TromboneChat

Sometimes (like just moments ago on the public transport) I see people with trombones on their backs, and I feel I should take contact but at the same time it seems awkward so I usually don’t.
Yet when occasionally I do it’s always very pleasant. Trombone players are usually great persons and highly sociable creatures!
What do you do in these situations; reach out or not?

I was in Seattle a few weeks ago, and a random guy stopped me to ask if I could be in his band! I ended up giving him contact info for some locals I happened to know.

To be honest, most of the time I'm walking around, I'm the one with a horn (half the time it's just so I'm not leaving it in the car).

I was at O'Hare in Chicago, waiting for the shuttle to my rental car, and a guy was next to me with a Cronkite gig bag. My tenor and alto were in a Cronkite double bag, inside a golf case. We struck up a conversation, and it turns out it was John Engelkis from the San Francisco Symphony. We had a nice talk (the rental car shuttles are SLOW there). Turns out the SF section was in to do a masterclass at Northwestern, and I was on my way to Wisconsin to the Edwards shop for some work on my horns and to try some new stuff. We didn't really know each other, but our paths had crossed briefly many years ago, and we had a few people that we both knew. It was a nice "small world" surprise on a busy travel day.

I would say that it is worth saying hello to someone with a trombone case, but realize that they might be in a hurry to get somewhere, and might not be into striking up a conversation every time you do this. Trombonists are usually a friendly brunch.

Jim Scott