Home! Last Post!

Well, it's over. We had a great time. "Legendary", as my friend Leonhard Paul would say. We made so many great friends and reconnected with family. We couldn't have asked for more.

 MILO!!

 Handing over a signed copy of the new Mnozil Brass DVD to former student and true Mnozil fan, Ashley Drew.

 Lucas' first breakfast back at home.

 Lebenzeichen an unser Wiener Freunde!

 A walk on the Bangor Golf Course. A great winter spot!

Thanks for all the comments, online and in person and one last time, thanks for stopping by.

Gansch and Paul at Jazzland

Jazzland is the oldest jazz club in Vienna. It is located in a 500 year old cellar, below the oldest church in Vienna, the Ruprechtskirche. For the past three nights a remarkable show has been put on, featuring Thomas Gansch and Leonhard Paul of Mnozil Brass, but more importantly, jazz musicians of the first order. The program was retro-themed, Dixieland! However, Dixieland treated with respect, and most of all, fun. I can't think of a concert in which I smiled so much....

 The (very small) stage.

 Thomas, Leonhard and Florian Trübsbach

 The boys, throwing together a 3rd encore, singing "I Could Have Danced All Night (If I had the chops).."

My favorite trumpeter, bar none.

Schagerl Christmas Pary

One of the reasons we came to Austria in the first place for this sabbatical was due to the contacts I made in 2008 when I attended the Schagerl Brass Festival. Then I met Thomas Gansch of Mnozil Brass, among others. The fact that everyone was so nice made us feel that we could come here and build on those initial contacts. I can't imagine it having worked any better for us than it has. We have made some lasting friendships and had a great times. Example: the 2010 Schagerl Christmas Party.

The party is really a classic company party, given by the chief of the company, Karl Schagerl (There are actually two brothers, Karl and Robert, who are "Schagerl". Karl is the business head, Robert is the man in the shop, building their great instruments). The featured entertainment for the night was Thomas Gansch and Leonhard Paul, of Mnozil Brass, along with fabulous young saxophonist Florian Trübsbach, the great drummer Mario Gonzi, and some sidemen whose names I'm sorry I can't manage to remember. It was a great group. This weekend at Jazzland, Vienna's oldest jazz club, the group is doing a 3 night Dixieland presentation! Anyways, the night was great. We felt honored to be there. Here are some pics:

Quotes decorating the walls of the cellar where the event took place. 

Loosely translated: The wise with their bitter advice/make out hearts so heavy/if it wasn't for my old barkeep/I wouldn't live much longer...

Heine: The highest form of Happiness is a life with a certain level of of craziness.
Picasso: Art washes away the dust of everyday life from your soul.

 Leonhard Paul: the funniest guy in the world. Watch him at the end of the new Mnozil DVD, Magic Moments. An amazingly talented musician.

 Thomas Gansch: a sweet man, and one of the greatest trumpet players in the world, in my opinion.

 Florian and Thomas.

 Our host, Karl Schagerl.

 Lucas, digging the scene.

 Leonhard and his trusty plunger. He recently broke three fingers on his left hand, but didn't let that stop him.

 Mario Gonzi. One of the classiest drummers I have ever heard.

 Willi Brandstötter, the great tubist from Mnozil. Another sweet guy, and a real gentleman.

 Thomas on traps...

And a great time was had by all!

Snowy days in Vienna

It snowed a lot today and the day before. The city looks so different. Here's a little photo tour.

 Strauss' 'stache collects a lot of snow.

 Mozart Memorial in the Burggarten.

 Mozart Memorial with the Neue Burg in the background.

 Stephansdom in the evening snow.

 Schönlaterngasse (Pretty lantern street).

 A replica of the lantern.

 Ballgasse. Mozart died in a house just around the corner in the distance.

Franziskanerplatz. It's a pretty square.

Earlier in the day I went by the Karlskirche.

Finally, Brahms in the snow!

Beethoven, eternally peeved at the world.

J. Strauss

The Bruckner memorial.

Finally, Mahler's grave in the snow

Another shot.

Christmas Markets

The Advent season in Vienna is highlighted the the appearance of the Christkindl Markets. They spring up, in a very organized fashion (typically Austrian...) , in many of the sqares throughout the city. They can be huge or quaint, full of kitschty crap, or with unique handmade items. There is always food and drink: punsch, Glühwein, huge pretzels, baked goods, and meat.... Gotta love it.... Here are some pics of ones we have visited.

 Guttenbergplatz, in Spittelberg. Our favorite.

 Am Hof, in the 1st district.

 The Graben. Great lights.

 Peterskirche.

 Another shot of the Graben lights.

 The Rathaus Christkindl Market. It's the big Kahuna...

 A quiet sidestreet in Spittelberg. We took a stroll through here after our Thanksgiving dinner...

The Karlskirche market.