Brotherhood, composed and arranged by the amazing Alan Gaumer
"My horn shrank!"
This was one of my favorite tunes to play.
This also was a very cool and funny skit, coming right after he performed a Chuck Mangione ballad. Bob Boyer, who always did an excellent job in the role of MC, would go into his schpiel. Al, who would grab a plastic trashcan, swabbie, and cleaning rod, proceeded to clean his horn on stage in front of the band. Bob would then ask Al what he's doing -- and Al would inform him that he's cleaning his horn. However, when he pulled the trumpet out of the trashcan, it would be a piccolo trumpet. The audience would always love it, and the kids present always were amazed. There are some great photos of their shocked looks of disbelief that are so funny. After testing the horn to see if it "worked", Al would immediately do the countdown (in 6) to Brotherhood.
His arrangement for our showband utilized various combinations of instruments and produced a colorful array of timbres. Then, feeding off the energetic latin groove of everyone playing percussion, he would improvise; I was always inspired by his playing, as well as fascinated by his knowledge (and personal collection) of world music styles.
