Jay Cummings

Old buddy Jay Cummings, who played with Lionel Hampton, the Glenn Miller band when I was on it 30+ years ago, Woody Herman, and Stan Kenton, has been working for Norwegian Cruise Lines for quite a while now. He was on the Norwegian Gem with Kevin (below) and took the time to join us for lunch in the Canaries last year, when they pulled into the next parking space to the QE2. Jay offered plenty of amusing anecdotes for QE2 drummers Jim Panalver and Trevor Newby.

Kevin Hayunga, Sian Williams, and Trevor Newby Last Year in the Canaries

In happier times, Kevin (Yogaboy) met us for lunch. He was playing on Norwegian Gem, which was parked in the same place as QE2. Joining us were the two Welch persons, Sian Williams and Trevor Newby, author of the email cited below.

An Email from Trevor

As you may know, I spent a good part of last year and this as a crew member on the venerable QE2, on its last World Cruise and several forays into the Med and the Caribbean. Unlike some of my fellow bandsmen, I had no interest in returning. If I go back to ships it’ll be Princess Cruises for me, where I’ve always felt well-treated.

But, I have to say that I enjoyed the company of several fine musicians, among them Trevor Newby and Stevie Studd (not his real surname--shown above eating Filipino Fish Soup), who have between them measured their time aboard QE2 in decades.

I’ve been watching the webcam from the bridge of the QE2 on its last voyage to the port of Dubai, which you can find on Google Earth. After the ship had passed over into Dubai hands, I wrote Trevor an email asking him how the voyage went and what he was going to do in the future. Here is his reply, unedited:
========================================

Hi Rich'

Great to hear from you.I am home in the UK now,we arrived in Dubai on the  evening of November 26th,and no one was allowed ashore that evening,not even passengers.and that was down to the 'Port Of Dubai'.All crews last days work was pretty much the 26th,and pasengers flew home on the 27th,as did many crew,as they staggered the flights home,some crew also went on the 28th,I was one of the ones who flew home 03:10am (local time),arriving in London Heathrow yesterday morning at 7am GMT.
 
Well what can I say,for a Final cruise it was pretty discusting the way the 'ol girl was treated,there was of course no intention of having any BIG NAMED ENTERTAINER on for the last cruise,however they air head CEO,Carol Marlow,was on-board for the last we of the trip,and of course quite a few Passengers decended on here,in discust,and quite rightly so,after paying 3 TIMES than the standard brochure price for a cruise of the same length!!...So,with that in mind,they....the chain of Contempt,panicked,and we got Des O'Connor out for the night of the 26th...whoop di doo.....All I can say is they must've paid him a shed load of money to come out at a moments notice.
 
Its quite strange at one moment the cruise really seemed to be dragging and everyone was just so  wired for going home,then before you knew it we were on the Plane,it was like the last 48hrs flew by.
Stevie Studd was better than I expected,I mean the guy has spent almost half his life on there!!...So,I guess thats it,I have been offered the Queen Victoria,January 10th,join in New York,at least I get Christmas at home....Hey,great to hear from you Richard,you take care,and please keep in touch,wishing you and your family a WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR.
 
 
                               Kindest Regards......Trevor

Another weekend whizzes by

This is the last couple of days I can watch the QE2’s bridge camera as she makes her final trip to Dubai. So sue me. It hasn’t been an easy week for my health either, but I choose not to belabor the point. The most irritating thing is that my sleep schedule has gone out of whack. I find myself excreted from the tube of sleep at odd hours, unable to resume sleeping and not really any good for work, either.

The only thing I did this last week that amounted to anything seemed to be when I was volunteered to take over the planning for the cruisecritic.com meet & greet for our cruise in January. In the process I discovered a relational database that runs on my iPod Touch. It’s fully featured, with a bunch of templates, and it cost me under $10. Incredible. I’ve been using Bento to put the book in order. (No, there were no missing parts, after 27 years.) But I might migrate the databases for both ORB and the big band to the iPod Touch so I can bring the database to the gig in my pocket.

Here’s a link to the product, HanDBase. So far I am very impressed.

The Long Drive

I can’t believe I haven’t been in Los Angeles in all these many years. I did get off QE2 there, but then I went straight to the airport in the company of family and friends, and the “family” part of that trip has since moved to Granberry, Texas.
Time was I was racking up a free round trip on Southwest Airlines every three months or so. Then I moved to Austin 11 years ago and curtailed a lot of that traveling.
It’s the “friend” part of things that day under the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro was Steve Johnson, who’s helping me branch out into the territory band model, the trombone player on the long-ago demo and the trombone player in the picture of the band in Santa Monica right before we opened at the Los Angeles Playboy Club.
From left to right in the picture: Tim Emmons, Phil Aaron, Tom Scott, Bob Ontiveros, Steve Johnson, Neil Finn, Mike Nelson, Charlie Oreña, Clint Neagley, and me.
I am thinking of driving out to Los Angeles with the book and the horns, if Steve can get something started out there. I can pick it up and close the deal. I just might be able to stay awake long enough to make it to El Paso from here, then the rest of the way the next day.

Toying with an Idea

My dad--topmost picture--wrote the charts for this album, recorded in the early 1960's by a high school stage band from Kentucky.


I heard from one studio today, with the requirements: piano, space, mics. The guy wants a grand for the day.
I have half a mind to do the recording in Los Angeles, with the cats I used to play with wherever possible.
So, as much as I like the studios here, I might have to go back “home” to southern California. I called Steve Johnson and he thinks he’s got a place. Stay tuned.
Writing a chart of “Yours” for the next gig, which is in Edinburg, which might as well be in Mexico it’s so far south.

Looking for a Balance

I need for several things to line up in my little universe for this project to gain enough traction to come close to completion.

First I need the material, that is to say enough vocal charts to get it moving. Then I need the folks to play the charts. Both of these things I’ve done to the point where I can put a little checkmark next to the items they represent on my iPod Touch.

Then I need an engineer who understands how very different this kind of recording is from the “normal” three-piece power pop combo, a room big enough to accommodate us all at once, and a piano, a real, live piano of the non-electric sort.

These are the three items that I’m stuck on right now. All bets are off if I can’t find these three things. I know a lot of guys who take this recording business very seriously here in Austin. In order to track this band I just wonder what it’ll cost me to have all three of these things at once.