Rock and Roll Olympics (Part 1)

For the first time in Olympic history, musicians from around the world competed in London in a number of events to win the gold, silver, and bronze medals for their countries. A novel feature of these competitions is that musicians both living and deceased were eligible for the games. Tonight featured the gold medal match in the rock band competition, held at the Royal Albert Hall. Each country was allowed five bands and two alternates. From the original field of 16, the United States beat Ireland in their semi-final match, despite a very strong performance from U2, The Cranberries, and The Pogues. The other finalist was team England, who bested Australia’s sonic onslaught headlined by AC/DC, INXS, Men at Work, and Midnight Oil. Earlier today, Ireland took bronze as Bono led his team in a tumultuous medley of “Sunday Bloody Sunday” and “New Year’s Day” from their 1983 album War. A 15-minute version of “Back in Black” by the Aussies was strong, but it did not impress the judges.

Team America were the underdogs; most critics thought their line-up was too diverse, and there were rumors of intra-squad tensions. Team coach Bruce Springsteen first chose the veteran band The Beach Boys who insisted that the Jimi Hendrix Experience be part of the team, in spite of the British citizenship of two of their members. The Brits cried foul, so Hendrix added his Band of Gypsies musicians to tip the scales in favor of the Yanks. Jimi lobbied for the inclusion of Sly and the Family Stone, a band many were afraid might miss the team flight. The Velvet Underground were chosen for their influence rather than their commercial success, and The Ramones were added to beef up the team’s overall menace quotient. Many American rockers were concerned that the overall team lacked in volume, so Nirvana and Metallica joined the squad as alternates.

The heavily favored English squad was loaded with talent. Led by The Beatles, two other British Invasion bands made the cut: The Rolling Stones and The Who. Hard rock pioneers Led Zeppelin and punk rockers The Clash rounded out the team. The alternates were Pink Floyd and young upstarts Radiohead. Fans of Queen, Cream, and The Police made strong cases for their favorite artists, but in the end team captain John Lennon went for sheer volume and intensity when choosing his team.

Tomorrow, the Americans take the stage...

Live Music in the Summer

Tuesday night I took to heart the advice I give all of my students at the end of the school year, and I went to hear some live music in an outdoor setting. Many towns in the north suburbs have a weekly summer concert series, and one of my favorites is at Independence Grove in Libertyville. It's a beautiful venue, especially as the sun sets over the lake just behind the stage. This week the performer was Fareed Haque and his trio.

Fareed was a classmate of mine at Northwestern. Since he was a guitar major and I was in music education, our paths didn't really cross, but I've enjoyed following his career. He's known as one of the preeminent guitarists in world music circles, combining influences from South Asia, Latin American, and classical music into a unique take on jazz and jazz fusion. His band Garaj Mahal released an album in 2010 called More Mr. Nice Guy that showcased his growing interest in electronica. If you like jazz fusion and/or prog rock, I highly recommend it.

For the show on Tuesday, he was joined by Alex Austin on bass and Greg Fundis on drum set and electronic percussion. Their setlist was stylistically diverse, including three jazz standards ("Manteca," "Doxy," and "Maiden Voyage"), a classical guitar solo ("Arabic Caprice"), and some of their electronic music. The latter was often built off of loops played and triggered by the drummer on a Roland Octapad. There were blistering guitar riffs, subterranean basslines, and Indian rhythmic solfege (ta-ka-di-mi). Quite a fun show!

Next week, I plan to see the Chicago Symphony Orchestra play Gustav Holst's The Planets at Ravinia. It sounds like it will be a multimedia spectacular, complete with video screens and astronomy demos. Best of all, high school and college students get free lawn passes just by showing their IDs. Check out the details here. It's a show that you will really enjoy!

One Month to Band Camp 2012!

One month from today, we'll convene in the band room at 1:00 p.m. to begin our new season of the Warrior Marching Band. That's right--in 31 days we'll be dusting off the quads, oiling the valves, trying on uniforms, and practicing our 8 to 5, all in preparation for our first performance on Friday, August 31. This season we'll be visiting the Olympics, Motown, the concert stage, and more. I hope to have a couple of fun new pep tunes in the mix as well as your old favorites. Here are some other things to look forward to:

• We'll have a new student teacher from NU, Mr. Schneider, joining us for the first several weeks.
• Our camp practices will be on the field just north of the stadium while they renovate the back 40.
• Our new drum majors, Steve and Joey, will be fresh from drum major camp, where they will have become marching machines.
• Best of all, our numbers are up, and we just might top the 70-member mark for the first time in several years!

Current students should look for an email from me by the end of July with more details about the upcoming fun and frivolity. Until then, keep practicing!

Happy 4th of July!

Today is Independence Day, so let's celebrate with the finest band in America, the US Marine Band, playing our national march, "The Stars and Stripes Forever," by John Philip Sousa!

Band Trip 2013!

It's official! On February 14, 2013, the DHS Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble, and Orchestra will be traveling to Phoenix, Arizona for four days of performances and sightseeing. It's going to be a wonderful tour, and if you were with us last year in Montreal, you know that these trips are always a great experience, musically, educationally, and socially. Here are some of the activities we have planned:

• a high school exchange
• a college clinic
• 1-2 public performances
• a visit to the Music Instrument Museum and the Heard Museum of Native American Art and History
• a Broadway show or concert
• a trip to the south rim of the Grand Canyon
• sightseeing and a jeep tour in Sedona
• Western-themed dining and entertainment

It promises to be a great time--watch this space for more details this fall!

Jazz Band Gig at Discover Financial

For the final DHS Band performance of the year, the Jazz Band played a "corporate gig." This is when you are asked to provide background music for a company event. It's a common activity for a professional, jobbing musician, so it was a good experience for us. Our role was to play upbeat music in the 4-story, circular foyer of the Discover Financial Services headquarters in Riverwoods. The employees were lining the balconies of each floor, looking down to where we were performing, while the award winners from all around the country were introduced. Our challenge was to keep the music going continuously, so as we approached the end of a tune, I called up the next one. When we hit the cut-off, the rhythm section immediately started the next introduction vamp so the horn players could get their music ready, and away we went.

The group played quite well, in spite of a missing neckstrap and an oversleeping band member. It was a great way to have the seniors play one last time as members of the DHS band family. And with that, we close the door on another year (the 52nd!) in the history of the DHS Bands. Happy Summer!

Music Theory World Music Playlist

On the last day of school, I had some fun with my two remaining music theory students (the 13 seniors had graduated and left us to fend for ourselves). Both of them are way into music from all over the world. One is our resident oud-playing Middle Eastern music specialist, and the other is a big fan of Nigerian afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti and French chanteuse Edith Piaf. So, I loaded up my iPod with 22 tracks from my many sources and let them try to guess where each tune was from. It was amazing how accurately they guessed music from Mali and Armenia, yet were totally stumped by Greece and Tanzania. Anyway, here's the playlist:

1. Mali - Salif Keita - "Madan" - Moffou
2. Benin - Angélique Kidjo - "Batonga" - The Best Of World Music - African (Putumayo Presents)
3. Cameroon - Zap Mama - "Brrrlak!" - Adventures in Afropea I
4. South Africa - Johnny Clegg And Juluka - "Umfazi Omdala" - The Best Of World Music - African (Putumayo Presents)
5. Tanzania - Mohamed Ilyas - "Hofu Yako Iondoe" - Zanzibara Vol.1 Cent ans de taarab à Zanzibar
6. Morocco - Nass Marrakech - "Yo Mala" - Sabil `a` Salaam
7. Cuba - Arsenio Rodriguez - "El Reloj de Pastora" - Legends of Cuban Music
8. Jamaica - Burning Spear - "Slavery Days" - Marcus Garvey/Garvey’s Ghost
9. Brazil - Abacaxi - "Batucada" - Samba Percussion Live In Concert
10. Mexico - Banda la Costeña - "La Plebada" - 12 Nuevos Costeñazos
11. USA - Cornel Pewewardy - "Kiowa Hymn" - Global Voices - Sacred
12. DR of Congo - Konono No.1 - "Ungudi Wele Wele" - Congotronics
13. Japan - Orchestra Asia - "Sakura, Sakura" - ExxonMobil-NTU Explorations in the Arts Series
14. Dominican Republic - La India Canela - "Apriétame Así" ("Squeeze Me Like That") - Merengue Típico from the Dominican Republic
15. Greece - Kristi Stassinopoulou - "Drumming Frogs" - Echotropia
16. India/Pakistan - Rudresh Mahanthappa - "Apti" - Apti
17. Indonesia - Gamelan Gong Kebyar of Peliatan - "Kebyar: Teruna" - Excursions In World Music
18. Iran - Hasan Kasa'i - "Shushtari" - The Silk Road: A Musical Caravan
19. Uzbekistan - Jurabek Nabiev - "Uchun Dur" - The Silk Road: A Musical Caravan
20. Armenia - Gevorg Dabaghian - "Dance of Tamir Agha" - The Silk Road: A Musical Caravan
21. Kazakhstan - Aygul Ulkenbaeva - "Balbyraun" - The Silk Road: A Musical Caravan
22. Turkey - Jarrahi Dervishes - "Sufi Hymn" - The Silk Road: A Musical Caravan