Summer Revelry Accompanied by Trombones

The trombone, instrument of military marches and patriotic small town parades, seems like an odd companion for a Cambridge summer night.

But the instrument was strangely appropriate on Wednesday evening in a casual concert in the Charles Square Courtyard, a pleasant brick area behind the Charles Hotel.

A chorus of eight trombonists, a loosely organized group called the Gazebones, played for a relaxed and slightly bemused audience of about 50 people from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The performance was the second in a Wednesday concert series that continues until September 2.

Spectators sat casually, sipping wine, making small talk and snacking as the program wandered slowly from Hayden to Handel to Falcone.

The music was "surprisingly gentle for brass" in the words of one of the concert-goers, Tim Bushnell, a June graduate of the John F. Kennedy School of Government who was quietly reading a textbook in the courtyard.

Boston resident LeRoy Jones, who lounged at one of the white lattice tables in a purple Bucks jersey, captured the mood of the evening when he said that the "music sort of felt like it was coming out of the clouds."

A well-dressed man studied Italian and ate marinated mushrooms, glancing up at the ensemble occasionally, while an Arlington woman lazily read the newspaper.

The Gazebones seemed to thrive on the atmosphere. Their director, Matthew McGarrell, described the weather and the surrounding as "perfect" for the ensemble.

McGarrell, who describes himself as a "teacher," insists that the group is an informal bunch of friends that "gets together on Friday nights to drink beer and play trombones."

But the modest McGarrell, who the other trombonists revealed as the Director of Bands at Brown University, understates the seriousness of the group's music.

There were some casual pieces, like Sousa's "Washington Post March" but the mainstays of the program were selections from Handel, Bach and Schubert.

And although the group contains several amateurs, a few of the trombonists have professional musical training. Joel Gates, one of the tenor trombonists, plays for the Rhode Island Philharmonic.

This notwithstanding, the program was hardly highbrow. Dishes clattered in the background, buses drove by on Bennett St., and a hum of chatter from passers by limited any serious attempt to appreciate the music.

In fact, there was a whimsical air to the whole event that began with the sheer oddity of a concert by a trombone chorus.

The seven men in the group added to the atmosphere with their amusingly uniform dress: blue pants, white button-down shirts and caps purchased before the event at Henrietta's Table.

The sole deviations were the red suspenders worn by Jim Battell, a Navy veteran who owns a music store, and an embossed pig on McGarrell's cap.

The concert began to mellow out after a brief intermission. By the time the group reached "Trombumba," their signature piece, the crowd had dwindled, as the lazy evening turned into night.

The players bowed and took off their hats--a gesture which, in a suitably amusing finale to the evening, revealed several balding heads.