We shouldn’t let the 15th anniversary of The Trumpet Child go
unmarked. We’ll be pulling several songs from this one for our sets
at Nowhere Else Festival, Labor Day weekend. If you have a favorite
song or memory from this era, do tell!
A few more reflections:
15 years! We tried to acknowledge and engage the influence that the
American Songbook exerts on our writing with The Trumpet Child song
cycle. Karin and I moonlighted for a few years covering the Gershwin
Bros, Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart etc with just voice and piano,
in downtown Cincinnati at the Cincinnatian Hotel, as the band was
still getting off the ground. Back in those days, when the big
concerts came to town, typically the artists would stay at this
relatively small, exclusive property, with one of the very few
five-star restaurants in Ohio.
And despite whatever musical shortcomings we brought to the table as
two small town Ohio kids (recent college graduates) I was always
surprised to see how willing people were to gather around and listen
to those great songs and American songwriters that we were covering.
Billy Joel came over and chatted and said, I used to do this. We
ended up at his table in the restaurant, and he gave us tickets to
his show the next night.
Ray Charles, was escorted in one evening. I looked up on a different
occasion and there was a young Sinead O’Connor at the bar of the
Cricket Lounge listening with a cocktail in hand.
Dave Brubeck came over and talked to me as a peer, an act of
generosity that boggles the imagination. Asked me about the key I
had chosen for one of the tunes. He must have had perfect pitch
because he was intrigued by the unusual key we had chosen and it
immediately caught his ear.
The only rough spot was when a surly Brit came over to me one Sunday
afternoon and asked if I could quit playing the piano for godsake as
it was right below his room and he was trying to get some rest for
his show. I said, I don’t think I’m allowed to stop playing. He
said, Oh for fuck’s sake, why not?
I said, Hey wait, aren’t you Jethro Tull?
He replied, The name’s, Ian Anderson.
They moved him to another room.
I chuckled a few weeks ago when I saw Ian Anderson’s online playlist
for his BBC radio show. He had played an Over the Rhine song from
our most recent release, Leavin’ Days, a song Karin wrote.
The Trumpet Child took us out on the road for a few years. I saw the
tour shirt a while back, with the cities listed on the back in North
America, Europe and the UK, and couldn’t believe we had covered all
those miles.
Here’s the lyric of the title track.
The trumpet child will blow his horn
Will blast the sky till it’s reborn
With Gabriel’s power and Satchmo’s grace
He will surprise the human race
The trumpet he will use to blow
Is being fashioned out of fire
The mouthpiece is a glowing coal
The bell a burst of wild desire
The trumpet child will riff on love
Thelonious notes from up above
He’ll improvise a kingdom come
Accompanied by a different drum
The trumpet child will banquet here
Until the lost are truly found
A thousand days, a thousand years
Nobody knows for sure how long
The rich forget about their gold
The meek and mild are strangely bold
A lion lies beside a lamb
And licks a murderer’s outstretched hand
The trumpet child will lift a glass
His bride now leaning in at last
His final aim to fill with joy
The earth that man all but destroyed