Not a war story as in horror, but related to Pat's.

One of my favorite gigs was being the staff trumpet player for the regional theater in Albany. A phenomenal summer job at age 21.

We had a variety of acts come through such as Jerry Vale, Mitzi Gaynor, Roger Williams etc. for weekly shows. Only the talent and a music director traveled, and each area's top players made up the rest of the band as they toured the country. One of my favorites was playing the Burlesque Show. A stripper in a glass bowl was the highlight of the show, and I blew a jazz solo throughout her 'dance'. She came down and told me she enjoyed 'dancing' to my playing more than any city they worked in. I wonder how many she told that to...

One day my future wife visited the show. She asked me if I knew what was going on up on the stage, and I said, "No, I'm too busy reading the music".

That excuse worked until she overheard another band member say, "Boy, did you ever memorize music so fast in your life!".

And perhaps someone should tell Eddie this story in his thread about reading music.

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