Have Bassoon, Will Travel
MEMOIR OF AN ADVENTUROUS LIFE IN MUSIC
Memoir, Music
- Price
- $24.95
Through humorous anecdotes and compelling stories, trail-blazing George Zukerman recounts his life in music as concert bassoonist and impresario.
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.
In these audio clips you can hear George narrate humorous excerpts from the book based on his extensive touring experiences:
Reviews
“Both wonderfully eye-opening and hugely entertaining. The humour, extravagant language, and vivid details make all the more impact because through them shines the author’s warmth and humility.” —BC Review, one of their top picks for 2024
“With personality to burn he was, in the very best sense, a character. He lived a big life, eventful, ambitious, full of travel. It was the sort of life that generates stories, more than a few, and 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
“George Zukerman’s memoirs reveal a fearless enthusiasm, bound-less energy and endless intellectual curiosity all in the service of his superb natural talent.” —Christopher Millard, president, Council of Canadian Bassoonists
“George Zukerman has been a Canadian institution since shortly after WWII. He's lugged his bassoon coast to coast, north to south, and in nations around the world. Returning to Vancouver, he launched his own community concerts, first locally, then around B.C., on to the prairies, Atlantic Canada, and eventually clear across the remote North. What unlikely tales his book has to share!” —Subterrain Magazine
Book Details
Pub Date: June 2024
Trade Paperback
272 pages
Print ISBN 9781553807131
E-book ISBN 9781553807148
6” x 9”
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