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“I Stand for the Flag” at Merrill Gardens, Renton Centre on 23 May for Early Memorial Day Celebration
Posted by glennled on May 25, 2023
Posted in Shows at Retirement Homes | Tagged: Austin Custom Brass (ACB), bugle calls, cornet, Getzen, horns, Jupiter, marches, Merrill Gardens at Renton Centre, pocket trumpet, retirement community, songs, Super Olds, trumpet | Comments Off on “I Stand for the Flag” at Merrill Gardens, Renton Centre on 23 May for Early Memorial Day Celebration
“Taps” for Army Reservist, Loren Montgomery (“Monty”) Holmes (93) at Evergreen-Washelli in Seattle
Posted by glennled on May 10, 2023
The Holmes family was proud, among other many other things, that Loren Montgomery (“Monty”) Holmes was a veteran. They wanted a live bugler (not a taped recording) to sound “Taps” at his memorial service to be held in the chapel at Evergreen-Washelli Funeral Home in north Seattle on Sunday, 7 May.
Where can you find a good, live bugler? The funeral director, Stacie Sandritter, contacted VFW Post 1040 in Lynnwood for a referral. The call then passed to me, the Post Bugler. Eureka—networking works again!
As I listened to the pastor, family members, and friends pay tribute to Monty, I learned that he was a man of action and experience, with many interests and skills. He was indeed the patriarch of those who were close to him. They spoke in high praise of his great influence for good. Apparently, he was an open, friendly man with standards and a temper but also one with a good sense of humor who inspired others and did not hold a grudge. They spoke of his faith and love.
After graduating from Ballard High School, he played football for the semi-Pro team, “Seattle Ramblers,” and he served in the U.S. Army Reserve at Fort Lawton (now Discovery Park in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle). He was the original owner of Athletic Awards Co. in Seattle where it still stands today.
He was born 29 November 1929, and died on 8 April 2023–going on 94 years of age! He was interred on 9 May 2023 at Evergreen Memorial Park (see http://www.Washelli.com).
Inside the Chapel at the close of the memorial service, I used my Getzen bugle to sound “Taps” and afterwards, rendered the slow hand-salute for another comrade who has passed. It was the 231st time that I’ve been honored to do it.
Posted in Ceremonies & Celebrations | Tagged: bugle, bugler, Getzen, Taps | Leave a Comment »
“I’m Back in the Saddle Again”
Posted by glennled on April 24, 2023
My last post here was in last July, about 9-1/2 months ago. Why so long ago? For a whole variety of reasons, but let me name the Big Four:
- Too busy/lazy in most of July 2022
- Traveling from August to mid-October
- Fracture in lower back, plus sciatica, on 1 December
- Recovery/rehab from December to present
Last December, I was forced to cancel four trumpet shows at retirement communities in Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond, and La Conner, and neither could I sound “Echo Taps” at the annual Wreaths Across America ceremony at Veterans Cemetery at Evergreen-Washelli in Seattle, as I have done since 2011. For three months, I had to cancel all by trumpet lessons with my students.
And now, finally, after a total of almost five months, thank God, “I’m Back in the Saddle Again,” as Gene Autrey crooned in my youth. Proof? A bone-density test showed that I don’t have osteoporosis. Recent X-rays revealed that the fracture has healed. I don’t have to wear a back brace anymore. I still use the walker or cane often, for safety, but not always, as I had to for the first three months. I’m getting out-and-about more and more!
And the best proof of all is that on 21 April, I performed my one-hour trumpet show, “In Retrospect,” at Aljoya, Mercer Island, driving myself on the freeways, both to and fro. It consists of about two dozen hit songs from the residents’ era, and they get to sing (and hum) along! I used four of my five horns—trumpet, cornet, pocket trumpet, and flugelhorn, but not my bugle. It was my third appearance at Aljoya, M.I. They have now seen/heard two of my six shows. This was the first time I’ve been able to play my new flugelhorn in public. It was a Christmas gift from my wife. I used it for “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning,” “Alfie,” and “St. James Infirmary Blues.”
Meanwhile, just for the record, here are the 17 articles that I could have written and posted during the past 9-1/2 months, if this or that had or had not happened:
- 2 July – “I Stand for the Flag” performed at The Bellettini in Bellevue
- 17 June 2022 – “Where Were You, Back Then?” at Merrill Gardens at Renton Centre
- 4 July – “I Stand for the Flag” at Aljoya, Thornton Place in North Seattle
- 5 August – Attended 71st Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo in Edinburgh, Scotland (our fifth attendance)
- 30 September – Performed “Taps” for my high school classmate, Eddie Ray Hendrikson, USAF Veteran, at Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetery in Texas
- 1 October – Performed abbreviated show for my classmates at our high school reunion in Texas
- 2 November – Performed “Echo Taps” with Laurence Stusser, trumpeter, as the “echo” at the dedication ceremony for the Gold Star Families Memorial Monument in Lynnwood
- 9 November – “I Stand for the Flag” at The Bellettini
- 10 November – “I Stand for the Flag” at University House, Wallingford in Seattle
- 11 November – Entire ceremony at Veterans Park cancelled by the City of Lynnwood; no “Echo Taps”
- 12 November – One of my trumpet students played “I Ain’t Worried” at Lessons In Your Home’s Fall Recital in Phinney Ridge in Seattle
- 14 November – “I Stand for the Flag” at Fairwinds, Brighton Court in Lynnwood
- 2, 5, 16, 17, & 22 December – the five cancellations mentioned above
So far this year, I’ve been very cautious about committing to my usual busy schedule of performances. Right now, I’m booked for only 8 more performances. But now that “I’m Back in the Saddle Again,” I’m ready for more!
By Angel Johnson of Aljoya, Mercer Island:
By Greg Asimakopoulos:
Courtesy of Aljoya, Mercer Island:
Posted in Shows at Retirement Homes | Tagged: Aljoya Mercer Island, Aljoya Thornton Place, bugle, cornet, Echol Taps, Fairwinds Brighton Court, flugelhorn, I'm Back in the Saddle Again, La Conner Retirement Inn, lessons, Merrill Gardens at Renton Centre, pocket trumpet, retirement community, Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo, students, The Bellettini, trumpet, trumpet show, University House Wallingford | 6 Comments »
Flurry of Memorial Day of Performances in Lynnwood (twice), Seattle, Bellevue, and Redmond
Posted by glennled on July 5, 2022
Every year when public demand peaks for a bugler/trumpeter, I’m happy to hop-skip-and-jump all over the Greater Seattle area to perform. This year, as usual, there were lots of opportunities surrounding Memorial Day. I sounded bugle calls at two venues and presented my one-hour trumpet show, “I Stand for the Flag” at three different retirement communities in four different cities:
- 26 May – Edmonds Community College (ECC) in Lynnwood – my sixth appearance
- 27 May – Skyline Towers in Seattle – second appearance
- 28 May – The Bellettini in Bellevue – first appearance
- 30 May – Veterans Park, Lynnwood – tenth appearance
- 30 May – Fairwinds Redmond – second appearance
At the ceremony at ECC, dressed in my VFW uniform, I sounded two bugle calls: “To the Color” inside the Black Box Theatre and “Taps” outside near the Boots to Books and Beyond monument. Native American Peter Ali improvised solos on two of his flutes twice during the ceremony.
At Skyline Towers retirement community in downtown Seattle, I performed my one-hour trumpet show, “I Stand for the Flag,” again in uniform. It is a collection of about two dozen patriotic marches, songs, and bugle calls. I did the same show at The Bellettini in downtown Bellevue and at Fairwinds Redmond.
But before performing in the afternoon in Redmond on Memorial Day, I also sounded three bugle calls in the morning at Veterans Park in Lynnwood: “Assembly,” “Echo Taps,” and “To the Color.” Lukas Breen sounded the echo part in “Echo Taps.” He is an Electrician’s Mate 2nd Class on active duty in the U.S. Coast Guard, stationed in Everett. We both play Getzen bugles. Other musicians were a piper and drummer from the Northwest Junior Pipe Band, playing “Scotland the Brave,” “The Rowan Tree,” “Battle’s O’er,” “Amazing Grace,” and “Going Home.”
For more information about these venues, please go to these websites:
- https://www.edmonds.edu/veterans/
- https://www.skylineseattle.org/
- https://www.mbkseniorliving.com/senior-living/wa/bellevue/the-bellettini/
- https://www.lynnwoodwa.gov/Community/Play-Lynnwood/Parks-Trails-and-Open-Space/Veterans-Park
- https://www.leisurecare.com/our-communities/fairwinds-redmond/assisted-living/
Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
ECC by Arutyun Sargsyan
ECC by Me
Skyline Towers (two)
The Bellettini
Fairwinds Redmond
Posted in Ceremonies & Celebrations, Shows at Retirement Homes | Tagged: Assembly, bugle, echo taps, Fairwinds Redmond, flutes, marches, NW Junior Pipe Band, retirement community, Skyline Towers, solos, songs, The Bellettini, To the Color, trumpet | Leave a Comment »
My Trumpet Student Stars at Recital in Seattle by Lessons In Your Home
Posted by glennled on June 5, 2022
He had never performed a trumpet solo in front of an audience. He’s 13 and this fall will be an 8th grader at McClure Middle School on Queen Anne in Seattle. Weeks ago, he sorted through several possible songs and then made his choice–“The Wild Blue Yonder,” the official song of U.S. Air Force.
photo by Stephanie Owen
I was very pleased. It not only is a great, patriotic song, but also it presented some technical challenges for him. One is range. In the trumpet key of C (Concert Bb) near the end of the piece, the high Es are in the top of the range where he plays confidently. Then, there is the time signature–6/8, with its many triplets throughout. Next, there are several accidentals (all sharps). Finally, there is rhythm–one couplet. Through isolation and repetition, we worked out all the frustrating kinks, and he mastered them all. Despite the common butterflies all performers experience, he played confidently and expertly with a nice tone. Hooray!
He began lessons with me in March 2020, just as Covid-19 struck the USA and lockdowns forced students out of their school classrooms and online. As of the recital date, all our lessons had been on Zoom.com. I had never met him or his family in person until we introduced ourselves and sat together in the audience at The Royal Room in the Columbia district of south Seattle on 15 May. He made his mother, father, sister, and I proud. It was lovely. Success is sweet.
Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
Posted in Recitals | Tagged: accidentals, band, lessons, Lessons in Your Home, range, recital, rhythm, sharps, song, The Wild Blue Yonder, time signature, triplets, trumpet | Leave a Comment »
Armed Forces Day Draws Me to Merrill Gardens at the University in Seattle
Posted by glennled on June 1, 2022
Until this year, I’d never been asked to perform my one-hour trumpet show, “I Stand for the Flag,” on Armed Forces Day. But that changed when Mindy Milton, Active Living Program Director, booked me to return for the second time to Merrill Gardens at the University in Seattle on Saturday, 21 May 2022. (Please see my blog article of 15 August 2021.)
I played 24 patriotic marches, songs, and bugle calls on four instruments: my Getzen trumpet, Super Olds cornet, Getzen field trumpet (bugle), and Jupiter pocket trumpet. The repertoire includes “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” “Tattoo” (a bugle call), the official songs of all five branches, “The Liberty Bell” (a march by John Philip Sousa), “Over There,” and “You’re a Grand Old Flag.” The audience sang along and laughed at a few jokes.
How does Armed Forces Day differ from other military holidays and observance days? It celebrates all five branches of the military on the third Saturday of May, annually. The five branches are the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard. The first four are within the Department of Defense (DOD), created in 1947. The Coast Guard is within the Department of Homeland Security, created in 2002. The Space Development Agency is one of many agencies within the DOD.
Armed Forces Day was created on 31 August 1949 when Harry S. Truman was President. It was first celebrated on 20 May 1950—five years after WWII ended and one month before the beginning of the Korean War.
The longest, continuously-running, Armed Forces Day Parade in the USA is held in Bremerton, Washington. This year, Bremerton celebrated its 73rd Armed Forces Day Parade.
Major wars and conflicts in which the U.S. military participated:
- Revolutionary War
- Indian Wars of the 1790s
- War of 1812
- American Civil War
- Spanish-American War of 1898
- World War I
- World War II
- Korean War
- Vietnam War
- Gulf War
- Afghanistan
Numerical facts:
- About 800 military bases outside the U.S.
- About 1.2 million active-duty personnel in the U.S. military
- About 800,000 reserves
- About 18 million living veterans
- More than 81,600 POW/MIA personnel, mostly from WWII
Photos are courtesy of Merrill Gardens at the University. Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
Posted in Shows at Retirement Homes | Tagged: bugle, cornet, Getzen, marches, Merrill Gardens at the University, retirement community, songs, Super Olds, trumpet | Leave a Comment »
“In Retrospect” Trumpet Show at Merrill Gardens at Burien
Posted by glennled on March 15, 2022
It’s always nice to be invited back to perform one of my six trumpet shows for the residents of a retirement home. And so it was, on the 4th of March, that I drove to Merrill Gardens retirement community in Burien to present my show, “In Retrospect,” comprised of 25 hit songs from the residents’ era. Last July, I had performed “I Stand for the Flag” (25 patriotic marches, songs and bugle calls) there in my VFW uniform.
Here’s a sample of the popular songs in the “In Retrospect” repertoire:
- I Whistle a Happy Tune
- When I Fall in Love
- You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby
- Dream a Little Dream of Me
- I’ve Got the World on a String
- Money, Money, Money
- You Are My Sunshine
- When I’m 64
- What a Wonderful World
- God Bless America
I use three horns: my trumpet, cornet, and pocket trumpet and by inserting my Denis Wick 4 mouthpiece into the cornet, it sounds much like a flugelhorn. People sing along and I tell a few jokes.
Now that Covid restrictions are easing, I expect more bookings this spring and summer. For those still concerned about booking a wind instrumentalist, I can use bell covers to inhibit aerosols that might emanate as I play those great old tunes. Here is a link to the ProTec covers that I use: https://www.amazon.com/Instrument-Trumpet-Clarinet-Saxophone-A321/dp/B08HX9KFHS/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1PQCDZF934VOK&keywords=protec+trumpet+bell+cover&qid=1647288146&sprefix=Protec+trumpet+bell+covers%2Caps%2C117&sr=8-5.
For more information about Merrill Gardens at Burien, please see https://www.merrillgardens.com/senior-living/wa/burien/merrill-gardens-at-burien/ and my previous blog post dated 15 August 2021.
Posted in Shows at Retirement Homes | Tagged: bugel calls, cornet, Denis Wick, flugelhorn, horn, marches, Merrill Gardens at Burien, mouthpiece, pocket trumpet, retirement community, songs, trumpet | Leave a Comment »
“An Evening with Chris Botti”
Posted by glennled on March 14, 2022
He came here so I had to go–Chris Botti, Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley, Seattle, 11 January 2022, 7:30 p.m. At the entry, they checked my Covid vaccination and booster credentials, and I found my Table 160 (partially obstructed view), $106.50. Halfway into the show, they let me move to an empty table with a perfect view. Bought my favorite cocktail, a “Stinger on the Rocks,” and sipped it all night.
Great show! What Botti can do with his horn is amazing–the variety of sounds, the accuracy of intonation and articulation in all ranges, the styles of music! I never saw him change horns or mouthpieces. And I was impressed with how he sometimes stepped aside into the shadows and featured every member of his troupe, including his five guest performers. I did not recognize most pieces, but I did know “Someone to Watch Over Me,” “When I Fall in Love,” “You Don’t Know Lovin’,” “Blue in Green” (Miles Davis), “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “There Will Never Be Another You,” “Time to Say Goodbye,” and Puccini’s aria, “Nessun Dorma” from his opera, Turandot.
Botti’s quintet consists of trumpet, piano/keyboard, bass, guitar, and drums. His five guest performers were Lucia Micarelli, violinist; Sy Smith, female vocalist; Chad LB (Lefkowitz-Brown), tenor saxophonist; Jonathan Johnson, tenor vocalist; and Veronica Swift, female vocalist.
What a great treat it is to hear great performers! Do it.
Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
Posted in Professional Concerts | Tagged: Chad LB, Chris Botti, Dimitriou's Jazz Alley, horn, mouthpieces, Puccini, quintet, trumpet | Leave a Comment »
New Trumpet Student #56 from Newcastle Is Comeback Player After 42-Year Layoff
Posted by glennled on January 5, 2022
My trumpet student #56 is a 61-year old businessman who got his first trumpet when he was in third grade. His parents gave him a 1961 Conn Constellation. Over the years, he’s accumulated five more trumpets, but he quit playing as a junior in high school. Then, about a year and half ago, he started playing again in earnest when he picked up a 1947 Super Olds for $5.00 at an office rummage sale. It plays well, but his favorite is his 1971 Getzen Eterna Severinsen.
So, for 42 years, he hardly ever played except for the few months in 2003 when he joined the community band, Brass from the Past. They gave him a mellophone for the march in the Seafair Parade. They disbanded that same year, but not before he got to play a few other gigs, too. Besides that, he once played the “Star-Spangled Banner” at a Little League game. That’s all–in 42 years.
It was the Super Olds that got him going again. He thought he should not own such a good horn unless he could play it. So, he started practicing using the Rubank Method Intermediate exercise book. Then he moved on to the Rubank Method Advanced Vol. 1 and went from there to Saint-Jacome’s Grand Method.
That’s when he contacted me for lessons. We had our first one on 1 December 2021. Due to Covid, our lessons are online on Zoom. I found that I had a student who is serious, practices regularly, and is already competent enough to play in another community band. He says he would also enjoy playing in a Big Band dance band. But until he retires, he doesn’t have the time to make all the rehearsals and gigs. That’s when he’ll look around for a group. For now, he tells me he wants to increase his range and endurance. So, we’re doing lots of lip slurs, arpeggios, intervals, scales, and etudes in higher keys. We’re awakening his awareness of his embouchure, tongue, and lip aperture and buzz. I had him buy Earl Irons’ Twenty-Seven Groups of Exercises for Cornet and Trumpet, and he says he wants to master it.
But we musicians practice exercises so that we can play music for ourselves and an audience. He’s got good articulation, so I sent him a copy of “Chicken Reel.” It starts in the key of Bb and switches to Eb. That has him playing lots of 16th notes and takes him up to high Eb above the staff…a fun piece that works his chops and tongue.
Meanwhile, I invited him to sound “Echo Taps” with me at the Wreaths Across America ceremony at Evergreen-Washelli’s Veterans Memorial Park in north Seattle on 18 December (please see my blog post of 31 December). We sounded good together, and he said he was honored to perform at this 13th annual wreath-laying event.
His son, who lives in Portland, Oregon, has played sax and guitar in the past, but Dad recently bought him a Conn Coprion trumpet. Its bell is 100% copper and is seamless. Perhaps they’ll be able to perform duets someday.
His other three trumpets are an FA Reynolds (1944), Jupiter pocket trumpet, and Blessing Standard (1958), which he works on to teach himself how to repair brass horns. He likes vintage trumpets and classic American cars.
He’s doing all this because he enjoys it! Is there any better reason?
Posted in New Students - Intro Posts | Tagged: arpeggios, community band, Conn, Coprion, dance band, embouchure, etudes, Getzen Eterna Severinsen, intervals, Irons, lesson, lip slurs, melophone, scales, student, trumpet | Leave a Comment »
13th Annual Wreath-Laying Ceremony at Veterans Cemetery in North Seattle
Posted by glennled on December 31, 2021
The third Saturday of December was the 18th, and that could mean only one thing to a bugler—it was time for the annual Christmas wreath-laying ceremony, Wreaths Across America (WAA). Never mind that it was raining steadily. At 9 a.m., the President and Executive Director of the Veterans Memorial Wreath Foundation, Lorraine Zimmerman, announced over the loud speaker, “Bugler, sound ‘Assembly!'” And so I did for the 11th time. Then the Color Guard of the Navy ROTC program at the University of Washington presented the colors, and the crowd of about 200 patriots pledged allegiance to the flag. Chaplain Linda Haptonstall gave the invocation.
At about 9:15 came the main program segment, the Ceremonial Wreath Dedication. One by one, eight men placed and saluted small flags on eight wreaths in memory of and gratitude for those who have fallen in service to America. After the benediction, the Honor Guard of VFW Post 1040 of Lynnwood fired a three-volley rifle salute, immediately followed by “Echo Taps,” sounded by me and Laurence Stusser. He used his Olds trumpet, and I used my Getzen bugle. The colors were retired, and after the benediction by the Chaplin, this 13th annual ceremony concluded. Similar ceremonies were held at more than 3,100 locations nationwide on this day.
But the local event was not over—there was more to be done. The crowd voluntarily began laying 3,000 wreaths on the gravestones in the Veterans Memorial Park at Evergreen-Washelli Cemetery in north Seattle. VMWF has the ambitious goal of adorning all 5,000 veterans’ gravestones someday. To do that, more sponsors are needed. A donation of $15 sponsors one wreath; two, $30; five, $75 (most popular); ten, $150.
VMWF was founded not only to conduct this ceremony and lay these wreaths but also to teach coming generations about the cost and value of our freedom. VMWF plans to provide educational scholarships soon to military dependents and ROTC students. For more information, please see http://www.vmwf.org.
The WAA was officially formed in 2007 but originated in 1992 at Arlington National Cemetery. Its mission is to remember, honor and teach. Read more at http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org and at http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/pages/19064/Overview/relatedld=17280. Also, use the Search box in the upper right column of this blog to find 8 articles with photos about past ceremonies here. Simply enter the word “wreath.”
Photos are courtesy of Phil Onishi, https://philonishiphotography.smugmug.com/Veterans-Memorial-Wreath-Foundation-Dec-18-2021/n-tVDwMv. Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
Overview, Ceremony and Wreath Laying
VFW Post 1040 Honor Guard
U.W. NROTC Color Guard
Veterans, Participants, Volunteers, Attendees, and Scenes
Posted in Ceremonies & Celebrations | Tagged: Assembly, bugle, bugler, echo taps, Getzen, Olds | Leave a Comment »
Glenn's Trumpet Notes 