It's an ill wind... - Rob Townsend - November 09
Limbourg gig
Late night party in Limbourg
Dear Bloggee,
I am delighted to be curator of the Hackett "Olde Curiosity Blog" for a little bit.
Vagrants on the bus
We arrived in Verviers in a whirl of beautiful, falling leaves and got out of the bus into less than beautiful pouring rain.
You, dear reader, may not be aware that Belgium is the birthplace of Adolphe (not that one) Sax - inventor of the most raucous of woodwinds, the saxophone. An instrument comically referred to by our drum tech, Dave Cobby, as "the goose scarer".
In my capacity as Director of Wind, I feel it my duty to tell you a little about this fascinating chap. He suffered a couple of attempts on his life, survived cancer of the lip and endless underhand shenanigans from jealous competitors. Despite this, he invented many instruments apart from the saxophone, including a trombone with 7 ascending bells. (Picture at www.yeodoug.com) Luckily this didn't catch on - can you imagine trying to get that onboard a Ryanair flight to Poland?
Rob the Blog
Monsier Sax created the "ophone" to be bloody loud. Despite this I still needed the expert help from Messrs Fenner and Buckland to be heard amongst the magnificent sonic barrage that was the gig in Limbourg. The fantastic Belgian audience loved it, we loved it and I'd like to think Monsier Sax would have been into it too!
...onwards to Aschaffenburg and a day off to enjoy a schooner of sherry before dinner...
Rob the blog - 3 November 2009
Rob, Roger and Steve with his son Oliver in Aschaffenburg
