Some time in 2009, Joan was put in charge of organising the 2010 International Women’s Brass Conference held at Humber College in Toronto. One morning, over coffee, she happened to ask me who I would invite tuba-wise. I immediately asked if there was a travel budget for someone not from North America, and when she said that there was, I blurted out; “Cazzbo!” before she finished her sentence.
I had/have been following Cazzbo (Carolyn Johns) for years courtesy of her website. Whenever I needed a good laugh, or be reminded why I love playing tuba, or just get blown away by her enormous talents, I would go there.
Jazz tubist extraordinaire. Almost 2 decades in the Australian Ballet & Opera Orchestra in Sydney. A gifted composer and arranger. Philosopher. Humorist. One third of the Kransky Sisters. Virtuoso jug player. Cat lover. Caricaturist, Piano tuner. The list goes on…
Anyway. Joan invited her and she accepted. So I got to meet (and jam with) one of my heroes! She was everything I expected — and more!
But don’t take my word for it. Go to her website and check out “sounds”. I highly recommend Bones, Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick and her fabulous Fanfare for the Sydney opera house brass section. And with the Kransky Sisters on YouTube (SpewTube as Cazzbo calls it) check out Stayin’ Alive.
However, her masterpiece may be the funky mash-up she did using her prodigious tuba skills and the audio from a documentary about coffee enemas — genius…