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By Ted Dunlap, on November 15th, 2022 
I was surprised to listen recently and realize how deep this song went. I missed the point when it came out, but at 14 years old was pretty shallow myself. Many years later I saw the tract homes covering the hillside south of San Francisco, was immediately reminded of, and began singing the song to myself. I didn’t realize then it was that very scene inspired the song, but it sure did fit. I embedded the audio track below – essentially the You Tube version without the tracking and advertising. https://www.bitterrootbugle.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Little-Boxes-by-Pete-Seeger.webm Wikipedia covers the history of it nicely. I excerpt here. Over there you can read a university professor claiming that the conformity Malvina and Pete were against is actually […]
By Ted Dunlap, on June 23rd, 2022 
Looking around my websites and disk storage archives I realized that I did not document my restoration of a very desirable old trombone that I ‘got for a song’ because it was screamingly ugly, non-functional, and in need of quite a lot of work. I am rectifying the lack of documentation today. Nine years ago I got to hankering for a particular vintage jazz horn from Conn instrument company’s heyday, the apex of their evolution in Elkhart, Indiana when the craftsmen, culture, design and materials came together to make some of the finest brass instruments EVER. In 1970 Conn company was sold and in 1971 brass instrument production moved to Abilene, Texas, walking away from the craftsmen and their […]
By Ted Dunlap, on June 3rd, 2022 
I once was a bugler for the United States Air Force. The government paid me $98 a month plus cheesy room and board, officially making me a professional musician. It is a bit of a convoluted story, but here we go: When I turned 19 years old, all healthy males my age who were not politically connected or fully engaged in college were whisked off into the army or marines to tramp around in a far away jungle and shoot at or be shot by complete strangers. None of that appealed to me so I enlisted in the air force. In basic training we took a written test intended to gauge our trainability for various job assignments. I tested […]
By Ted Dunlap, on November 5th, 2021 
I am reviewing a large collection of music that includes Billboard magazine’s Top USA Hits 1946-2006. Leaning back in my chair listening to The Who performing their 1971 hit “Won’t Get Fooled Again” suddenly struck me as amazingly prophetic. This is happening to me quite a bit as I listen to classics from that era. Fascinating. Here we are 50 years later with The World Health Organization at war against humanity. Yeah, The W.H.O. Now we are finally beginning to understand that all wars are bankers’ wars. They win every single one. While we lose the exact same number, though rarely recognizing it. Those freaky hippy performers knew, and tried to explain so much to me that went right […]
By Ted Dunlap, on June 29th, 2021 
I have enjoyed playing trombone in The Bitterroot Community Band every summer since June of 2013. It is glorious to make music together with a large ensemble. Better still our shared enjoyment makes for good friendships. Sadly, fear of the psy-op shut down the entire 2020 season. This year the volunteers who organize and operate the band appended this to the schedule of practices and concerts they sent to bandsmen. from Bitterroot Band: Covid- 19 Information According to current CDC guidelines, anyone that is vaccinated is no longer required to wear a mask in public. If you would like a mask or bell cover for rehearsals / performances, please let us know. If you are feeling ill, or were […]
By Ted Dunlap, on April 12th, 2021 
I responded to a friend’s e-mail inquiry about my thoughts comparing the features of my upright bass, my acoustic bass guitar and electric basses. I am sharing an enhanced version of my reply here. I have played trombone since I was 10 years old, mostly because of my appreciation for swing, blues, jazz, big band, and concert band music. That is, creating the music more than simply listening to it, though I do plenty of both. Since it is so rare to find trombone opportunities in these woods, I decided to take up the bass. My first attempt was an electric bass with practice amp. Nope. The sound, the feel, the gaggle of gear, cables, electrical requirements all conspired […]
By Ted Dunlap, on September 13th, 2020 
A trombone great I never heard of does amazing imitations of many I have heard of in a light-hearted stand-up routine. She is enough of a student to understand and appreciate their various styles and a great enough musician to reproduce them one after another.
By Ted Dunlap, on July 5th, 2020 
Since moving to The Bitterroot, groups with room for my trombone playing are hard to come by. My fall-back option is my computer and studio speakers running Music Minus One recordings while I pretend to have a real band or small combo to play along with. I used my new-to-me-then Canon camera to record two representative samples of my main Bitterroot trombone gigs. The miniature internal microphone certainly does precious little to capture any sound quality that might exist were we listening live. The artsy photographic effects were fortuitous accidents. I did not know I had turned them on (or how), but am happy with the result. Most summers find me playing a bit part in our community band… that […]
By Ted Dunlap, on April 25th, 2020 
Mozart Piano Concerto No 3 in D major is a lovely piece, but to watch a 5-year-old smoke it out on a grand piano is an amazing treat. While 20 adult musicians read and play their parts off sheet music, the diminutive Russian holds it all in his head. More amazing is the power this little guy puts into the keyboard. His tone, articulation, rhythm, timing and feel are as good as any adult I can imagine playing this piece. And DO STAY for the encore. He is clearly enjoying this short piece. Observe the audience reaction. Were this in the USofA a handful of simpleton boys in man bodies would be dog whistling for minutes after this lovely, sensitive […]
By Ted Dunlap, on January 19th, 2018 Saturday evenings from now to June will mean playing in the band for me … and a dozen +/- fellow musicians. Everyone I talk with about this is ENTHUSIASTIC. The support from the Darby Schools and Adult Ed staff is phenominal. I was hopefully optimistic when I launched the idea. Now I am EXCITED. My dream gig, what I really want to do musically is play 3rd trombone in a blues, jazz, swing or big band. All that has been available to me in Montana is playing upright bass in a weekly bluegrass jam. This idea to use the marketing, support and facilities of the Darby Schools Adult Ed program to share with potential fellow blues musicians has taken on […]
By Ted Dunlap, on August 6th, 2017 The evening of August 3rd had an event that was BIG and BOLD on my calendar. The Montana Trombone Chorale came to the Hamilton Band Shell to perform for an enthusiastic, discerning audience. High on my list of musical dreams would be to play in such a group. Listening and watching them play is almost as good… and very much a delight. I apologize for the quality of my videos. I am using my much-loved Canon SX710 a bit beyond its capability for taking great still photos and making short video clips by recording these tunes. But you can certainly see and hear what these folks brought to our community. https://vimeo.com/228551006 https://vimeo.com/228551632 https://vimeo.com/228552512 https://vimeo.com/228553770 https://vimeo.com/228554770 Now if I can just […]
By Ted Dunlap, on June 2nd, 2017 After four years of wishing I could find, and looking for someone to play trombone with, I began growing my own trombone trio. I found a couple of lads interested in learning, gave them each a trombone and began giving lessons near weekly. As with nearly everything else I do, I am underqualified, but the best I can find who will actually get the job done. In this case, both are in homeschooled families, so I am The Music Department of their school. I bought other instruments, and gave a few lessons, but the trombonists are the only ones who have stuck with it, now going on five months. We recently got into the more enjoyable phase where we can […]
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