Sea Day/Trondheim

June 16th/17th
Sea day/Trondheim

The 16th was spent sailing back down the coast of Norway and out of the Arctic Ocean. There was a production show that night, so that was fun. Of all the production shows I’ve done, this has been by far the hardest of any of them. Not only the sax parts somewhat involved, but the doubles are terribly intense. The third tune is nothing short of a flute etude, complete with fast triplet rhythmic sections, trill passages, extremely high runs, solo lines, and yes, even a cadenza that I play totally alone. The joke has always been that you play about 60 notes in 2 seconds, or at least that’s how it was described to me, and it’s not too far off. Then the next tune is more clarinet intensive than anything I’ve ever played in public. Anything I’ve ever played in public on clarinet has been at about an 8th grade level, not even high school probably. This show is nothing short of professional Dixie Land intensity. For those of you who have talked to me about doubles (flute and clarinet) can remember me saying how much I love the flute and how much I despise my stupid clarinet. Well, let’s just say I had to make friends with it for this show. Between the chromatic lines, extreme ranges, wild arpeggios, harmonized soli lines, and two very exposed improvised solos, I had to not only make friends with the dreaded black tube, but actually figure out ways to play it. Well, I did it, or at least enough to get by. There were some lines that are just far and above my technical abilities, along with every other aspiring sax player I’ve ever known, so I’ll just continue to practice those in the hopes that one day I can actually play them respectably. But that was the day pretty much, stressing over this show that could easily lead to losing all respect musically with the band I’ve recently been establishing. And then after the show, I played ping pong.
Trondheim is now one more location to add to my list. After a rehearsal in the morning, I got off the ship with two friends, John and Jason (both new hires that joined with me a week ago). We didn’t do much more than simply walk the city. We came across some lovely bridges and canals, a gorgeous cathedral, and a few shopping areas. After a while we stopped at what seemed to be a café/bakery. For what I’m sure was close to $10, I bought an espresso and a baguette to share with my friends. We sat and ate and simply enjoyed spending some time off the ship. The bread wasn’t anything spectacular, and the espresso was unbelievably strong, but I figure I’m paying for the experience of chilling at a Norwegian café with my friends, and that’s what is important. We got back to the ship, I did some reading, and then it was time for the shows. The show tonight was actually a combining of the two orchestras (9 piece bands) and a string quartet, along with the four singers, a nice change from the usual production show and 9 piece sound-scape. And that was about it for the night. Now I’ll do some reading before going to bed and get ready for yet another day on the exciting Queen Victoria (maybe not that exciting...but it’s a good sales pitch anyways). Thanks!!