{"id":16169,"date":"2020-04-24T12:12:05","date_gmt":"2020-04-24T16:12:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=16169"},"modified":"2020-04-24T12:17:46","modified_gmt":"2020-04-24T16:17:46","slug":"extraordinary-rendition-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2020\/04\/24\/extraordinary-rendition-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"For Social Distancing, He Turned Himself Into A One-Man Honk Band"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The music video begins with Nathaniel Hefferman, dressed in a Honk T-shirt, blowing the opening notes of Deee-Lite\u2019s \u201cGroove Is In The Heart\u201d on saxophone. Then a drummer in red and a couple horn players with red and white scarves join in. Soon the group adds musicians in black vests and polkadots and then a couple gentlemen in tuxedos playing bassoon until there are 10 of them.<\/p>\n<p>The gag is that they\u2019re all Nat Hefferman, who has turned himself into a one-man Honk band for this moment more than a month into the social distancing demanded to stem the spread of coronavirus. Stay-at-home guidelines have shut down most of the big brass bands and marching bands affiliated with Somerville\u2019s annual <a href=\"http:\/\/honkfest.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Honk Festival<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qtRoU3LipBQ\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In recent weeks, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/719755414749913\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HONK! Musicians and Dancers Facebook group<\/a> has included posts joking: \u201cPlease Practice Social Distancing: Keep 1 Fully Extended Trombone\u201d between you.<\/p>\n<p>Providence\u2019s Extraordinary Rendition Band, in which Hefferman plays baritone saxaphone, \u201chad a bunch of gigs through the summer which obviously have been cancelled,\u201d he says. \u201cEven into the fall, it\u2019s still up in the air what\u2019s going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The band usually gathers to rehearse on Thursday nights, but social distancing has turned these into Zoom calls where mostly they just chat. One member of the band tested positive for coronavirus and is quarantining in his home, Hefferman says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s hitting home close to us. We can\u2019t be together to make music,\u201d Hefferman says. \u201cThe whole creative process has been brought to a halt. We\u2019re all really anxious to get going again. We obviously don\u2019t want to do things too soon because that would be really dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fjames.taulor.16%2Fvideos%2F695300701229388%2F&amp;show_text=0&amp;width=267\" width=\"267\" height=\"476\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Instead, Honk bands have begun sharing videos assembled by cutting together footage of members performing separately in their own homes to create a virtual big band. In a bassoonist Facebook group, Hefferman saw one person play all the parts of a Bach score on bassoon. So he hatched his one-man Honk band idea.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI picked a School of Honk song because they are relatively easy to learn,\u201d Hefferman says. The Lexington musician headed into his wife\u2019s home office to record two tracks of tenor sax, one track of baritone sax, two tracks of sarrusophone, two tracks of bassoon, plus guitar, drumming on a paint bucket, and an egg shaker.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI prepared a backing track that I would listen to on my headphones for my place,\u201d Hefferman says. Each instrument required multiple takes, \u201ca lot of stopping and starting. \u2026 I have to remember do I play here? Do I rest here? Do I take a solo?\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FENSMB%2Fvideos%2F161080598445579%2F&amp;show_text=0&amp;width=560\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Hefferman says, \u201cI started playing the sax in fourth grade,\u201d inspired by his father playing saxophone when he was in school. He continued with the instrument through high school. There a student who played bassoon had just graduated, so the music director instructed Hefferman: \u201cYou\u2019re going to play the bassoon.\u201d Which led to Hefferman becoming a bassoon major at Ithica College in New York.<\/p>\n<p>Hefferman says he said aside the instrument after college, until he married 26 years ago and moved to Lexington and picked it up again to perform in community concert bands and orchestras. (When he\u2019s not playing music, he\u2019s social media coordinator for Carlton PR &amp; Marketing, his wife Bobbie Carlton\u2019s firm.)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aC7d_SQRrk8\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Hefferman has attended Honk festivals since they were first held in 2006. One year at the festival of activist marching bands, he heard that Extraordinary Rendition Band was an open band and took up their invitation to join the musicians at a rehearsal. That was about a decade ago now.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you start in one Honk band and you go to all the festivals, you meet all the other bands from everywhere,\u201d Hefferman says. He now also serves as a mentor in Somerville\u2019s School of Honk band and plays in Somerville\u2019s Desperate Measures Street Band.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0VDUrLq7GDs\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>In the one-man Honk band video, Hefferman&#8217;s tuxedo is a tribute to his performances with community orchestras. The polkadot outfit evokes School of Honk\u2019s signature look. The red outfit honors the Extraordinary Rendition Band\u2014in the past, you may have seen him wearing signs reading \u201cMore Sax Less Violence\u201d and \u201cThis Machine Creates Harmony\u201d (a play on the old Woody Guthrie scrawl on his guitar: \u201cThis Machine Kills Fascists\u201d) pinned to the back of his red band jacket.<\/p>\n<p>Hefferman notes, \u201cIt\u2019s a lot easier when you have different people covering the different parts, when they know what they\u2019re doing. Usually I play the bass parts, not the melody parts. It gives me new respect for the people who have to carry the melody.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.patreon.com\/wonderlandlandfanclub\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And <a href=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/subscribe\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sign up for our free, weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don&#8217;t miss any of our reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16153\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16153\" style=\"width: 900px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picNathanielHeffermanGrooveIsInTheHeart12w.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-16153\" src=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picNathanielHeffermanGrooveIsInTheHeart12w-1024x561.jpg\" alt=\"Nathaniel Hefferman plays &quot;Groove Is In The Heart,&quot; April 2020. (via YouTube)\" width=\"900\" height=\"493\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picNathanielHeffermanGrooveIsInTheHeart12w-1024x561.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picNathanielHeffermanGrooveIsInTheHeart12w-300x164.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picNathanielHeffermanGrooveIsInTheHeart12w-768x421.jpg 768w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picNathanielHeffermanGrooveIsInTheHeart12w-370x203.jpg 370w, https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/picNathanielHeffermanGrooveIsInTheHeart12w.jpg 1170w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16153\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nathaniel Hefferman plays &#8220;Groove Is In The Heart,&#8221; April 2020. (via YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The music video begins with Nathaniel Hefferman, dressed in a Honk T-shirt, blowing the opening notes of Deee-Lite\u2019s \u201cGroove Is In The Heart\u201d on saxophone. Then a drummer in red and a couple horn players with red and white scarves join in. Soon the group adds musicians in black vests and polkadots and then a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16151,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[743,742,51,388],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16169"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16169"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16177,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16169\/revisions\/16177"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}