Of Criminals, Musicians and Technicians

in jiahua's (do you think he minds if i don't use caps for his name?) post "trumpet update," he talked about how brass players steal for their own use music originally composed for other instruments...interestingly, mr lindberg (the real one, the "christian" one, neither oskar nor charles) had entitled two of his albums "the criminal trombone"...of course, they are albums containing tons of arrangements/transcriptions of songs and instrumental favorites...

the first: "the criminal trombone"...and the second: "los bandidos - the criminal trombone 2.5"...not sure how he got from 1 to 2.5...but ain't that cute??? and what cute pictures!!! and you don't need a spanish to tell you that "los bandidos" is probably spanish for "the bandits"...and in the plural form since there are two of them, lindberg and the pianist pontinen...

first off, mr christian lindberg is great because he is a really great guy...i mean he is famous but he has zero airs about him. how i know? because he had a nice photo with me when he was doing the motorbike concerto! and he signed many of my CDs happily (unlike barrenbum who was so damn rude). he's so friendly!

and of course, he is an amazing musician...he is trombonist...yes, the...i mean some ppl might dispute his status as the best, but he's the man who put the trombone on E.T.'s map! and he is an accomplished composer and conductor too (ok...maybe because he's so famous to begin with)...but in any case, his technique and tone on the bone are wonderful, though not necessarily unparalleled...but that's not the point...the essence of his greatness (at least to me) is his musicianship, his artistry, his sincerity - things that truly matter. and yes, jia hua, he has a voice, unlike so many other "professional" musicians...

musicians out there...are you listening (to lindberg)?

are we musicians or technicians?