Sunday, November 12, 2023
My father, who was a half-generation older than Don, was also a trombonist who had once played under Sousa. He loved military brass band music and had recorded many bands playing many marches on reel-to-reel audiotape. Moreover, he meticulously catalogued his collection. Thirty years ago, when his health began to fail, he lamented that his tapes would most likely end up on the curb for the trash collector. I mentioned the collection to Don, and he made arrangements to collect the tapes, then personally delivered them to the American Bandmasters archives at the University of Maryland.
During this process, my dad talked to Don about an obscure march with a title change when the Colonel it honored was promoted to Major General. Some months later, Don asked me to invite my dad to have lunch with him and attend a wind ensemble rehearsal. By that point, my dad's health had declined to the point where he did not feel he could attend. What we did not know, was that Don had found the obscure march and planned to play it with the wind ensemble for my dad. They did play it as a concert encore, and Don gave me the recording to play for my dad. That was a significant delight during his last two months of life.
My dad was a brass band traditionalist and wasn't afraid to express his opinions about some of the newer repertoire played by the wind ensemble. For his part, Don didn't think the obscure piece my dad favored was a very good march. Nevertheless, Don graciously gave my dad a most wonderful gift. The only thing greater than Don's talent was the size of his heart.
