Glenn’s Trumpet Notes

Honk! Fest West 2010, Hubbub Club, Photo by Joe Mabel

Honk! Fest West 2010, Yellow Hat Band, Photo by Joe Mabel

Honk! Fest West 2010, Orkestar Slivovica, Photo by Joe Mabel

Several of my students want to play in a group someday but either are not yet ready or haven’t found one to join. You are not alone. Many people all over the Greater Seattle area have the same desire, and if you go to the 4th annual Honk! Fest West on 13-15 May, you’ll see hundreds of other musicians. Bring your own trumpet, if you want–you’ll find a way to play–or just come to listen and meet people. “No noise is illegal!” they say about this street fair.

Honk! Fest brings out musicians of all stripes and sounds. This year about 20 bands “large and small (anywhere from 8 – 60 members) will come from 7 states and one Canadian province, ready with old ditties, new tunes, fighting songs, protest marches, funeral dirges, swinging gospel, Balkan folk, tin pan jazz, and everything in between marching bands, samba lines, horn players, drum corps, and others,” according to the festival’s website, http://honkfestwest.com. Among the 11 bands from the Seattle area are the Seattle Seahawks Blue Thunder Drumline, Seattle Sounders FC Soundwave, Tubaluba, Orkestar Zirkonium, and two bands from Garfield High School. Or maybe you’d rather hear the bands coming from Montana, California, Arizona, Illinois, Oregon, or British Columbia. At the Honk! Fest West website, you’ll find links to the websites of most of these bands, where you can see pictures and hear samples of their music.

On Friday, the main site is in Georgetown, and on Saturday, it moves to Fremont and Gasworks Park. The finale on Sunday is at Seattle Center and the International Fountain. For more details, visit the above website. Ask about the Pick-Up Band that will be formed during this event. Now mark your calendars, and maybe I’ll see you there, somewhere!