Chicago Jazz Festival

One of the better jazz festivals in North America is the Chicago Jazz Festival. Although not as famous as its counterparts in Newport, Monterey, or Montreal, it has undergone a bit of a renaissance over the past few years, and it is still one of the few free fests around. Two years ago I caught living legend Ornette Coleman, one of the elder statesmen of jazz and a pioneer free jazz musician. His set on alto sax, trumpet, and violin was a flurry of creativity and passion--quite impressive given that he was 80 years old at the time. I also saw a band called 8 Bold Souls play a collection of swinging avant garde tunes that inspired me to seek out their recordings and learn more about them.

This year's jazz fest starts this week and will be featuring a DHS JB favorite, Nicole Mitchell, as artist-in-residence. She is a leader on the Chicago jazz scene, known as an outstanding flutist, composer, and bandleader. We played her tune "Cause and Effect" last year, and two of our members participated in a master class she presented. She will be appearing four times throughout the festival, in a duo and with larger groups like her Black Earth Ensemble. Other highlights of the festival include:

• Brad Mehldau, an internationally acclaimed pianist known for dense, polyphonic music and his interpretations of Radiohead and Beatles tunes
  
  
• The Either/Orchestra, an eclectic band out of Boston (DHS alum Danny Kaufman toured and recorded with them several years back)
  
  
• Kurt Elling, one of the top jazz vocalists in the world, and another local Chicagoan

I highly recommend that you check out the schedule and get downtown to see some of the shows. You won't be disappointed! I'm hoping to get down there on Sunday--see you there!

Band Camp 2010!

Here is a batch of pictures from Band Camp today. We are off to a great start, with pregame learned (although there's plenty of polishing to do), halftime started, and a good amount of pep music under our belts. I am especially proud of an extra large group of freshmen who have joined us and are already becoming an important part of the band family. The seniors are doing a great job in their leadership roles, and I can tell it's going to be a great season.

Here are the results from the section march-by:

1. Sousaphones
2. Saxophones
3. Mellophones

Tomorrow we do the individual march off. Place your wagers now! (Just kidding. Gambling on marching band rehearsals is illegal, immoral, and against the activities code. Don't gamble!)

From the Archives

Here's a picture of the Deerfield HS Band playing the most presitigious performance of our 50-year history. In 1972, Deerfield resident Dan Walker won the Illinois gubernatorial election to become our state's 36th governor. He asked the DHS Band to perform at his inauguration, and on Monday, January 8, 1973, Mr. Spriester brought the students to Springfield to play the pre-ceremony prelude . Musical selections included "Battle Hymn of the Republic," "There'll Be a Change in the Weather," "Anchors Aweigh," and "America the Beautiful." The University of Illinois Marching Band played the national anthem, our state song, and a recessional. Today, if you visit our band room, you'll see a framed collage commemorating the event with a picture of Gov. Walker, two photos of the band at the capitol, and a handwritten thank-you note from the governor.

Fortunately for us, the legacy of the DHS Band did not follow Gov. Walker's career. In 1987, he was convicted of improper financial dealings with a savings and loan and sentenced to seven years in jail. He served 18 months in a prison in Duluth, Minnesota, and now lives in California.

The DHS Band actually played for President Reagan in 1985. His helicopter touched down in our parking lot before he was whisked away to a speaking engagement at the kitchens of Sara Lee, which at the time had its headquarters in Deerfield at Waukegan and Kates Roads. The band and Choraliers performed for him there, but it wasn't a high profile gig like the governor's inauguration.

Bela Fleck, Edgar Meyer, and Zakir Hussein in a Mini-Concert

Every time I go to the NPR Music website, I find something new and amazing. One ongoing series they produce is called the "Tiny Desk Concerts," in which major league musicians from all genres are invited to squeeze into the cubicle of music host Bob Boilen and perform a short set for the cameras. In this installment, banjo player Bela Fleck, bassist Edgar Meyer, and tabla master Zakir Hussein perform two pieces that are part jazz, part Americana, and part worldbeat. The instruments represent four different continents (banjo from North America via Africa, bass from Europe, and tablas from India), but the players couldn't be more "in tune" with each other. The interaction is tight and the musicians obviously love playing together. The close-range camera shots give us great views of all three players' technique, especially exciting when they zoom in on Hussein's hands as they become a blur of motion on the drum heads. Check out the video here. They even have an mp3 that you can download of the concert!

Summer Mailing Now Available

The summer letter that you've come to know and love will not be mailed home this year. Instead, it is posted on the band website. Click here to find out everything that's going on this coming year! Included is a calendar of all band performances, information on SB/WE/JB curriculum, and everything you need to know about the Warrior Marching Band. Check it out today!

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Websites for Great Music Listening

If you know me, you know that I hold a pretty dim view of illegal downloads. Being in the music business from the education side of things, I believe it's important to teach my students that artists and songwriters should get paid for what they do. That being said, there are a number of websites that give you the opportunity to listen to great music via streaming. In other words, it's like listening to a radio instead of owning a CD--you can listen to the music, but you can't download it. Here are some of my favorites:

Palmetto Records is a great jazz record company. They have a jukebox-type player on their front page that has full length tunes from their catalog.

NextBop is a blog about contemporary jazz by artists like Ben Allison, Christian Scott, and Medeski Martin and Wood. Click on the "radio" tab to hear a stream of today's jazz with a decidedly rock influence. You can also click on individual artists to just hear their tracks. I recommend Darcy James Argue and his hip big band, Secret Society.

My favorite rock music station is WXRT 93.1FM Chicago. I've been listening to them since the 1980s when I was discovering Elvis Costello, Prince, and the Talking Heads. One of the bands that they helped to put on the map was REM. You can hear a live stream of their incredible album, Fables of the Reconstruction, here. It's one of the only albums I love enough to own on both vinyl and CD.

National Public Radio (NPR) has a ridiculous amount of web content for music lovers. They have blogs, archived concerts, new music samplers, interviews, and get-to-know-the-music pages for every style imaginable from classical to rock to jazz to world music. I'm currently listening to Bassekou Kouyate, a performer from the African country of Mali.

So check these out. Let me know if you have other sites you enjoy, and I'll post them here.

Hey, have you practiced lately?

(BTW--I was on this ill-fated boat cruise in Boston while on a mission trip with the high schoolers from our church. Ask me about it sometime.)