Have Bassoon, Will Travel:

Memoir of an Adventurous Life in Music

by George Zukerman

$24.95

• • June 2024
  • print ISBN: 978-1553807131
  • 6″ x 9″ Trade paper, 300 pages
  • Nonfiction, Memoir

Through humorous anecdotes and compelling stories, trail-blazing George Zukerman recounts his life in music as concert bassoonist and impresario.

In these audio clips you can hear George narrate humorous excerpts from the book based on his extensive touring experiences:

“The Sardine Concerto” (USSR)

“Terceira Cheese” (Europe)

“Grand Banks Grand Opera” (Newfoundland)

“George Zukerman was a fine musician, an ebullient ambassador for the bassoon, and a persuasive, imaginative impresario. With personality to burn, he was, in the very best sense, a character. He lived a big life, eventful, ambitious, and full of travel. It was the sort of life that generates stories, more than a few, and it would have been a pity had they been forgotten. We’re lucky he set some of them down for us here, in his own confiding, humorous, inimitable voice.” — Bill Richardson, writer and broadcaster

“For touring musicians and eager audiences alike, these ‘On the Road’ stories from a masterful raconteur ring true and evoke the old maxim — the show must indeed go on . . . and on . . . and on . . . and on . . .” — Jon Washburn, C.M., founder and conductor emeritus, Vancouver Chamber Choir

“These memoirs reveal a fearless enthusiasm, boundless energy and endless intellectual curiosity, all in the service of his superb natural talent. His evangelical love for this strange instrument opened up a new world for three successive generations of Canadian bassoonists — we are his musical progeny. George’s passion for the integrity of the bassoon as a solo voice can find its expression in the DNA of the many musicians who were inspired by him.” — Christopher Millard, president, Council of Canadian Bassoonist

George Zukerman, known as both the Pablo Casals and the Eddie Van Halen of the bassoon, describes how his worldwide touring kindled audience awareness of this unusual instrument and freed the bassoon from penal servitude in the back ranks of the symphony orchestra.

As a touring musician, he chronicles relentlessly touring Canada: travelling by float plane, ski plane, freight boat, war canoe, snowmobile, and dogsled to remote communities; plugging coins into a roadside payphone to contact promoters and driving through prairie snowstorms to reach a venue on time.

As an impresario, Zukerman’s Overture Concerts, Remote Tours Canada inspired thousands of new listeners and musicians. His tales have been enjoyed on CBC radio, and this passionate memoir will give readers further pleasure and insight into an extraordinary life.