Practice Recap and Performance Info

Hey everybody! Great job at practice last night. The cold run-through (though there were longer than normal pauses between charts last night) went (musically) verywell, and then I thought that we cleaned up some key spots, especially in In the Stone and Ride the Wind.

Making it all of the way through "The First Circle" was exhilarating the first time, and now that we know we can do it, we just need to: a.) learn to do the opening minus the bass drum, and b.) clean, clean, clean followed by c.) polish, polish, polish. We have April to finish this, because we intend to perform this monster chart on May 1st.

To reiterate it here, call time is at 6:30 at the church on Sunday and dress is conservative concert attire, meaning white, black or solid colors for tops and black for pants, etc. or all black attire (if women want to wear dresses). Know that a good third of the members of the band will be coming over from the DVC jazz band concert at 3 and will no doubt be in white/black apparel already. Just use your common sense.

Also, remember, and I can't stress this enough (and I know I have at this point), to not make any sound upstairs, especially when you're coming in and setting up. When you walk in the doors (by the time 6:15 rolls around), be aware that right to the left of the church entrance there is a performance going on. Quietly talk or whisper and head downstairs, and then stay quiet. If you are warming up downstairs, you must keep it at a piano/pianissimo level, play only when the door is closed, and only in groups of less than three. We know how bad that room echoes, and we know how the sound carries. I'm not trying to be strict here, but we need to be disciplined and give all the respect to the performers upstairs that we can.

Next week we will be focusing on cleaning "The First Circle," so we need to keep the focus up (I think I will be saying this for all time) and the non-musical chatter to a minimum. With the acoustics of our practice room, everything that is said is amplified and so, whenever directions are being given from whoever is giving them, the sound level needs to drop. We're usually very good about this, so I'm not really that concerned, but it's something we want to keep in mind.

I think we can all look forward to the performance on Sunday, but just bear in mind the above information, and look for a post later this week with links to the recordings of the new charts. Remember, the only one we will play through soon is "But Beautiful" as it is not an advanced chart, and that "Begin the Beguine," "Intersecting Lines," and "Rhythm of Our World" we will begin practicing in full after May 1st, giving you about a month to take some time on your own with them.

Thanks again for all of your hard work, ethusiasm, and dedication to the group. I think we all know of the value of our players, our mission, and the legacy of the music that we are working. See you all Sunday.