The image is of my friend Eddie Harris a person I really admired.. don’t think he was ever in a community band…
A few things I do not like about community bands
One of the things that I do not like the most is that the loyal players that come to the rehearsals, practice their parts and do their best… do not get paid! In many bands, they are asked to pay for the privilege of being in the band.
Yet when it comes time for the concerts the band pays ringers to play with the band…. No Oboe… pay someone to play, no vibes player … pay someone…
This really sucks! It should be the conductors job (who by the way always gets paid) to choose music the band can play…. I made the mistake of playing the oboe parts on C clarinet in rehearsals and of course at the concert…. There was a real oboe player getting paid… again this really sucks! Hell, they should be paying me and I can sight read the concerts!
The other thing I do not like is the band paying outside people to be featured with the bands… If I wanted to accompany people I can get paid to do that. The concert band is a band and should be used and treated as a band…. Play band music… feature the band… the people that make the rehearsals and pay to keep the band going….
Recap: Do not pay ringers, do not pay featured players… use the area players that want to play, use the area talented students….
This is why I do not play in any of the area bands any longer…