Thursday Morning Run

Taking advantage of the day off today, I took a run when the sun was actually up, for once. My iPod shuffled an energetic mix for me:

"Come As You Are," Nirvana Nevermind
Now twenty years old, this classic album is being re-released in a deluxe edition. Another single from the album, "Smells Like Teen Spirit," is a staple of the Warrior Marching Band repertoire. I can remember how it was the theme song of disenfranchised DHS students back in the early 90s.

"Auctioneer (Another Engine)," R.E.M. Fables of the Reconstruction
One of their louder early-period tunes, from my favorite R.E.M. album. This was my soundtrack when I was a first-year teacher at Round Lake HS, living in my one-bedroom apartment in Buffalo Grove. R.E.M. just announced their official break-up after 31 years of making music together. I haven't really enjoyed their records since about 1994, but they still remain in my personal pantheon of all-time great bands.

"Stone Free," Jimi Hendrix Are You Experienced?
A "deep cut" from Jimi's debut album. Right as he tore into his guitar solo, a Metra train headed for Union Station rumbled by on the track ahead of me.

"The Breeze," Lynyrd Skynyrd Second Helping
I've always loved Southern rock. Must be my roots--both of my parents were born in the South, and I spent many a vacation visiting my cousins "back home."

"Walking on the Moon," The Police Regatta de Blanc
I was going to skip this one because the last four were straight-out rockers, but there's something about that trippy hi-hat beat and the sparse textures. There's also the line "Feet they hardly touch the ground," which makes for appropriate running music!

"Me and You (Against the World)," Joe Jackson Blaze of Glory
Much more highly orchestrated than the previous cut. Up tempo and and a seven-man horn section.

"Spill the Wine," Eric Burdon and War Eric Burdon Declares "War"
A good tune for the final leg of my run--cooling down with some nice harmonica and flute fills, and the classic line about the narrator being a "overfed, long-haired, leaping gnome."

Happy New Year!

Homecoming 2011: "The Good Ol' Days"

Well, another homecoming is in the books. The Warrior Marching Band had a wonderful day: marching through the halls, playing at the pep rally, and cheering the black-jerseyed Warriors on to victory over the Spartans of Glenbrook North. As an alum of Glenbrook South, this victory was twice as sweet for me!

Marching through the halls was, as always, a great time. The student body loved having 8th period disrupted, and when we returned to R-hall, the Choraliers sang along to the Fight Song and the Pokémon theme song. From there we went to the pep rally where we helped the cheerleaders, Warriorettes, and drill team lead the whole school in the DHS Fight Song. After an hour break, it was out to the back 40 for a final rehearsal before donning our uniforms and heading out to meet the team. We marched them in for their north endzone entrance, sending them off with the fight song and the Warrior Spirit March. The latter is our newest school song (I composed it for the 50th anniversary of DHS last year), and we're playing a lot more now. After every touchdown, we play the fight song, and after the extra point, the spirit march. At the end of pregame, we march off to the fight song, but in halftime, the spirit march is our exit music. It's pretty cool having two school songs as well as an alma mater.

In the middle of pregame warm-ups, the football team unexpectedly left the turf and ran past us into the field along Waukegan Road. I realized that they were changing from their traditional red jerseys into cool, intimidating black jerseys with red details. They came back onto the field as the press box blasted out AC-DC's "Back in Black." Of course, we had to reprise the song with our own rendition right after the opening kickoff. Between the excitement of homecoming, the energy of the fans, the novelty of the jerseys, and the well-timed pep music from the band, our Warriors played their hearts out, breaking open a tight game in the second half. A blocked punt returned for a touchdown was the turning point, and they never looked back as they steamed on to a 28-14 victory.

I must say that the band was very successful as well. They sounded great on the field and in the stands, and I received many compliments from parents and staff. We debuted a number of children's TV show themes, including a jazzy "Sesame Street" and a trumpet feature in "Linus and Lucy." We finished the day exhausted but very happy. Next up is our "Road Show" halftime, which we will play twice, on October 6 and 14. We'll swap in a different tune for the second show, but all the music is going to be great. It will be a fitting way to close our season. And, with our numbers increasing every year for the past few, I'm really looking forward to a bright future for the Warrior Marching Band!

Spontaneous Public Art

I've written about this on more than one occasion, but I never get tired of seeing spontaneous, public displays of art. When you stumble upon something unexpected, a woman dancing in a park, a man reciting poetry in a subway station, a beautiful mural on a city wall, someone singing along to their iPod (oblivious to anyone passing by), it surprises you and brightens your day. The arts can seem so formal and stuffy when they are on stage or in a museum, with their dress codes and high admission prices. But they don't have to be! Check out this video below by the Copenhagen Philharmonic, as they assemble one by one in a train station to perform Ravel's Bolero for anyone who cares to listen. No tuxedos, no pages of program notes, no high-priced tickets--just a wonderful piece of music played by professionals (who are obviously enjoying themselves) for an enrapt audience. This is what flash mobs should be all about instead of creating chaos and inciting riots.

Potpourri Concert

Congratulations to all of the Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble members for a fine job at the Potpourri Concert tonight. I am especially thankful to all of you who came from all of the sporting events and practices and play rehearsals. I know this was an extra effort and made it a very long day for you. I was very pleased with SB's rendition of King Cotton--excellent dynamics and good rhythmic precision! The WE did a great job with the La Peri Fanfare, and the soloists in Grainger's Shepherd's Hey really set the standard for the entire group. Kudos to all!

By the way, did you know that the buttons from our old marching band uniforms make excellent cuff links? Not that I forgot mine tonight...

Now it's time for homecoming! Go Warriors!

9/11

Twelve members of the DHS Warrior Marching Band took part in a civic ceremony marking the tenth anniversary of 9/11. It was held on the front lawn of the Deerfield Village Hall on Waukegan under beautiful, blue skies, not unlike the weather we remember seeing ten years ago in New York City. We opened the event with the national anthem, followed by some patriotic selections, including "America," "America the Beautiful," and "God Bless America." We also played "God of Our Fathers," which is known as the "National Hymn." The words were written for the American centennial in 1876, and the tune was composed a decade later for the centennial of the U.S. Constitution. Although there is a wonderful band arrangement of this hymn Claude T. Smith, we played a simple, four-part chorale version.

We then played a similar setting of "It Is Well with My Soul," which has a particularly poignant story that is appropriate for the occasion. Horatio Spafford, a wealthy Chicago businessman who was financially ruined by the great Chicago Fire of 1871, planned a trip to England with his wife and four daughters to take his mind off his troubles. He sent them ahead on the steamship Ville de Havre, which was tragically struck by another ship and sank. All four of his daughters died in the accident, with only his wife left to send the fateful telegram, "Saved alone." When he sailed for England to meet his wife, he asked the captain of the ship to let him know when they reached the site of the accident. It was there that he penned the hymn, a testament to one man's faith in the eyes of tragedy. I felt this was a fitting piece to play as we looked back to the events of ten years ago.

I remember being in the old band room in M-hall on September 11, 2001. Towards the end of freshman band, Mr. Swanson, the assistant principal, came on the P.A. system and told everyone about the attacks and directed us to turn the classroom televisions on to the news. My memories of what we actually saw are a bit fuzzy, but it would have been sometime before 9:00am in Chicago, after both towers had been hit. I believe we heard about the Pentagon strike and saw the towers collapse in real time. In any event, there was an incredible numbness across the school. I remember going to my office after class and calling my wife, who was about to turn off the television. My twin sons, four years old at the time, were happily watching the exciting scenes of fire trucks. When she realized that this was no commonplace accident, she found something else for them to do. Trying to get online to CNN was impossible, so most of us spent the day around the TV monitors in classrooms. My student teacher told me her boyfriend was in DC and that his bus stop was outside the Pentagon, so I sent her home to try to contact him. By the time fourth period came around, there wasn't a lot of new information to be had, so we tried half-heartedly to rehearse in Symphonic Band for the Potpourri Concert. Unfortunately, we were working on a cheerful little march, and it just seemed wrong.

The next few days of teaching were difficult. Learning scales and rhythms seemed insignificant at that point, and not being a history teacher, I felt ill-equipped to explain what was going on to my students. I know that I started my next rehearsals with "Amazing Grace" from the chorale books because it has such a hopeful melody. In retrospect, the band piece On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss would have been even more appropriate, as it is based on "It Is Well with My Soul."

One year later, the marching band gathered with the DHS community by the flag pole and played the national anthem. After a moment of silence, trumpeter Jenni Morris played "Taps," slightly cracking one of the last notes, much like the military bugler who played for President Kennedy's funeral in 1963. Instead of this diminishing the moment, it represented the broken feeling we all had inside. At the ceremony this past Sunday, Zack Berman had the honor of playing "Taps" to punctuate an honor guard ceremony led by our Deerfield police and firefighters. I'm proud to say that he nailed it.

Click here for photos from the Deerfield 9/11 ceremony.