Handle The Messiah

It has been my experience that musicians as a group enjoy a sense of humour. They like a good laugh now and then and usually look at the bright side of most situations. I guess you could say they are eternal optimists.  

One musician once told me that his girl friend accused him of not taking chances in life and always taking the easy route. He countered with, "That's not true. I chose music as a career and chose the trombone as my instrument." (If that isn't taking a chance I don't know what is.)

This one musician/ band leader did a lot of jobbing  and he was always known for his astute handling of situations. He saw humour in almost everything.  You could say he was "Mr. Tact". 

I remember being on a job with him.  He was leading his nine piece group and it was a dance for a company party.   (It should be mentioned that a lot of times these functions are organized and run by a small designated committee.  A lot of times the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing and one committee member will contradict the other member in how should things should be run.)

Well, the band was on a break and the company executives and other "higher-ups"  were doing speeches and handing out awards. 

This committee member approached Mr. Tact and asked, "Are you the band leader?"  She wasn't sure he was.

John (not his real name) expecting a problem that he didn't wish to get into said, "Not necessarily." He game her the impression after hearing her request that he would relay the information to the band leader.  Well, that seemed to solve this problem. It was over and done and handled beautifully.

John was always in a good mood and saw humour in everything.  On another gig that we were playing, the Bass player's music stand tilted too far forward and all the music spilled on the floor.   The musicians all around him scrambled to put the library back in order and helped pick up the mess.  John also came forward to help and muttered for us to hear, "Houston we have a problem."  The accident didn't phase him one bit.

I love the way he handled this one temperamental singer. She was about to sing a song and as the introduction was being played for her, she turned to John in a panic,

"I can't do this song. I've forgotten the words."   John, without skipping a beat, replied "Don't worry. Just sing the lyrics."  What a hoot.

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