Every once in a while you sit and think about things that most folks don't take the time to consider- like what was the history of your daily appreciations. This evening was one of those times for me.
As I sat in my principal trombone seat listening to Stanley Drucker punch out the Mozart Clarinet Concerto twice at a dress rehearsal, I thought back to the first person in my life that triggered the possibilty of this evening ever happening. That person was Mr. Villez.
Back in the late 1950's I was introduced to music at my local elementary school where Mr. V was the same person whom I had just seen playing trumpet in a summer band concert out at the Valley Stream Bandshell under the direction of Dr. John Smith, the godfather of music in our town; he was part of the Leroy Anderson "Bugler's Holiday" trio along with Frank Tronsor and Laurent Eversley.
We were able to start any instrument we wanted in the summer before second grade and I was amused by that thing that looked like a kool paperclip. ( I still see it that way! LOL!) By the end of second grade I was proficient enough to actually be recommended for private lessons by Mr. Villez, and so he passed along Kenneth Menrad's name to my parents and I started soon afterwards at the outlandish (by today's standards) fee of $3 per week. I was to remain a student of Mr. Menrad until senior year of high school after participating in several NYSSMA events locally and at state levels. Briefly, I went on to study music at both undergraduate and graduate levels with trombonists derived from the Emory Remington set of teachers from the Eastman School of Music- Ron Cox and Reginald Fink, respectively.
So back to this evening's thought. As the rehearsal continued with the 4th Symphony of Tschaikowsky, I was reminded of how special my days have been as a result of being exposed to music in general, and, more specifically as a player. After a long day of work, it has allowed me to feel the comraderie of reproducing the great master works of symphonic literature with 60 other players who come together after years of studying their instruments with the single purpose of reiterating historical musical scores, as well as just having fun doing Dixieland gigs and accompanied solos on occasion.
What may be most important as an aside to all of this is the fact that I have gotten tenfold the enjoyment by inviting people to participate in listening to, or performing in, groups that they may never have had the pleasure of hearing. When that brandy-warm feeling hit me on the ride home, I could only think of the people who have enjoyed music around me over many years and that guy who used to play along at lessons with bubble gum working between takes and a cigarette in his ashtray between students.
I can only hope that I have been able to pass on his energy to others as he did to so many firsthand over his lifetime. Those who have felt the joy of music through me can only thank Pete Villez for all of that vibe...
