Why I will never fly Vueling airline again (and if you travel with an instrument should consider the same)

Yesterday, I travelled from Seville, Spain to Brussels, Belgium with Hamid Drake & Bindu Reggaeology. Our tickets were sold to us by Iberia Air, but the flight was operated by Vueling. When we boarded the plane in Seville, Jeb and I had no problems getting on with our trombones, but Hervé and Hamid were each carrying a guitar, and they were hassled greatly. Eventually they were allowed to bring the guitars on, but only after all of the other passengers were on, and the flight attendant determined that there was room for the guitars. Even that required some persistent negotiation. At the time, it entered my mind that the two dark skinned band members carrying instruments were hassled and the two light skinned ones were not, but there was no other evidence that it was anything other than guitar prejudice.

When we made our connection in Barcelona, it was a different story. As soon as I entered the plane, I saw the two guitars in the flight attendants area, and thought that we might be in for the same scene, but the flight attendant then told me that I must check my trombone, and said the same to Jeb, actually following him down the isle because he didn’t notice the trombone right away.

I explained that I have flown many times, and the trombone always fit, and that that very morning we had flown on the same airline in the same model aircraft, and it fit just fine, but he adamantly said that there was no other way but to check them with the luggage. We asked if they would gate check them, so that we got them back right at the plane door in Belgium, but he aid that was impossible because they must go through security in Belgium (which was a stupid excuse because the flight would be over at that point, and they had already gone through security). We soon realized that his sole intent seemed to be to exercise his power to see that we were not satisfied customers. Several flight attendants were involved in these conversations, but none of them seemed to have any interest in solving the problem in a reasonable fashion. They kept saying that they were not allowed to make exceptions. He then said that if we want to bring the horns on, we must purchase a seat for them. i said “great, how much are the seats,” and he said, “well, it is too late now to do that,” even tough that had been offered (by a different FA) as a option early in the guitar negotiations in Seville. I left my horn and sat down. Jeb continued to argue that he didn’t trust the latches on his case and asked for tape, which they didn’t have, but eventually the guy told Jeb that he would put his horn in a closet in the cockpit. Jeb asked about mine and he said, “No, it goes under.” So even though they weren’t allowed to make exceptions they did.

I tried to be nice and not become enraged or be a jerk, but that didn’t pay off. I got screwed because I was trying not to be rude to the people. Eventually Hervé left the plane (and caught a later flight on a different airline) because he would not allow them to check his guitars. That seems to have been the right call. My horn was checked, and when I got to it in baggage claim in Brussels, the bell was severely damaged. The case has a big roughed up scuff where it was dropped and that spot aligns perfectly with the damage that was done.

The claims office in the Brussels airport says there is no recourse because the case wasn’t damaged (the big scuff is normal wear and tear). I have insurance and we’ll see how that shakes out. A wonderful repairman, named Jos Briers, in Genk fixed my horn so that I can finish the tour, but that bell will never be the same.

I have never before encountered personnel in an allegedly customer service oriented position that showed so little interest in helping the customer find a viable solution to a difficulty. I have never dealt with another airline that had what seemed like an active vendetta against musical instruments.

The things I have learned from this:

1- If they make me check my horn, I will leave the flight. (Gate check is different) Getting to the gig with an unplayable instrument is the same as missing the gig.

2- The people in Belgium, specifically Taxi Peters Genk and Jos Briers, and great helpful wonderful people.

3- I will never again board a flight operated by Vueling.

Vueling code shares with Iberia and they are part of the OneWorld system along American Airlines. I would like to publicly ask AA to disassociate with these people. I know when I deal with AA that I am dealing with a real airline, when I deal with their partners, I would like to be able to know the same, and in the case of Vueling that is simply untrue.

good advice for self promoters

A Basic Question Answered :: offBeat :: Louisiana and New Orleans Online Music Resource:

“Why do some bands get attention and others don’t? One of the simplest things those who feel shunned can do is have a print quality photo (a jpg that’s 300 dpi and shot by at least a semi-pro) that can be easily found online.”

Alex Rawls (editor of offBeat) offers some good advice for musicians looking for press coverage.

Of course, I thought that they covered me because they liked the music, come to find out it was just because I had usable photos on my website. Oh well, any press is good press.

studio story

Stories: Sinatra, Herman and Manne – Rifftides:

“Interviewer:
Have you ever gone into the studio and had someone say, ‘I want you to sound like the guy who did the drums on … ?’

Shelly Manne:
I did a date with Jimmy Bowen, the song was ‘Fever.’ I had never worked with Jim, but I had made the original record of ‘Fever’ with Peggy Lee. It actually said on my part, ‘play like Shelly Manne.’ So I played it just like I played it originally. The producer stormed out of the control room, walked over to me and said ‘Can’t you read English? It says ‘play like Shelly Manne.’

When I told him I was Shelly Manne, he turned around and went back into the booth. I think he’s selling cars now.”

Energy Efficiency in the Arts | SOUNDSLOPE

Over at Soundslope, Dan Melnick has presented a thoughtful look at the intersection of the energy economy, and the creative music economy.

Energy Efficiency in the Arts | SOUNDSLOPE:

“An interesting feature of the career of any successful modern jazz or creative musician is the huge reliance on the European market for work. I don’t have any numbers to back up this claim but I know through conversations and anecdotal evidence that the ability to play in Europe regularly is an essential part of any musician’s career who attempts to play this music as a full time occupation.

How would our artists be effected if it was no longer practical for promoters in Europe to fly them over for gigs due to rising transportation costs? Or, even if they could continue to do so, if it cut into the artists’ bottom line, essentially coming out of their paycheck?”

I’m all for world travel in the name of music making (I’m heading to Europe in a week and a half myself), but as Dan alludes, it would be great if we could make good livings closer to home.

Creative Commons

Support CC

I use Creative Commons licenses on some of my work. It is part of my idea of being able to share some of my music and build relationships with other music lovers. They are a non-profit, which means, like your public radio station etc., that every once in a while they come asking for money to keep things running. Now is that time. They are pretty close to making their Dec 31 fundraising deadline. If you would like to help them out, or just find out more, click the button above.

Is it finally time for Jazz Fest to change its name?

Ok, people in other countries are starting to make fun of us for calling our big springtime music event Jazz Fest, and citing Pearl Jam as the big news headliner. I used to defend the name as tradition, and offer that they did in fact program some jazz. They do still program some jazz, and they’ll probably get a chunk of money out of me to go see Wayne Shorter’s Quartet, although I’d pay a much larger chunk to hear them in a place that isn’t a tent that is 200 yards away from an Allman Brothers concert.

I know it would take forever to get locals to call it anything else, but maybe the time has come for the New Orleans Music and Heritage Festival (presented by Shell, or Miller Lite, or whoever).

They Love Like Me

The online balloting is now open for the 2009 “Best of the Beat Awards” which are presented by offBeat Magazine. I have been nominated for Contemporary Jazz Performer and Trombonist of the Year, and Similar in the Opposite Way is nominated for Contemporary Jazz CD of the Year. It really is an honor to be nominated, but I also feel that I must tell you that you can vote here: http://www.offbeat.com/bob09/, should you feel so inclined. Let your ears and your conscience be your guide.

Ben Allison invites us to play along

Bassist, composer, and great musician Ben Allison has a new CD out. I haven’t heard it yet, but it is on my “to get” list. I have several of his older recordings and they are uniformly great.

He is taking one of the more interesting angles in web 2.x promotion, by inviting his audience to cover, remix, or make a video with his music. Watch his intro below, or hit the youtube page for more info.

Jazz: The Music of Unemployment: Doing what scares you

Jazz: The Music of Unemployment: Doing what scares you

While not a fan of the blog link me too thing, I am about to do just that. Click the above link and read what Durkin has to say about the “why” of what we do. It answered some questions that I have asked myself.

It’s a protest, really. A piece of performance art. An existential gesture of radical self-determination. The physical evocation of an alternate reality. A demonstration that even under the worst circumstances, it’s important to hold your ground.