Back In Action!

UPDATED...


The StillWaters Jazz Band will be performing tomorrow, June 7, 2008 at a fund raiser for the JC Carson High School Bible Teaching Association. The fund raiser begins at 11:30 AM and goes until 6:00 PM at St. Mark's Lutheran Church on Main Street in China Grove. There is going to be food and entertainment. Guess which part we are.

The fund raiser is to raise the necessary money to employ a Bible teacher at JC Carson High School. All of the funds for the teacher, including salary, curriculum, and benefits, have to be raised by the community. This money is then funneled through the state back to the Bible teacher.

Anywho... the SJB will be playing from around 2:30 to 3:30. It's a short gig for us, so we'll probably pull out all the stops!

We look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Come on out and support this worthy cause!

Another Great Outing

Well, tonight I was treated to another South Rowan High School Jazz Band concert. Once again they did a fabulous job. Tonight we got to preview their version of Sing, Sing, Sing! and It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing. Not bad at all. Both are very tough songs and they did a pretty decent job with them considering that they just started working on them recently. I can't wait to hear them at the final concert of the semester.

One of their Senior trumpet players wailed on his solo. I think his name is Nader. (Sounds like 'Mater, like TUH-Mater without the TUH!) Everyone was cheering for him.

The band leaves on a trip to Myrtle Beach, SC tomorrow after school for a big jazz festival/competition that they are having down there. They won't be competing, but they will be playing. I'd love to go down there and hear them. Unfortunately, I think they have to play pretty early in the morning on both Friday and Saturday - I think. I look forward to hearing what the competition is like. I don't know if this is all high school jazz bands or if it is an open competition.

My hat is off to Justin Dickson, second year band teacher, who blew the doors off of my high school band teacher. I dare say that he is the best band director in Rowan County. If any of the others happen to read this and want to prove me wrong, then let them provide soloists from each section of their band that can improv over jazz and swing tunes and sound good. If they can do that then they may enter the discussion. Otherwise they need not apply.

If you live in the area and want to see what a high school band should be like, come out to the year end concert. I'll be posting the dates here as soon as I know about them. You WON'T be disappointed, but you WILL probably be shocked. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I wish I'd had a band teacher like that.

Gut Check

This weekend's outing for the StillWaters Jazz Band was probably our toughest so far. (Sorry, no pictures this week.) We played at the Brian Center of Salisbury this week.

To be honest, I think that we all expected a crowd similar to the one we had encountered at the NC Veterans' Home last week, however, it didn't take long for us to realize that we were playing for a much different group. In fact, by the end of the first song the differences became evident. Most of the folks didn't respond at all to the music. They just sat there. There was one fellow who clapped for us on most songs and another that tried to clap.

When we got to our break time we went out into the crowd and talked to several of the residents. I was able to have a pretty good conversation with the gentleman that I was talking with and Justin and Sara seemed to do all right with the folks that they were talking to as well. (Justin is excellent at the ministry aspect of our playing anyway. Not bad for a self-described introvert!) Most of the residents there needed skilled care. It was pretty heart-breaking to see the condition that some were in.

I wish I could say that we played our best this weekend, but frankly it was quite a challenge. I found myself getting lost a bit and just wasn't on top of my game. We ended up wrapping things up a little early to accommodate the dinner hour.

In the parking lot after the gig we all talked it over. It had been rough for all of us, but Justin did a great job of bringing us back around to the reason we are doing what we do. He said, "If we're just doing this to stroke our egos we're doing it for the wrong reason." Amen.

If the environment there was clinical and uninviting to us, how much more so must it be to the people who have to live there day in and day out? There is no one who needs what we are doing any more than the folks at the Brian Center. Therefore, you can bet that we'll be back. Hopefully we'll be better prepared for what we'll encounter when we get there, and hopefully we'll have a better strategy to make it fun, but we will be back. How could we do otherwise?

The StillWaters Jazz Band Version Of A USO Tour

This past Saturday the StillWaters Jazz Band had one of its most fun gigs so far. We got to play at the NC Veterans' Home on the campus of the VA Hospital in Salisbury, NC. None of us really knew what to expect as we began unloading our equipment. We set up in the front lobby of the facility and the crowd began to gather.

Right off the bat we could tell that these guys were different than the groups we had played for so far. They were asking questions and talking to us - genuinely interested in what we were doing and who we were. It didn't take long before our nerves had settled down. In the picture above you can see Justin talking with one of the residents. This particular fellow was really up on his jazz. He related one story about how he had the pleasure of seeing Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, and Al Hirt in concert with some other giants of the jazz world back in the late 60s. We were all envious!

Unfortunately, we didn't have any of our friends or family with us so pictures didn't get taken until after the fact, but in many ways these pictures really communicate the sweetness of the time that we had with these aging heroes. These folks were awesome! They interacted with us throughout the entire show, and as you can see, many hung around afterwards to talk.

Sara was a particular favorite of the crowd. I guess it is tough to be the only pretty girl in the band! One fellow in particular was quite vocal in his appreciation! (It isn't the fellow that appears in this picture though!)

We opened the show with Stormy Weather. We thought it fitting considering the weather that day. When we announced the title of the song one of the fellows asked which one of us was going to be singing. We told him that was HIS job! Well, he didn't sing it, but another fellow did, and he did a fine job I might add.

This week we were running a little short. Our bass player, Gillon wasn't able to join us. I think his insane schedule finally caught up with him! We really missed having him with us, because he adds a lot. Hopefully he'll be back in the loop soon!

I was really blessed by most of the conversations that I had with the guys. The gentleman that I was talking to in the picture was wounded twice during World War II. He fought in the Battle of the Bulge. I learned a lot talking with him. I hope that he'll be able to join us the next time that we play there. And we will be playing there again. We all THOROUGHLY enjoyed ourselves. And the residents seemed to have a good time too.

In fact, one of the nurses on duty there came out to make sure that she got our card so that they could invite us back. She told me that if the guys hadn't liked us they wouldn't have wasted any time leaving. That made me feel pretty good. Most of the guys hung around for the duration. But as much as they seemed to enjoy our music they seemed to enjoy our company even more.

Another fellow used to play piano when he was in service. He worked with one of the chaplains and played hymns for the chapel services. He is blind now, but can still play. All of the residents were encouraging him to play some with us. I hope we can talk him into it when we go back.

We even had a lady who got up and danced about halfway through the show. It was a great experience.

We had numerous requests too. Someone requested Amazing Grace and another wanted to hear Taps. OK, that one weirded us out a little bit, but hey, he was the one who asked! We also got requests for Stardust, Misty, and In The Mood. Unfortunately we couldn't just whip those out, but we plan to add them before we go back.

This week in practice we worked on Bye Bye Blackbird, The Preacher, I've Heard That Song Before, Little Brown Jug, and St. Louis Blues. I think that all of these will do well with our friends at the NC Veterans' Home next time. They will probably come in handy this weekend too. We'll be playing at the Salisbury Brian Center on Saturday from 3:00 to 5:00. I expect we'll be playing for a similar crowd. We are also hoping to schedule a couple shows for Trinity Oaks in the coming weeks. I hope that they will be as fun as the guys at the Veterans' Home.

As much fun as we have playing this music by ourselves, it is even more fun to be playing it for someone else. It was a blast giving just a little back to these men and women who gave so much for us. We can never adequately repay them for all of their sacrifice on our behalf, but it sure was fun beginning the payback. Justin said it well when he said, "One day a year isn't enough to tell you guys thanks."

I Will Tease You Only...

Here it is nearing midnight and I still haven't told you about the StillWaters Jazz Band's concert at the NC Veteran's home. You'll have to wait just a little bit longer. But here is a picture to tide you over...

I Wish I Had Had A Band Director Like That...

Tonight I went to the South Rowan High School band concert. I really didn't go with terribly high expectations - after all it was a high school band concert. I expected a good bit of out of tune playing and a few weak sections, but an overall tolerable evening.

I was blown away.

The first part of the concert consisted of a mixed band of freshmen and upperclassmen. I was absolutely surprised by how well they played. Given another month they would be ready for competition. They played March of the Irish Guard arr. by James Ployhar, Norwegian Folk Song Suite by Frank Erickson, and Dorian Rhapsody by Eliot Del Borgo.

For the next movement of the concert, the freshmen left the stage to a skeleton crew of upperclassmen. This crew tackled some really tough pieces. First on the docket was Habanera by E. Chabrier arr. by Albert Davis. It was a very intricate and tricky piece. They followed that with "Sleepers, Wake" from Cantata 140 by Johann Sebastian Bach, arr. by Philip Sparke. "Ah, Bach..." Need I say more? And they closed this set with the Disney show tune Under the Sea by Alan Menken, arr. by Jerry Nowak. I don't remember ever hearing a band number whose melody was carried for the majority of the song by the baritone horn. I'm not sure the name of the young man who was playing, but he did a fantastic job and had a wonderful tone.

This was all well and good. These bands did a fine job, but the real treat was still to come.

The final set of the evening was performed by the South Rowan Jazz Ensemble. They set the house on fire right out of the gate with William Chase and Richard Marinan's Get It On (arr. by Paul Jennings). They followed that with Sammy Nestico's Orange Sherbet. I just cannot do justice to the job these guys were doing. They totally rocked the house.

That was followed by Jimmy Forrest's Night Train (arr. by John Higgins). The band tore it up. There were extended jazz improv solos!!! My band director never taught ME how to improv! And these kids were GOOD. They were relaxed and having a good time. It was amazing!

The next song in the set was Embraceable You, the George Gershwin tune arr. by Roy Phillippe. That was the only laid back number in the entire set. They were right out of the gate again on the next song - Vehicle (written by James Peterik and arr by Paul Jennings). I'm not sure where I heard that one before, but it had that 70's groove to it.

Then the band turned to swing with the old Glenn Miller standard American Patrol arr. by Paul Lavender. They had a false start with this one, but the band director wisely pulled the plug and started over. Once they got things together they did a fine job with it.

The last song in the set was Sermon by Erik Morales. They hit it out of the park. When the concert was done they received a well-earned standing ovation... and the audience was treated to an encore! They finished up with the Glenn Miller signature In The Mood. It was a great show.

I say all of this to say that this was all brought about by the vision and skill of a 2nd year band director. Never ever ever never have I ever heard of a band program that actually taught the students about music. At least not around here. Justin Dickson has done a STELLAR job with this band.

Many of his students came to him hardly knowing which end of the horn to blow into. Many literally didn't know what a whole note or a quarter rest were. These are the very building blocks of music, and they had managed to get to his band without knowing these things. And he had them playing Bach for crying out loud!

Back in the day I was a pretty good trombone player, but if I had had a band director like Justin Dickson, I might still be playing today. He is teaching these kids how to make music and not just memorize how to play songs. There is a HUGE difference. There is nothing more frustrating than having music inside of you and having an instrument and having absolutely NO IDEA how to get that music out of you through that instrument. Justin has bridged that gap for many of his students.

The sad thing is how long will it last? Every year he has to battle against people who convince his best musicians that they can't afford to "waste" a credit on band. He has to deal with ill-prepared students coming from middle schools in the area. He has to watch as other students are turned off to band because of poor programs in the schools that they have come from. And on top of all of that he has to battle block scheduling which keeps him from being able to have a cohesive band throughout the school year.

Oh my goodness what he could achieve if he had these kids for an entire year. His bands would become LEGENDARY.

Justin, my hat's off to you, buddy. Keep up the excellent work!

Gig Update

The StillWaters Jazz Band gig for Dixie's coffee house on March 15th has been postponed until the Saturday after Easter, March 29, 2008 1:00-3:00 PM.

The band is working on some cool new music. We have a new one written by Justin, we are working up Stormy Weather, Deep River Blues, and Bye Bye Blackbird. So hopefully we'll have some new tunes to share with you then!

Hope to see you on the 29th!

An Excerpt From "Live At Dixie's"

Last Saturday the StillWaters Jazz Band played at Dixie's coffee house in China Grove. It was our fourth gig, but was really our first public outing.

When I drove to the grocery store the week before the show I was greeted by this excellent sign in front of the shop. I began to get excited about playing.

I really hadn't played for a secular crowd before, so this was my first time to perform in front of my peers. (When you play in church everyone HAS to be nice to you. It's the rules.)

Of course, I was also somewhat nervous about doing this performance. It was my peers that we were playing for, remember? This whole thing is still pretty new to me. I didn't get that nervous, though. I figured that not too many people would show up.

Boy, was I wrong.

Read the rest of this post at Conspiracy of Kindness...