Posted by Greg on January 27, 2004 at 21:15:22:
This has nothing to do with the "Army Band" that all you "players" aspire to, but here is an interesting footnote. In 1963, when I was drafted into the Army (yes, Virginia, there still was a Draft), while I was in basic training, somehow an Army Sargeant who was in charge of the Band at Fort Ord found out that I played Bass and (lo and behold) they needed a Bass player to play for the NCO and Enlisted Mens clubs in some sort of a combo. I went to the audition and was told if I could play "anything" that resembled an instrument that you could "march" with, I was "in". Luckily, I played enough Trumpet to hold down a 3rd chair. My two years in the Army were spent playing and rehearsing with many wonderful musicians including some from Stan Kenton, Perez Prado and Les Brown's bands.Being able to play a minimal amount of Trumpet kept me from going to Vietnam and possibly saved my life. So there.