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BAND COMBINES COMEDY, CLASSICS

By Ron Jennings, Reprinted from the Sedalia Democrat, November 24, 1999

If he has to come home as a musical bullfighter, at least trombonist Gene Watts will be doing it in the right venue.

Although the Mathewson Exhibition Center has housed rodeos and bullriding spectacles, it has never hosted a bullfight. But that's all right, because neither will there be a bull at the Canadian Brass concert. Instead, tuba player Charles Daellenbach, decked out with horns and a tail, will charge across the stage toward Mr. Watts.

The Sedalia Symphony Orchestra, whose society is sponsoring an appearance by the internationally known brass quintet, usually performs in the Smith-Cotton High School Auditorium. But when it became known that one of its most famous alumni would be bringing the group he cofounded 29 years ago to his hometown, organizers decided to hold the concert in the Exhibition Center.

Mr. Watts' mock matador appearance is part of a capsulized comedic version of the opera "Carmen," Canadian Brass style. Trumpeter Jens Lindemann will don a black fright wig to portray Carmen and French horn player Christopher Cooper, with rose in hand, will portray hapless hero Don Jose.
This five-man group is probably the only ensemble in the world that could get away with desecrating Georges Bizet's landmark work in such fashion. And this is just the latest masterpiece the group has successfully satirized in nearly three decades of combining comedy and classical music.

Only its five members' superb musicianship has allowed them to step on so many hallowed toes with the black-and-white tennies that the tuxedoed five routinely wear on stage.
As co-founder of the group, Mr. Watts is one of the most recognizable figures in the realm of instrumental concert music. The ensemble performs 130 concerts a year and spends eight months on the road, from the People's Republic of China to Carnegie Hall. However, the closest it's ever come to Sedalia has been Columbia.

That time, a sizable contingent of Mr. Watts' local friends and followers made the trek to take in the concert. On Dec. 3, they will only have to travel to the State Fairgrounds.
There, they will experience a performance like no other. The key word here is "experience," because with this group, mere hearing is never enough; the Canadian Brass must also be seen to be fully appreciated.

The group's blend of comedy with classical music has made it the envy of Victor Borge. The Danish concert pianist, also known for using humor in his act, told Mr. Watts that he was jealous of the quintet "because audiences accepted us as serious musicians, even when we did comedy," Mr. Watts said. "He told us that every time he did something serious, they were just waiting for the other shoe to fall. In other words, they were always waiting for the joke."

When Mr. Watts steps on stage, he will have come full circle in his musical life. He took his first euphonium lesson at Horace Mann Elementary School. By the time he got to Smith-Cotton, he had switched to the trombone.

In high school, he slipped out of his house at 1605 S. Carr Ave. and headed north, across the railroad tracks, where the pure jazz that he craved was played in jam sessions. He also frequented such places as Green Pastures, 212 E. Third St., and the building formerly known at the Maple Leaf Club.
In high school, Mr. Watts led a dance band comprised of Sedalians and airmen from Whiteman Air Force Base. After graduating, he continued doing this at the University of Missouri, where he earned a degree in music.

His Missouri Mudcats played enough dances at MU fraternity and sorority houses "to finance my post-graduate work," he said with a laugh. Mr. Watts earned his advanced degree at the New England Conservatory, and then played trombone in the San Antonio Symphony, the Milwaukee Symphony and the Toronto Symphony.

It was in Toronto that he decided to change course from being an anonymous member of a large group to a featured member of a five-man ensemble. "I missed being out front," he confessed. "Being a dance band leader for so long, I just missed it."

But it was no mere ego trip. Mr. Watts and Mr. Daellenbach both had something new in mind: They believed that, as a small group, they could do things to humanize the great composers and their works that an orchestra could not.
And so they have¤to the world's everlasting joy.

The concert is dedicated to the memory of Mr. Watts' mother, Nora, who taught piano for many years in Sedalia and was organist at the First Christian Church. His father, the Rev. J.W. Watts, was pastor of the old Broadway Christian Church and later tuned pianos.

FOR REFERENCE ONLY. NOT TO BE REPUBLISHED.