Bob Cayne Article
Memories of Alfred Laubin
Robert Cayne
I met Al Laubin around 1962 and was in touch with him until his death in 1976. I had been a clarinet player and my teacher, Joe Allard, recommended Anton (Tony) Maly when I wanted to begin oboe. Tony played an old Loree for a long time and told me that the best oboe was a Laubin. He had me start by getting a Jarde oboe and English horn. That is how I met Al Laubin, as the Jardes, which were made in France, were imported by Evaldo Chiassarini to New York and serviced by Al Laubin.
Al had long white hair and wire-framed eyeglasses, and he looked very frail. He appeared to me like someone from the 18th century, looking like Geppetto the wood carver. He was very soft-spoken and seemed very kind and helpful. A couple of years later when I studied with Harry Shulman, I mentioned Al’s frail appearance, and he said that Al always looked that way. I didn’t know until later that Al had had one lung removed due to cancer but still smoked to test oboes. He also had all false teeth, upper and lower.
After Tony Maly died suddenly early in 1964, Harry Shulman accepted me as a student. Right away he recommended that I order a Laubin oboe. After a few months’ wait, Al called to say he had one for me. I went over to Penzel-Mueller in Long Island City where Al had his workshop at that time, bringing my Jarde to trade it as part of the payment, for which Al charged less because I was a student of Harry Shulman. Chiassarini was there with Al that day. I remember Chiassarini slowly saying “Son of a gun” when he saw the Jarde. I didn’t know why he said that.
My new Laubin oboe was serial no. 732. It was June, and the weather was warm. When I had the oboe for a week and was practicing in the afternoon, I heard a loud crack. I looked and saw that the entire top joint had cracked open. That gave me quite a sick feeling. I called Al and he said to bring the oboe to him.
I was working a day job, so a friend took it to Al. When I finished work at 5 o’clock, my friend was down in the building lobby with the oboe. I opened the case cover and found a beautifully handwritten note from Al saying that the crack was so bad that he would make a new top joint and give me a different new oboe, serial no. 728. Unfortunately, I didn’t save the note.
After Al’s arrangement with Penzel-Mueller ended, he moved up to Elmsford, NY, where I would drive for oboe service. I sometimes asked Al how much I owed him, and he would say “Oh… that’s okay, nothing.”
Al’s generosity seemed to be widespread. From an interview with Paul in The Double Reed Journal, Vol. 12, No. 3:
My dad never made instruments with the idea of making a lot of money: he just wanted to make as good an instrument as he possibly could. He really wanted to help people. You’ll find a lot of older oboe players who will tell you how many hours my dad spent with them without charging them anything, or a very nominal sum. A lot of people have forgotten that.
One time I had a problem with the Jarde English horn but didn’t have time to drive to Elmsford. I asked Al if anyone in the city would be ok to do the adjustment. He said I could call John Caputo, who he knew did not like him. John was an eccentric, embittered, very great oboe player (“the man with the golden sound”). He had been fired from the Metropolitan Opera. John also made oboes, which were quite good. He was upset that people bought Laubins but not his oboes.
Al made an oboe reed shaper tip for me identical to the one he had made for Harry Shulman. I always bought my cane from Al and spoke with him often for advice. I seem to recall hearing that rather than keeping things secret, Al would give advice and help anyone to make oboes better. I visited Al several times for servicing at Elmsford and met Robert Chauvet, who was working with him. I would see Paul working quietly at the back of the room. It annoyed me after Al passed that when someone had an oboe for sale made by Al, they would advertise it as a ”genuine” Laubin. Paul continued like his father, always looking to improve the instruments. He certainly succeeded.
After getting my first Laubin oboe, a grenadilla, I stayed on the waiting list and changed my next order to rosewood, which I found that I liked better. I then switched my English horn order to rosewood, followed by three more rosewood oboes in later years. Once I started playing Laubins, I never stopped.
Bob Cayne is a well-known woodwind doubler best known for his oboe and English horn performances. He is still actively teaching in the New York City and northern New Jersey areas.