I love getting a compliment like this about an orchestra put together for a show. And it’s especially sweet when it comes from other musician folks. (But I’ll take this compliment any day of the week from anybody!).
Someone said this to me during a run of ANNIE, which just completed its run at a nearby community theater. The person then explained what he meant – the the band’s sound was cohesive, well balanced, and full of energy. . . . Actually, what he said was, “you guys sound tight!” But it means the same thing.
I have generally asked the same group of musicians to play for shows I do; and have done so for a number of years now. Some musicians have played with me going on some three years or so. And given that I’ve averaged three to four musicals per season/year, some musicians have played with me for almost 9, perhaps upwards of 10-12, shows. And there’s a real benefit to this.
We’ve come to understand each other – each other’s way of playing and particular idiosyncrasies (I suppose that’s redundant … aren’t idiosyncrasies in and of themselves ‘particular’? But I digress)
We’re listening to each other’s playing – really listening so that we can quickly pick up on tempo changes, and those slight variations that occur for each performance. It’s much as a teacher once cajoled, “You have to breathe together.”
In this way, being exclusive – and being so for a few years now – helps improve the quality of the sound. These are the same guys who played with me two years ago in “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,” who then played with me in “Hairspray” a year later, and who now finished “Annie” just recently. Each time we’ve gotten better, more cohesive, … in short … we sound hot!
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