The Swan Lake Tsimbl Massacre

[r l reid <ro...>]

I guess its not actually over yet - folks are probably having breakfast
getting ready to head home just now.  But I split for home right after
my PM1 class Sunday.

Many wonderful things (and for all the complaints about the food, there
was NEVER a time day or night you couldn't get a cup of coffee), but
I want to tell you about The Swan Lake Tsimbl Massacres.

A bit of background - often in jams, if a tsimblst and a fiddler or
flute flute player start, eventually they are joined by a few clarinets,
and saxes, and drums, and trombones, and sousaphones....and the tsimblist
(unless it's Pete "Moscowitz" Ruchevsky) quits because s/he can't hear
themselves any more.

Just before midnight Saturday Pete was holding court with some fine 
musicians down in the lower lobby (AKA "Please Don't Sit On Antique 
Chairs"). Meanwhile, in another part of the hotel (down the hall, up the
stairs, through the doors, down the tunnel, through the doors, 
around the corner, into the elevator (if you have faith it will not
strand you and you can stand the smell) up and down the hall - not that
the hotel was rambling) I had brought my tuner down to Jeff Warschauer's
room and were tuning up the Sprakling Ukrainian he had on loan from 
Pete.  (Bet you didn't know Jeff played a little tsimbl!)

Moments later, I came down to the lobby with the Jankowski "Built Like
Polish PreWar Furniture") cymbala, and Pete invited me to pull up a
tsimbl.  Moments later, Jeff comes around the bend to the shock of the
multitudes ("we knew he was a plucker - but now he's a strucker!") and
set up his waiter stand and joined in the pummeling.

Came now Dan Wikler, another recent recruit, with his James Jones.  So
now we're talking 8 hammers and about 400 or so strings.

We circled the tsimbls into the center and flailed away.  And then it 
happened.  A horn player complained he couldn't hear himself.

In a perfect world, Josh "Budowitz" Horowitz and Linda "Simple Gifts"
Littleton would have arrive at that point, but they were mercifully
elsewhere.  This went on till 2:30 or so since no one wanted to break it
up, but finally order was restored.

-- 
r l reid        ro (at) rreid(dot)net


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