Vibraphonist Bobby Naughton toured and recorded with trumpeter Leo Smith for many years throughout the 1970′s and 80′s. Below is an article he wrote about the perils of traveling internationally with a Musser M55 vibraphone in large unwieldy cases.
Check out ‘Effx’, a duet with Leo Smith on trumpet and Bobby Naughton on vibraphone. Available as an MP3 download.

TRACK	LISTEN	PRICE	PURCHASE
Effx (5:51)		$0.99

Today the idea of travelling around Europe by train while toting a full size professional vibraphone seems ridiculous, crazy, even masochistic. Too many things can go wrong. With every change of train or location one can be charged for oversize baggage, or any other arbitrary surcharge. But twenty years ago we did exactly that, a concert tour by rail with large, conspicuous vibraphone cases. The group, Leo Smith and New Dalta Ahkri, consisted of Leo Smith on trumpet, Dwight Andrews on reeds, Wes Brown on bass and myself on vibraphone. We faced fines imposed by train conductors, police arrest threats if we qustioned the fines, and taxis that disappeared when the cabbies spotted our baggage. So, after a rail tour of Italy, home was in sight as we approached the Alitalia ticket counter at Milan airport. We had no problem with extra baggage fees on our flight from New York, so there was no reason to expect any problem on our return.

We presented our tickets and papers to the to the airline check-in representitive, who was friendly and courteous as we passed our bags to her. Then she spied the vibraphone cases. “You have over-size baggage”, she said, “and it will cost extra”. We resigned ourselves to the surcharge and quickly pooled our remaining Italian liras to cover it. The clerk continued. “That will be two hundred and twenty-five dollars”. I winced at that one. Where did that price come from? And did I hear it correctly? They wanted US dollars, not Italian liras. And we were in Italy! It was the final hurdle on a long journey, so Leo reluctantly paid with five fifty dollar bills. The clerk then counted out the twenty-five dollars change in liras. It was the final blow, the knockout punch for us. Alitalia had demanded payment in US dollars, yet gave change in Italian currency!

“I don’t want your f–kin’ liras,” said Leo, obviously incensed. He tore the liras in shreds and threw them on the counter. The clerk’s jaw dropped. She was speechless. I laughed. It just squeaked out but it was fuel on the fire.

“Uh, oh,” I said, “Let’s leave.” We quickly exited toward the gate, our collective blood pressure through the roof. In less than a minute we were surrounded by half a dozen soldiers pointing automatic weapons at us. Our hands were to the sky as we were herded to a small interrogation area. The soldiers said nothing, but stayed at the door with their weapons ready. Clearly we were being detained and were about to miss our flight. It was a serious and scary scene. I wondered what it was all about. Were we under arrest? It was a dreadful conclusion to a successful tour.

After an interminable wait, during which we speculated on all sorts of doomsday outcomes to this drama, a soldier entered and looked us over. He pointed to Leo and said, “You have commited a very serious crime. You see, in New York you may tear up liras. In Milan you may tear up dollars.” He paused, cleared his throat, and hollared, “But you may not tear up liras in Milan. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” We nodded in agreement. He turned and left the room.

The soldiers directed us onto a military bus which raced onto the tarmac to a distant target. We were escorted up the stair ramp to the four empty seats on the Alitalia 747 bound for JFK. What did the delayed passengers think? I didn’t ask.

copyright 2010 BobbyNaughton