238: The Flugelhorn Episode
This week’s magic word: Flugelhorn is brought to you by Clareann DeSpain, Producing Manager of the Straz Theatre in Tampa, FL.
Unless you’re a horn player, your only reference to a Flugelhorn may be Rochester, NY’s own Chuck Mangione. He is one of the most well-known Flugelhorn players in the world of jazz/pop. His 1977 top hit, Feels So Good, brought him international success AND brought the Flugelhorn to the everyday radio airwaves. I remember him playing at my sister’s 1983 college commencement at University of Cincinnati, apparently because his wife was graduating from the school of design that day. I thought that was magical!
Best part of this?? He and I share a birthday! Way to go, fellow Sagittarian!
I’m also excited that Alison chose to go to the Weimar region of Germany for her 10K day this week! I loved living in Germany, but I’ve had an affinity for anything Weimar since my first love was our Weimaraner, Liebchen (German for sweetheart). She was the best girl ever! Just look at all that Germany regal goodness! “Ich bin eine kleine Weimaraner!”
#weimarslimersruleanddrool
Alison was so in love with the unsweet Starbucks Iced Green Tea with Lemonade that she’s gotten her husband to make their own batch in a big tub so she can enjoy the tasty and cost effective treat whenever she likes!
Lulu has discovered the wonders of “ice, ice, ice cold” unsweetened, organic applesauce as a tasty and healthy treat! She even ate it out of a martini glass the other night! Now, THAT’s 10K style!
Alison is always a fan of playing games but also WINNING! So, she wishes there were a game show where you could win big from being a great harmonizer! Perfect game idea for talented singer/musicians like her! And they could win even more money if she AND Lulu get to be on the show! Let’s add this to their long list of incredible inventions they need someone else to create.
Lulu typically travels with protein shakes and her recurring wish is that there were somewhere inside the powder tub where you could secure the scoop. It’s always a game of digging around for the scoop and that just makes a mess.
Most people immediately think of Chuck Mangione when they hear the word, Flugelhorn. And just in case you don’t have a best friend who was raised in Rochester & whose grandfather was best friends with Chuck’s father, you probably don’t realize you don’t pronounce the ‘e’ at the end of Mangione. (Man-jee-own) But, Lulu has fond memories of his most famous song, Feels So Good as it was often playing on the military base radio stations when regular programming was off.
Although Lulu has previously gone to Rochester in 10K Dollar Day Ep. 101- “I’m Dating your Baby Daddy”, she couldn’t pass up choosing new places to enjoy in Chuck’s arts-rich hometown. It’s home to many things like the Eastman School of Music, where Chuck graduated in 1963 and the Historic Mansion of George Eastman, a pioneer of popular photography and motion picture film and the founder of Eastman Kodak.
She stayed at an Airbnb that housed a grand piano. Breakfast was at James Brown’s Place Funky Griddle and to answer Alison and Lulu’s question, no…it’s not the ‘James Brown’ James Brown they were thinking. This is a ‘real James Brown’ all in his own right! He created a culinary staple in the Culver-Merchants neighborhood for 22 years and now he has officially retired, but they reserve his usual seat at the end of the counter just for him. Lulu decided to enjoy a MoFo burger which is described as follows: ‘hot dog, bacon, fried egg, peppers, onions, and our homemade meat hot sauce between two Texas toast grilled cheese sandwiches.’ Apparently, MoFo directly translates into English as “Tasty instant heart attack.”
Post breakfast was a visit to the Rochester Abandoned Subway. The former underground rapid transit system has become popular for photographers and adventurers, along with being home to a large portion of the city's homeless. The next stop was the Starry Nite Cafe where the menu is written in prose. And it looks like back to back meals is the way to roll in Rochester, so Lulu had a dinner of artichoke & farro salad, a ribeye, beer and mac & cheese at The Revelry. All of this eating left her enough room for a good cocktail hour with some good music!
For starters, Lulu had the grand piano from the Airbnb delivered to the Abandoned Subway for a cocktail party. She rented a flugelhorn from Music & Arts Rochester so she could take some lessons from Gary Melville with the hopes of learning how to play one good long note while the talented Rochester pianist, Katherine Edwardsen played chords around her note during her 2 hour set. Knowing she might be asking too much of herself to learn flugelhorn in a couple hours, Lulu bought a couple LED DMX Dance floors, that she had moved to the subway by Sheridan Brothers Moving & Storage. And since this was now much more of a rave than cocktail hour, she stocked up on some Bang Radical Skadattle Energy Drink and 10 pair of Doc Martens to help party the 10K night away!
In the 1830’s, the flugelhorn was invented in the Austrian Empire which, at that time, was also a part of the German Confederation, so Alison chose, Kapellendorf, Germany for her 10K city this week. If you want to know how to pronounce it, listen to this video. She stayed at the Marriott family Hotel Elephant in the Thomas Mann 1-Bedroom Executive Suite. In the morning, she was off to the nearby Wasserburg Cafe where she had simple breakfast choices of home-baked cakes, handmade ice creams, regional wines and more. I’ll tell you this…Germany knows how to do pastries and cakes! And wine, for that matter!
Now for the fun part of this 10K day! Alison decided she was going to host a Flugelhorn Band Day Camp at the Leonardo Hotel! And we all know how much Alison loves a good swag bag, so she went ‘all out’ and got Flugelhorn stands and since brass Flugelhorns are on the expensive side, she got 5 Plastic “Brass” Flugelhorns from Musicarts.com. I’ll just leave this info here as it’s super interesting! “Plastic “brass” instruments have been in the marketplace for a few years now, and the design refinements on the trumpets and trombones that manufacturers are taking what they’ve learned and applying it to more ambitious designs such as the plastic flugelhorn. Cool Winds is at the forefront of this design and manufacturing revolution. The Cool Winds flugelhorn features a simulated metallic finish with a bore of 0.456" plus a 6” diameter ABS bell and three all metal valves. Comes with mouthpiece and soft carrying bag.”
After playing some music improv games, she catered a meal from Erbenhof for her 5 band campers before taking them to nearby Wasserburg Kapellenhof, in the Weimar region of Germany, to experience their own kind of Indiana Jones adventure as they explored the medieval history of the local castles on the Hunters of Lost Traces Tour.
Alison is happy that the show she is directing is opening this weekend! If you find yourself in the Tampa area, get your tickets for Nunsense: A-Men! It’s sure to be a laugh riot!
Lulu is so happy she finally figured out the perfect way to fit her ‘in ear’ headphones into her ears! I get it…sometimes it can seem like rocket science to figure out how they work! But, if it were, all she’d have to do is ask her Dad! Happy Birthday, Mr. H!!
Check out this great book by Disney Creative Director and Rochester native, Tom Vazzana. It’s an hilarious and poignant story called Mike & Bec. There’s even a thrilling and hilarious story about a ‘scary’ night at Rochester’s Eastman Mansion! It’s just so outlandish you may even believe it to be true!
“Mike & Bec tells the captivating life story of Mike Pennello, as told through the eyes of Bec, a Soul whose only purpose is to accompany a person throughout their life, starting from his less-than-boring birth to his raucous theater days to his unexpected success as a director for a large amusement park company. Sitting in Mike's hospital room, Bec, beginning to untether from him, reflects back on all the other people he has inhabited, and why Mike was one of his favorites. Both hysterical and quietly poignant, Mike & Bec is a sincere tribute to all the small, beautiful moments that form the tapestry of a person's life.”
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