Very cool Eddie. A C note? Definitely a no brainer.

A somewhat related story is about a sax player friend who's 69 and lives in a retirement community. A few years ago a nice lady in her 80's gave him her late husbands horn. He had died maybe 20 years ago. She said he was a big band player during the war. He called me and told me it's an Olds trombone and when I ran the serial number it came up as being from 1941-42. When I visited him he brought it out and while the case is a beat up old road warrier the horn inside is absolutely perfect. Not a scratch or dent anywhere and it has a very nice engraved chrome lip around the bell. In the case is a rag, a small half full bottle of oil, a second mouthpiece and a faded old picture of the Whiteman band. It's like he came home from a gig, put it in the closet ready for the next call and it hasn't moved since.

Before she died Gary tried to ask her more about him but all she knew was he traveled a lot during the 40's and 50's and she couldn't confirm if he played for Whiteman or not. What stories that horn could tell, eh? Just like yours. A King from the 60's? Who knows what the backstory is with that one.

Another friend of Gary's who plays both keys and trombone came over and he showed it to him and he about flipped out handling it. Said it was in amazing condition and it plays perfectly. He wants to buy it but Gary is the type to not sell anything, that's probably why the lady gave it to him in the first place.

Bob

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