Rehearsal Tonight, and Long Time No Update

Hey everybody! Sorry that it has been such a long while since the blog has been updated. Well, there is rehearsal tonight, and we will be working on:

The Blue Book
Sing, Sing, Sing, Sing, Sing, Sing (if you get my drift)
Theme from Sesame Street
Nostalgia in Times Square
Rhythm of Our World

Really concentrate on the older numbers on the Blue Book and pay careful attention to articulations and dyanmics. They're very important in these pieces (as they are in all music), but it's apparent when they're not being followed. Let's give these older charts the respect they deserve. See you tonight!

Practice Recaps, Updates, OH MY!!!

Okay, so this blog hasn't been updated in a while. But it's time to focus on the fall, and so that's what is being communicated here.

The focus of our practices have obviously shifted to two major, advanced pieces. As usual, "The First Circle" and more recently, "Rhythm Of Our World."

"Theme from Sesame Street" will sound great on the 12th as will "Incredibles," etc., and we can't forget about "Nostalgia in Times Square" which has taken a seat on a back-burner, but will be coming back. Be ready to work these charts.

The group will be playing for the church at 11 AM on Sunday the 12th, so mark your calendars, and call time is 10:15 downstairs in the choir room for quiet tuning and warming up.

See you all at Monday night's practice, where we will continue with "The First Circle" and "Rhythm Of Our World" and let's see where everyone stands with practicing on the evening of Labor Day as it is the last practice before a gig.

Back on track...

Practice Tomorrow!

Hello all. This is just a reminder that there's practice tomorrow, and we will be continuing work on Rhythm Of Our World, as well as Theme from Sesame Street and something else that's quite nostalgic...

A short message for this week, but thanks to all who played on Thursday - the audience really appreciated us stepping up and stepping in to fill what would have been a void during the intermission at the summer concert series. See you all tomorrow! :)

Practice Recap, No Performance on Saturday, Practice Monday...

Okay, so three quick messages to update on the blog. The first is a thanks to everyone at practice on Monday - I know it was the very end of a holiday weekend that spilled over into Monday with some people having a day of rest and others with workplaces still open - at any rate, we got a lot of positive work done. As of Friday night, practice had still been up in the air, which is why messages were sent out as to availability for Monday. Since a majority of the band could rehearse, we did. If you couldn't be there Monday, that's fine, and I hope everyone had a lovely holiday weekend.

Also, there will be no performance on Saturday as we are still light on players and personally my work schedule does not allow for it, with a third of my work's staff out on vacation, etc. Thank you all for you willingness to come out and do it to those that could, but we will just have to plan ahead for the next performance.

We will have practice on Monday when we will continue work on the Sandoval, Nostalgia and Sesame Street. We laid some of the foundations for work on these pieces on Monday, and we will continue to do so as we start to "shelve" some of the pieces we've been playing for a while, like Ride the Wind and Samba Ti Kaye.

Practice Tonight!

So, we will in fact have practice tonight, and make sure you have Rhythm of Our World in your folders. It was passed out quite some time ago and is on the second CD that was distributed if you want to listen to it ahead of time. We will also be cleaning up some of the other pieces.

A recap of Friday night's performance will be posted later, but it went really well and the audience really seemed to enjoy the music - this was also confirmed by the First Friday music organizer in town.

Anyway, see you tonight! :)

Don't Mess With Mingus...

So, as all can no doubt figure out, the polls are closed and the votes are final. In an extremely close race, "Nostalgia in Times Square" by Charles Mingus has won versus "Theme from Sesame Street" as written for Maynard Ferguson. We will be ordering this chart in the coming weeks, so expect to start working on it in a few weeks, as we also start to tackle "Rhythm of Our World" by Sandoval (you should already have that music).

See you all next Monday at practice!

Instructions for Voting: Round Two

Okay, it's that time again. Time to VOTE! The three selections for charts are "Nostalgia in Times Square" by Charles Mingus, "Channel One Suite" by Buddy Rich, and "Sesame Street" as performed by Maynard Ferguson. If you are looking for sample recordings of these pieces, there are links on a post below (scroll down on the blog) and check them out.

The polls are posted on the right sidebar beneath "About the Band." Each person is allowed to vote for charts ONCE. (Got that, Andrew? - no shenanigans from the trombones for the Mingus...) The polls will close at 8:00 AM on Tuesday morning, June 22nd, so you have a week to submit your vote.

The chart(s) selected will be purchased using the Change 4 Charts jar. And I say chart(s), as if it is a close race, there is the possibility of the runner-up being ordered as well. But this is just a possibility.

Looking ahead, there is still a lot to do before holiday music in the winter. The fall will consist of the some of the pieces we have already done, but polished, and some we have not done that we have - Work Song and Rhythm of Our World. If that impacts the way you vote, that is up to you. Otherwise, just pick the piece you like the most, and if you don't get the one you like, you can know that the process has been a democratic one. And don't despair, as Winston Churchill so perfectly stated, "democarcy is the worst form of government in world. Except for all the others that came before it."

But to be honest, these are ALL great charts. You know you're selecting from some of the top of the line. And we already play Malaguena...

Happy voting! :)

New Charts and Updates

The new charts handed out at Monday's practice are for some time in the future, with the exception of "But Beautiful."

"Begin the Beguine" and "Intersecting Lines" are for the summer, and it is recommended to start looking at those charts on your own time until work starts with them in mid-May. There are various recordings online of these charts, "Intersecting Lines" being available as a sample at www.marinamusic.com and through iTunes. Northwestern University had a solid performance of "Begin the Beguine" and it can be watched on YouTube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3sagWZsfts&feature=PlayList&p=A76C7ECD1ED69DE7&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=11

as well as at www.marinamusic.com.

"Rhythm of Our World" is probably for the fall, and it will take multiple listens to the music to get somewhat comfortable with the various grooves, so it would not be suggested to attempt to figure it out without listening to it - there's are samples of this song online as well.

Therre is an update on the pedestrian who was struck by the SUV outside the church on Monday night, and the news is reporting that he is in fair condition at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia (so he probably was flown down from Doylestown Hospital that night). Hopefully he will be okay.

Again, call time is 6:30 PM at the Church on Sunday and 6:50 PM for the french horns. Be ready to get set up and dress has already been covered. You know who to contact if you have any questions. Feel free to invite whomever you wish to the performance, but just let them know to be quiet when entering and to head to the Sanctuary, bypassing the other activities in the Parish Hall (the gym/auditorium to the left after you enter).

This week there are some other concerts in the area. Up at West Chester University on Friday, April 9th, there is the WCU Criterions Jazz concert starting at 7:30 which is free and open to the public (see www.wcupa.edu for more information) and the Delaware Valley College Jazz Band will be playing in the student union building on the DVC campus at 3 PM on Sunday, April 11th.

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.