I need to figure out why the flash didn't come on; That's happened a couple of times with my phone. There's not a lot of light in that large room, and he was in a 'dark' corner. Having the bookshelf light on probably helped confuse the camera and made things worse.
I snapped the shot between numbers, so I literally had a few seconds to get up from the front row, squeeze into the second row, snap the pic, get back to my seat and start playing the next number. I knew if I waited until the break or the end of practice, he'd be dis-assembling his gear, and I'd miss the Kodak moment.
My "trombone and baton" comment, although accurate, was in jest and somewhat tongue-in-cheek. I don't know if he has a bad back, or if he previously played upright bass. I'll ask next time I see him.
FWIW here's Jim playing trombone with the Summerset Big Band he directs. This was cropped from the original picture taken (by a non-photographic friend) from the balcony level at a theater, with the house lights down and without a flash. I adjusted the lighting in PSE, which probably made the image worse. He cleans up well
I see other talented musicians in the picture; The guy playing drums (Mike Spellman) is a member of the Summerset Singers choral group, and also has his own
Sinatra show.