Memorial Day 2011

Trumpet Section Leader, Grandfather
from the American Legion, and Dr.
Brame

The final performance of the DHS Bands is in the books, a sweltering Memorial Day parade and ceremony. The students did a great job representing our school in the solemn commemoration, playing the national anthem at the war memorial in Jewett Park, a medley of "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "America the Beautiful" up and down Waukegan Road, and an echo version of "Taps" in the cemetery at the south end of town. The band looked and sounded great.

Afterwards, someone who is not part of our program said to me, "The crowds were really small--why do you bother doing this on your day off?" The answer to that question is easy. Our teenagers today, at least in this community, have very little contact with such patriotic pride as I see in the members of the Deerfield American Legion Post 738. Here are men, some in their 70s and 80s, who put on their white shirts, black ties, and traditional Legion hats, to carry their flags and rifles as they march down the street to pay tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our American freedom. No matter what your politics are, when they read the list of Deerfield residents who died in wars, from the War of 1812 through Vietnam, it's not hard to imagine losing a child, a parent, a friend, or a neighbor. Their sacrifice secured our liberties and kept our world safer from oppression.

I will gladly give up my morning off so that our teenagers can remember that their comfortable lifestyles came at a precious cost, no matter how many people show up to watch us.

UPDATE: You can see more pictures at Patch.com. Look for the last few taken by Mark Fox to see the band.
 

Saturday Morning Playlist

My iPod shuffled up a particularly fine playlist for my morning run. I went off through the rolling residential streets of my village and up through the factories and past the lake on the east side of town. After a left turn at the Metra tracks, I passed a remarkably tiny house (probably less than 400 sq ft!), the movie theater, and the old village hall. The straightaway through downtown led to a bike path to return home. An invigorating run! Here are the tunes that accompanied me:

"Friends" by Led Zeppelin--some nice acoustic rock off their 3rd album.

"Tennessee" by Arrested Development--a ground-breaking hip hop song with a message about faith and ancestry.

"Hurricane Eye" by Paul Simon--three different meters with clever shifts between and this great couplet: "I knew an old woman who lived in a shoe; she was baking a cinnamon pie. She fell asleep in the washing machine, woke up in a hurricane eye."

"The Wind Cries Mary" by Jimi Hendrix--one of his prettier ballads.

"The Tears of a Clown" by The English Beat--a ska version of a Motown tune. My brother and I ("The Brothers Brame") played horns for a band that covered this tune back in the early 80s.

"Sign in Stranger" by Steely Dan--dark lyrics, infectious piano.

"Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel--one of the first marching band arrangements I ever did when I was in my first year at Round Lake HS. A truly classic video:



"Lovely Rita" by The Beatles--fascinating form that we study each year in music theory. You can read a cool analysis of it here.

"No Reply" by The Beatles--I have too much Beatles music on my workout iPod, so I often get two in a row.

"Wild West" by Joe Jackson--a great album, Big World, that is one of those rare 3-sided LPs--a two-disc set with a blank Side 4. Please don't tell anyone that I'm linking you to Wikipedia for more info!

"Exhuming McCarthy" by R.E.M.--my sons studied this song with their ultra-hip social studies teacher in US History.

"Kid Charlemagne" by Steely Dan--yes, I have too much Steely Dan as well, but it's a great song about the rise and fall of a drug dealer.

"Montana" by Frank Zappa--"Movin' to Montana soon, gonna be a dental floss tycoon. Movin' to Montana soon, gonna be a mental toss flycoon!"

Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!

Adams Field Turf Replacement Underway!

As I left school on Monday, I saw several large excavators on the football field digging up the old sod. This is in preparation for the installation of a new artificial surface this summer, thanks in part to the work of the DHS Boosters. This means that we will never again have to cancel a halftime performance due to poor field conditions! I am also hoping to be able to use the field for early bird practices--no more slogging through the mud to the back 40. I will, however, miss crossing the bridge over the stream to get there. I'll also miss seeing the occasional deer along the back edge of the woods when I could say, "Look--it's a deer! In the field! That's why we call it Deerfield!" However, I won't miss the small lakes and mud pits that develop on the back 40 whenever it rains. One year the river was so high during band camp that it covered the bridge, and nobody could even get to the practice fields. With the new turf, we'll never face that problem again!

Post-Concert

Well, the Spring Concert is in the books and it was a very successful evening. The Concert Band did a nice job, particularly with Forest Pines Overture, a rhythmically challenging work with mixed meters. The Symphonic Band had a varied program, including Morton Gould's jazzy "Pavanne" from Symphonette #2. Christian Hoogheem really nailed his solo trumpet feature. Pilgrim Traveler, a fantasia on 19th-century American shape note hymns, was another highlight with good balance, blend, and time and excellent solo work on tenor sax by Zach Weil.

The Wind Ensemble performed a very challenging work by Warren Benson, entitled The Solitary Dancer, which required playing in extreme ranges, tricky counting, and singing. The band probably played their best version yet at the concert. The medley from Porgy and Bess closed their portion of the concert with bluesy, extroverted solos by Logan Bloom, Nick Fox, and Joey Rosin, as well as a lyrical duet by Rahm Silverglade and Emma Martin.

The Jazz Band, as is tradition, closed the concert with some Mingus and some soul jazz. The final number, Jaco Pastorius' "Soul Intro/The Chicken," brought down the house with the high energy gospel and funk stylings. An unidentified sax player joined the band, filling in for an injured student, and by all accounts, he did all right.

Now the bands are moving into end-of-the-year activities. The freshmen will be finishing their Latin American music unit by heading off to Brazil (figuratively speaking) to study samba music. The Symphonic Band is creating mini quintet arrangements of the hymnsong "Traveler," and most of the Wind Ensemble is rehearsing graduation music with the orchestra. The new Jazz Band members are preparing for a front hall gig on the last day of school. Even though the concert is over, there's still lots to do in R-hall--the fun never ends!

A Very Unique Rendition of the Star Spangled Banner

At what venue are you most likely to hear our national anthem? Why, a baseball game, of course! The performances range from bands to choirs to vocal soloists. Sometimes they are wonderfully stirring, and other times they are just truly bad. The Chicago Cubs had a utility infielder back in the 70s named Carmen Fanzone who also played trumpet, and even he played the anthem before a game. (He also was a guest soloist with the DHS Band many years ago.)

On Mothers Day, Major League Baseball helps to support Breast Cancer Awareness by featuring the color pink on bats, gloves, shoes, and other items. This year, they really outdid themselves at the Mets game when National Symphony Orchestra violinist Glenn Donnellan played the Star Spangled Banner on a pink violin. A pink violin that was made out of a baseball bat, that is. Check it out here:

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=14596201

It's his Susan G. Komen "Electric Slugger," which he auctioned off to support breast cancer research. Notice that he paid a bit of homage to Jimi Hendrix...way cool! Here's more about his unique instrument.
 

Jazz Night 2011

Our professional yearbook photographer took some very nice photos at Jazz Night. Click on the slideshow below to see the Jazz Band, Monday Afternoon Jazz, and Tuesday Afternoon Jazz in action!