"Adrian Drover Day" at Bones West

Adrian Drover visited his trombonist and other friends at a BonesWest rehearsal Mar. 27, 1999. More than 40 trombonists were present along with about 25 fans in the audience.

Adrian and Louise Drover, and their son, Kenton, were accompanied by their California hosts, John  and Beverly Leys.

The day's highlights included George Roberts performing Adrian's chart on "Mr. Nice Guy," written for and dedicated to Roberts.

Adrian led the ensemble in the reading of four of his latest arrangements: "Mood Indigo," "Chelsea Bridge," "MacArthur Park," and "Air on a G String." Helping on the solos were Greg Solomon and Len Wicks, BonesWest regulars.

Among those present for the occasion were George Roberts, Bobby Byrne, Lloyd Ulyate, Harry Betts, John Leys,  Billy Robinson (San Francisco Bay Bones), Matt Litwaitis (San Diego Bay Bones), Bob Knapp (SF Bay Bones), Mike Suter (Slidewerke), Robb Dalton (a BW fan from Scottsdale, AZ), Bruce and Susan Sumner, and "Howdy" and Mary Jane Milller (long-time BW fans).

Billy Robinson conducted the choir during the first set on the Song from the Flor Peeters Suite. The second set was devoted to Adrian's new charts (after warming up on "Rainy Day" [George Roberts on the solo] and "Insensitive" [John Leys, soloist]), and the third set included Adrian's charts on "Lover" (Bob Olson and Greg Solomon sharing the jazz), "Mr. Nice Guy," and several charts from the BW resident arrangers, Frank Cheever, Dave Borkenhagen, and John Campanella. (John Leys did a super job on  the solo part of   Campanella's transcription of "Saturday Night.")