to perform for the Rhymney Valley Music Club, we jumped at the chance.

The Music for You Brass Quintet

The Concert (which is supported by the Night Out Scheme/Arts Council of Wales) takes place on Saturday 1st of April at Siloh Christian Community Centre, Oakfield Street, Ystrad Mynach, Caerphilly, CF82 7AF and starts at 7.15pm.

Before we go any further, I’m in danger of assuming that everyone knows what a Brass Quintet is, so just in case, a Brass Quintet comprises of 2 Trumpets, French Horn, Trombone and a Tuba and this line-up has become the most popular for chamber brass ensembles over the years, as pioneered by the late great Philip Jones. He founded the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble and when they weren’t performing as a 10-piece ensemble, this was their smaller group and he was hugely influential in developing chamber music for brass instruments.

So back to the Concert. Being the sole performers, the evening gives both the Quintet and members of the audience a chance to get their musical teeth into repertoire they would otherwise be unlikely to perform or hear, outside of a Concert setting. This in itself can cause problems however, as musicians often want to get stuck into some really challenging and high-brow repertoire that leaves all but the avid quintet connoisseur underwhelmed and unimpressed. On the flip-side, “dumbing down” a programme to contain a succession of light 3-minute “toe-tappers” or light classical items, means the audience are treated with contempt and the assumption that they couldn’t handle anything more serious than a John Philip Sousa march or maybe (if we were daring enough!), Samuel Scheidt’s (Yes, that’s his real name!) “Battle Suite”.

In compiling our programme for this particular event, we’ve tried to appease both appetites and hope that the audience will discover works by composers covering a 600 year period, that will be both enjoyable, stimulating and perhaps even educational. There will even be music from a living Welsh composer!

The Art v Commerce approach of programming concerts, has and always will be a hot potato for musicians and marketing departments the world over. I’ve always been a strong advocate for introducing audiences to new repertoire and composers, by gently broadening their musical horizons and not metaphorically ramming it down their throats, with the underlying message of “here it is, YOU WILL like it …. or lump it!” or “if you haven’t heard this before, you should have!”.

I very much hope, that we have succeeded in putting together a programme which is balanced for all tastes, but also gives us as performers, a rare opportunity to get our creative “juices” going a bit too. even the Brass Quintet aficionado will discover lots of new repertoire, so don’t expect the “same old, same old” programme!

Without giving too much away, there will be works by Handel, Rimsky-Korsakov, Gordon Langford, Edvard Grieg and Koetsier to name but a few.

So why not pop along and have a listen – it would be great to see you. Remember, there’s nothing quite like live music and even if there is something you want to watch on telly, you can always record it!

In the words of our strap-line “Music for You – it’s just that!”

Here’s a taster of one of the items being performed that evening Procession of the Nobles and you can learn more about Music for You by visiting our website

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