Dr. Pocket

Yes, I'm introducing a new person on my blog. A mister Dr. Pocket. As in Corner Pocket. It is a great big band tune. Youtube it if you don't know it. It is awesome.

Dr. Pocket loves this song to the point of requesting (or maybe demanding) it played at his funeral. Hence his name. Dr. Pocket retired about 8 years ago. But for someone who is retired, he spends an awful amount of time still in contact with the music department. His instrument is the sax. He's still pretty amazing. 8 years ago was our first dance gig that we made in honor of Dr. Pocket (and also to help fund the jazz scholarship - also named after Dr. Pocket). It is now an annual tradition, and we play Corner Pocket every year, and Dr. Pocket plays with us. The Monday before the three night gig, Dr. Pocket came to play with us in rehearsal so we could play to his liking and to give him a chance to play through the changes (which he could probably do in his sleep). We played it with him. I believe that I played as well as I always do on that song. I love the song quite a lot as well. The lead trumpet part is really fun.

We also played with him a little song called Things Ain't What They Used To Be - by Woody Herman. Youtube that also. It is a way fun song. Particularly for the lead player. I don't want to get too far into detail with this. The highest note in the song is a double high G. Suffice it to say it is wicked high, and lots of trumpet players have a hard time reaching it. Dr. Pocket improvised on the song with us, hence we had to play it for him. For the lead trumpet the song starts off going straight to the double high G. I hit it with Dr. Pocket standing there watching. He made his way back to us to holler at me, "I think I heard the ghost of Maynard Ferguson back there."

If you don't know Maynard Ferguson... you should Youtube him too.

With how legendary Maynard Ferguson is for his range, I was pretty happy with his comment. The lick (group of measures) that has the double high G occurs three times in the song. The beginning, the middle, and the end. As far as I can remember, I got them all. Not only that, but on the last note, I jumped the double high E to the G a third above it. The look on Dr. Pocket's face... I'm not sure I could ever explain it well. It made me amazingly happy. I have always wanted to impress him.

The run up for the three nights of 1 hour and 20 minutes of playing, naturally the higher faster longer songs all end up at the end. The first night I didn't do so well, in general. It seemed like the band just in general didn't play well that night. The next two nights, however, were a totally different story. The longer you play the trumpet, the harder it is to play high. Two nights in a row. I played those double high G's on Woody Herman's song. I even was able to bump up the last note for the very last song (Flight to Nassau) up to the infamous double high G.

Needless to say, I made quite the impression on Dr. Pocket.

Dr. Pocket is the owner/creator/director of a community (I think...) big band. I suppose we'll call it Corner Band to keep up with our Corner Pocket theme. When I first heard of the Corner Band, I wished to be in it. But it turns out that Dr. Pocket only picks from people who are in the community - alumni or are professors. It seems he only picks students when there is a shortage, and only those students that impress him enough. I know a few students who were invited. My little brother being one.

Well the time has come. Whether they have a shortage, or whether they just need a substitute, I'm not certain. I still need to call Dr. Pocket to find out the details. What I do know is that he specifically asked for me. He said to おっさん (ossan - old man... I call one of the professors this because he knows Japanese), "I want that girl, what's her name?" おっさん answered by mentioning my little bro who graduated last May. "She's his sister."

I landed a gig. I am not being paid for this gig, but just the fact that I have been specifically invited by Dr. Pocket... it just makes me tremendously happy. I have music that I need to look at. And yes, I am aware of how much this adds to my load that is already way too heavy. But I can't refuse. I have been worrying as of late what I'll do with my trumpeting when I graduate. With this talent... I don't want it to got waste when I graduate. That would make me very sad. But there isn't a whole lot of options where I live as far as community bands are concerned. But now I have been invited to participate in Dr. Pocket's exclusive band. I can't tell you how excited I was when I heard the news.

And to add powdered sugar to the top of my good news, Dr. Lion (remember him? look back in previous posts - there is one actually called Dr. Lion) complimented me twice today. One was kind of a duet kind of compliment, as it was for another person just as much for me. In class today, Dr. Lion asked us firsts to play a line quieter. And we did. He complimented me/us for that. And then when I mentioned that I'm getting a jazz scholarship, he complimented me about that too. He said it was "well deserved."

Things like this make me smile.