EDDY GRAF STORY

Although Eddy Graf wasn't born in London (Kitchener to be exact) he is associated with this city from as far back as his days at Wolseley barracks during the war.

Eddy was stationed here in the 40s for several years when he was a member of the Army band at that base. Over the years he has talked very fondly about those days and the musicians he's worked with at that time.

To this day, his arrangements are the mainstay of many dance band libraries in this city and those across Canada and the States.

Bandleaders appreciate Eddy's charts if not his script (notation). It's always been accepted that if you could only read his writing (script) you might have a chance at playing his arrangements. I hear that in some cases bandleaders have completely re-written his charts rather than challenge the band member's eyesight. In any case, he is an accomplished orchestrator and has recently written numerous interesting compositions for concert bands.

For many years now Eddy Graf 's Band has been one of the leading dance bands in Toronto. Also, the musicians that know him well can attest to his sense of humour, dry wit and seemingly endless patience.

The story goes that Eddy was using a new drummer that just came from out of town and after a while it became apparent that this guy had a bad habit of slowing down no matter how Eddy kicked off the tune. It became a game of musical darts trying to anticipate how to beat off the tempo so that the tune ended up where Eddy wanted it.

Out of frustration one night (but still keeping his cool) Eddy went to the guy just before getting into the next number to see if he could arrest this "time" dilemma. Eddy confronted the drummer politely with, "Here's where I would like the tempo to be for this next tune. How would you like me to beat it off?"

I guess you can be too subtle because the guy never caught on to what Eddy was asking nor realized that he had just been chastised.

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