The tip of the Christmas tree,
and a fake Liberty Bell

---

4 DECEMBER 2006:

CHRISTMAS IN THE VILLAGE; AENEAS IN DIDO

The Solstice Brass at the McFarland State Bank

Last Saturday, the Solstice Brass Quartet, the Second String Violin Duo, and the Wind in the Reeds woodwind quartet had the pleasure of performing at the McFarland State Bank's portion of McFarland's Christmas in the Village celebration. This year's Solstice Brass lineup is:

Frank Ransley - trumpet
Amy Kolpin - French horn and trumpet
Sherry Wegner - French horn
Autumn Leonard - Euphonium with bursts of trombone
Quinn Leonard - Tuba and euphonium

The expanded lineup allowed us to tackle, and sometimes subdue, a few of the Canadian Brass' Christmas quintet arrangements. For Christmas in the Village we were also joined by international French horn celebrity Mr. Geoffrey Winter. The MHS Blue Notes vocal jazz ensemble (which includes AITDJB mainstays Andrea Bakunowicz and Zach Staszewski) also turned up at the McBank for a while; when we weren't accompanying them, we got to rest our chops.

The Wind in the Reeds expanded their coverage of Christmas jazz arrangements originally intended for string quartet, but intrepidly managed by the group's unique combination of bassoon, alto sax, clarinet, and violin. The group also broke out a bassoon/bassoon/clarinet trio, covering the excellent Eric Fote arrangements meant for tuba/trombone/trumpet groups. Second String rounded out the program with some lovely violin duets from Ms. Shoemaker's Red Book.

A good time was had by all. Even Santa seemed jolly.

The Solstice Brass was scheduled to perform at the bonfire and treelighting ceremony Saturday evening, and we did try. Unlike some other years, in which we have tried to project an air of holiday festivity while standing on green grass, we had pretty snow and biting cold this year. We could have been poster children for the addition of antifreeze to valve oil, but by taking it in turns to warm our brasses, we got through several songs well enough.

Last weekend was also Tonya Neumann's performance in Dido and Aeneas with her UW choral group, an event which I'll mention again here when I've had a chance to download the audio and listen to it.

Thanks to Pam Sam and Sheila Roissum for the photos used above, and for many others.

---

27 NOVEMBER 2006:

HONORED BADGERS

On the evening of 9 November a group of talented Badger Conference musicians gave a rousing conference at the Waunakee Performing Arts Center, under the always-interesting direction of the UW's Scott Teeple. McFarland Students were well represented, with Kolin Walker in the trumpet section 9to whose parents I owe thanks for the photo below.) Nora Hickey (WitR 2005, SS 2004 - 2006) and Eric Adams (AITDJB 2005 - 2006) represented our groups.

The performances were brisk and pleasing. Especially ambitious was a nearly-complete playing of Robert Russell Bennett's challenging Suite of Old American Dances, which puts a strain on any young musician's reading skills, but which this group handled smoothly. Dave Heilman's arrangement of Phil Faini's El Cumbanchero, for percussion ensemble, was the evening's highlight, showcasing superb musicians upon whom Dave had worked his characteristic marvels. And the band's take on Sammy Hazo's exhilarating Ride had a tempo as aggressive as any college band could dish up.

---

20 NOVEMBER 2006:

THE ONLY TRAGEDY IS THAT THIS COMEDY'S RUN IS OVER

I must confess to feeling some trepidation as I took my seat for the McFarland High School production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum Friday night. The show's cast requirements are particularly guy-heavy - not a realm in which small-town school programs tend to have an embarrassment of riches - and there are scars from the memory of the dorky film version starring Zero Mostel. Still, Forum is a funny show, and there were some talented and likeable kids in the cast. So my expectations were high. But not very high.

I have seldom been so delighted at having my expectations completely blown away.

The production was very good from all standpoints, and the performances superb. I laughed so much my voice was hoarse the next day; but I went back for the Saturday performance anyway. This production had heart, smarts, talent, and - above all - excellent direction. There is so much Sondheim/Shevelove/Gelbart cleverness, and the clever bits come at such a rapid fire, that it is the kind of piece amateur productions routinely botch because not enough members of the cast actually understand the jokes. That results in a show that makes audiences groan not at the puns, but at the pain of watching the performers miss them. But in the current MHS production so many of the cast were so smart that it was all the audience could do to hang on, and at least a dozen very funny lines drew fewer laughs than thy might have, merely because the house was still catching its breath - and catching up. These actors got it. Since intelligence like this is not always native-born in actors, some director here must have done rather fine preparatory work with the cast.

David Michels gave the impression that he has been growing toward the role of Pseudolus during all his time on stage at MHS. His performance gave us just the right sense of brinksmanship, diving from one loopy lie to the next without stopping to look back. As a side note it is interesting that Mr. Michels seems to be making a specialty of roles that require him to drug damsels.

The two young lovers were charming, and it was a genuine treat to watch them making eyes at each other all evening. Adorable Andrea Bakunowicz (AITDJB 2005 - 2006) was exactly as lovely and vacant as she needed to be; it would be hard for an actress to keep that beatific smile in place without letting it turn into a simper, if she weren't as nice a gal as Andrea. (If you read this, Andrea, remember that in this case 'vacant' is a complement.) And of course Andrea has an absolutely lovely voice. Tim Meisel made his turn as Hero appear effortless, as it should; he was natural all evening, with responses that gave the character a fine texture of believability.

Zach Staszewski (AITDJB 2004 - 2006) was - I don't know how else to put this, because I seldom say it - nearly perfect. The role of Erronius does not exactly offer a lot of range. So instead of trying to milk the role, Zach just inhabited it, completely and professionally. His gentle Jewish Bronx accent and old-man wheeziness never interfered with his projection, and his physical timing made me believe he really had cataracts. After the show he was wondering at the applause he got each time he made another circuit of Rome, and I told him it was because we all love him. But that's wrong. We do love him, but we were applauding because he did a great job.

Senex and Domina were capably played by Stefan Buhalog and Bridget Norris. As one of the main pivots of misunderstanding, Senex is responsible for a good share of the momentum in some scenes, and Mr. Buhalog was equal to the task. Ms. Norris gave us several moments in which her Domina was appropriately frightening. Kristofer Buhalog was satisfyingly smarmy (and scarily hairy) as Marcus Lycus. I hope Ben DuCharme is not a pompous ass in real life, but he makes a convincing one on the stage.

One of the brightest gems of the evening was Chris Boness' creation of the twitchy, put-upon Hysterium. This fine young actor showed a real mastery of the three most important elements of good comedy, all of which are timing. Every time he had an opportunity to pull a face, add a whine to his pronunciation of a vowel, or pause that crucial split second before delivering a line, he took it - no, he pounced on it, creating at every moment a character which I think missed nothing that could have been done to make it richer. His remarkably pliable face is exactly suited to the requirements of stage buffoonery, and he seems able to snap it in an instant from maudlin horror to wide-eyed startlement, always at just the right instant. His duet with Pseudolus, in which we can see him slowly coming around to the viewpoint that it might be fun to be a girl, was a minor masterpiece.

The production had only a few false notes, which I mention mostly out of a sense of duty - if I fancy myself a critic, I'd be a poor one if I found nothing to criticize. One thing that jarred me every time I heard it was the consistently odd pronunciation of the word 'courtesan', which turned up many times. The cast seemed trained to say something like 'kurtizan', which Random House gives as the third most preferred pronunciation (of three), and the OED does not list at all. It may have confused audience members whose previous exposure to the word was in Moulin Rouge, where everybody uses the much more standard pronunciation.

Another oddity was a casting choice, with the selection of the smallest, daintiest dancer for the role of Gymnasia. I am not impugning Kyla Miller's performance; she was wonderful. But her petiteness automatically made all the jokes about her ample size non-starters, and the choice was puzzling since there were several more substantial young women in the cast. Perhaps the choice was intended as irony; I hope that at least it was made from artistic considerations and not from a misguided attempt to spare someone's self-esteem.

The choreography was particularly strong and thorough, with no one relegated to shuffling in a box-step just because they were in the chorus. The sequence featuring Lycus' girls in their parade of flesh was particularly inventive. Kelsey Kleckner's dance sequence as Tintinabula, eponymously complete with bell-like finger-cymbals, was such a show stopper that I wished it had been placed last so I could have applauded it longer. Mary Mitchell and Ashleigh Nelson looked like they were having more fun than the DoubleMint twins; they showed good affinity, and brought a strong dose of vavoom to the stage. I hope no one overly conservative was in the audience, because Erin Shannon dished up Vibrata with so much animal magnetism that she could be used as an argument for leash laws. Finally, David Michels can dance, too - but I suppose being surrounded by a bevy of beauties gave him inspiration.

Anne Nichols (AITDJB 2005 - 2006) provided her usual flawless musical direction; someday this lady should screw something up, if only to keep our expectations of her excellence from becoming routine. For several years running I've said that the MHS musical theater pit orchestra was unusually fine, but here I go again: They were unusually fine. It was a special pleasure to hear a string bass, which was particularly suited to this score; I hope this is the start of a trend. Jamie Sercombe, who has sat in with the AITDJB several times at the eleventh hour, always produces precise, fitting sounds. Dave Heilman's enlightened percussion work is in a class by itself and is above comment by the likes of me. The four - count 'em, four - reeds in the pit were as many, and as good, as might be heard on Broadway; they included local legends Brian Vanderbloemen (AITDJB 2005 - 2006) and Glenn Nielsen (AITDJB 2001 - 2006).

The pit gave the actors just the right amount of support, and delivered it with sparkle. It was disappointing that the production used canned music for the dance sequences in the parade of flesh; I suppose this was done so that the dancers could rehearse without needing the orchestra to commit to ten times as many rehearsals as they already did. But live is always better than taped, and I wish we could have heard those fine woodwinds giving live backing to Tintinabula and Vibrata.

The set was spare, which in this case is more than adequate: more stage dressing would have got in the way of the farce. There was enough stuff to hide behind, and a few doors, and that was plenty. The balcony was an oddity, though, and all the actors had apparently been told to enter it on their knees. Why? Was the parapet too low for safety? (This is only a small kvetch; I did not consciously notice it on first viewing). No scene changes, and no costume changes except for the plot-driven disguises, must have made for a relatively placid time backstage during the run; again, complications not needed by the book were very wisely not added by the director, whose sure hand made this a wonderful show.

Drama at MHS is on an upward arc. There is a solid talent pool, and an established culture that knows that the fall musical and the spring drama are cool. The importance of this culture cannot be overrated, because it means that not only will a smorgasboard of talent audition for parts, but that performances will sell out to hoards of parents and students who know how to enjoy the shows.

The logical next step is to elevate MHS drama to the status of a department. Talent is great, but it's not always enough: these students should have the benefit of actual theater classes, taught by professionals and taken for credit. The course offerings should at the very least cover acting, vocal arts, technical theater, dance, directing, management, and the critical study of dramatic literature. An interim step might be to offer extracurricular instruction to members of a formal Drama Club. (I might add that in an auditorium as small as the one at MHS, actors who have been properly taught to project could finally dispense with those bloody microphones).

MHS thespians and their support crews pour out their guts for us every year. We are all richer for it. If every parent who comes to a show would try, just for a moment, to put themselves in the shoes of the students who tread the boards, and to imagine the unique courage and dedication required to stand before an audience and perform, the District would surely get voter support for the Drama Program it really needs.

Photos courtesy of Clan Staszewski

---

13 NOVEMBER 2006:

WYSO STEENBOCK CONCERTS

The WYSO Concert Orchestra performed in UW Mills Hall last Saturday, in the first installment of the 2006 Steenbock Concert Series. It was one of the finest concerts I have ever heard the orchestra execute. Almost everything sounded right.

Under the direction of Christine Mata Eckel, Concert performed a slate of works that showcased the groups considerable depth of talent, if not much diversity of style. The opening piece, New York composer Robert Washburn's St. Lawrence Overture, is intended as a musical portrait of the St. Lawrence River. The violins and woodwinds did an especially fine job handling its most moving lyric sections.

Three Pieces from Swan Lake is a clever extraction by David Stone from Piotr Tchaikovsky's famous work, including 'Scene', 'Dance of the Swans', and 'Valse'. A brass choir segment sounded especially well, although last year's tuba was perhaps stronger. Note also that Isis Leonard, the group's only bassoonist, was apparently anointed an honorary brass player for this part. Ms. Eckel's prefatory comments about the enchanted swan-princesses, the lake of tears, and so forth were helpful.

The fourth movement of Brahms' First Symphony came off clean and accurate; even the French horns sounded good. The concert closed with Knightsbridge March, by Eric Coates.

Tempos were in all cases thoughtfully chosen, and the ensemble gave the impression of living up to their conductor's metric expectation. Intonation was mostly accurate, although a passage in Swan Lake that featured both of the group's oboes probably should have used only one. But overall the woodwinds sounded great, with less diversity of opinion about pitch than they have sometimes shown.

The WYSO Sinfonietta string ensemble and Philharmonia Orchestra also performed Saturday, as did the Percussion Ensemble. Youth Orchestra, featuring Nora Hickey, (the other member of McFarland's bassoon juggernaut), will perform their entry in the Steenbock series on Sunday 17 December at 2:00 PM. The program for Concert's performance explains the concert series' name thus:

"Evelyn Van Donk Steenbock (1905 - 1992) loved music and was dedicated to fostering the musical talents of youth. In 1974, she established the awards for the Madison Symphony Orchestra's Young Artist Competition. She regularly attended WYSO concerts and was also an advisor to the Board of Directors. Her gifts and enthusiasm were influential to the growth and vitality of the WYSO program.

It is with deep gratitude that we recognize her generous support of WYSO during her lifetime and her major bequest to the WYSO Endowment by naming WYSO's annual season opening concerts in her honor."

The image shows: back row, L-R: Isis Leonard, Nora Hickey; front row, L-R: Yunhui Chou, Elizabeth Froden.

---

4 NOVEMBER 2006:

SOLSTICE BRASS AT REFORMATION SUNDAY SERVICE

The Senior Choir at McFarland Lutheran

On Sunday 29 October, three members of the Solstice Brass Quartet - Autumn, Quinn, and Frank - performed in a brass quintet at the McFarland Lutheran Church, under the direction of Glenn Nielsen. The ensemble consisted of three trumpets and two euphonia; Brians Hettiger and Boshers were the other two high brass.

The quintet appeared (and were heard) at the 8:00 and 10:30 services, performing preludes to hymns and accompanying the choir, organ, and congregation on some verses. Brass selections included A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, The Church's One Foundation, and My Hope Is built On Nothing Less.

Reformation Sunday is an anniversary observance of Martin Luther's best-known act of defiance against what he saw as fiscal corruption in the Catholic church: in 1517 he nailed a list of 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, sparking debate and rebellion.

---

28 2006:

ISIS IN HONORS BAND; GLENN RECEIVES HONORS

Isis Leonard performed in the 2006 WSMA Middle Level State Honors Program band concert at the Middleton Marriott this weekend. Under the baton of Jay Gilbert, the group kept an audience of hundreds of parents well entertained. The audition-only program is Wisconsin's showcase for talented young instrumentalists. According to the WSMA Web site:

"Across the state, 305 students in grades six, seven and eight were selected in June 2006 from more than 1,400 who auditioned to participate in the WSMA program. Auditions included individual student performances and an ensemble class, taught by an Honors adjudicator. Selection was based on several aspects of music performance. The WSMA Honors Project brings Wisconsin's finest school musicians together to work with nationally known conductors in a professional setting."

The concert was superb, a tribute both to the high level of musicianship among Wisconsin middle school students, and to the energy and dedication of the fine conductors chosen by WSMA. The opening number, Anniversary Fanfare by Jay Gilbert (have you ever noticed that, year after year, it is the band directors who bring their own compositions to WSMA programs - never the orchestral, choral, or jazz people?) was short and crisp, a fine opening piece that made good musical sense. Timothy Broege's Three Pieces for American Band, Set No. 2 was constructed of 'Fanfare', 'Pavan to a Ground', and 'Fantasia'. Although the opening and closing portions provided some framing and context, the central segment was the most satisfactory of the three, a clever melding of a repeated theme into a pavan that sounded at once authentic and fresh. The result was a sort of musical sestina.

Mozart's Ave Vernum Corpus was composed as a choral motet, but the clever arrangement by Barbara Buehlman made it seem right at home in a band. Even the saxophones sounded good in it. Wisconsinite Pierre LaPlante is a favorite composer among local bands, not because he's a Wisconsinite, but because he writes crackerjack music. The Honors Band performed his Prairie Songs, a lovely, rich blend of two Wisconsin folk songs ('The Pinery Boy' and 'The Turkey Song', if you're reading this, Bria) that makes demands upon a band's technical skill in the fast parts, and upon the maturity of its musicianship in the slow parts. The IMMS band performed this piece last year, but were never able to get the tempos and chords right. The WSMA Honors Band nailed it to the barn.

The band closed with the Military Escort march, by Harold Bennett (aka Henry Fillmore, a guy who was almost John Phillip Sousa.) This Frederick Fennell arrangement may have been missing some of the pyrotechnics of the original - someone who knows the work better can correct me - but the band played it with enthusiasm.

Sound was clean and strong across most of the band - they even had some pretty good French horn players. Percussion was precise. There was some tendency for the trumpets not to hold their pitch on sustained tones, and the high woodwinds had a wider distribution of tuning that might on the whole be desirable. But the overall effect of ensemble musicianship was amazingly good: if these kids can play like this after only a few hours of rehearsal together, imagine what they must be like in their bands back home.

Glenn Nielsen is the man who started the Middle Level segment of the WSMA Honors program. At Saturday's concert, he was recognized by the WSMA administration and the audience, but not for that: he is one of the first people to contribute to a program that sponsors chairs in the WSMA ensembles, helping ensure that talented music students can perform even if they cannot afford the whole tuition.

---

26 OCTOBER 2006:

WSMA HIGH SCHOOL STATE HONORS BAND

Nora Hickey represented McFarland at the WSMA State Honors Orchestra performance at Madison's Overture Center this afternoon. The WSMA Honors program ensembles are audition-only showcases for the finest high school music students in Wisconsin. It is an outstanding achievement to have triumphed in the highly competitive audition process and to have earned a chair in these ensembles even once; this is Nora's fifth consecutive year of performance in the program.

Under the direction of Lowell Graham, the orchestra met for several days' rehearsal at UW-Green Bay last June, and again for a day before Thursday's concert. The program included the Cuban Overture, by George Gershwin; Danzon No. 2, by Arturo Marquez; and Ballet Suite No. 4, by Dmitri Shostakovich.

Originally titled Rumba, Gershwin's Cuban Overture was the result of a month the composer spent frolicking in Cuba in 1932. Before the United States created a communist dictatorship on the island, Cuba was a playtime paradise of sun-drenched outdoor sporting and even hotter nightlife. Gershwin was fascinated by the things the Cubans were doing with percussion instruments, and captured some of the heat in this lush orchestral work.

Mexican composer Marquez also drew from Cuban wells to inform his Danzon. The form is a wild, modern urban dance, usually with an opening theme stated by a clarinet, then jazzed up by a fuller group.

---

23 OCTOBER 2006:

MHS CHOIR CONCERT AIRS NEW BLUE NOTES

On Monday night McFarland concertgoers got their first look at Anne Nichols' 2006-2007 Blue Notes vocal jazz ensemble, and an encouraging look it was. At nineteen members, this group is the largest Blue Notes ever. I'm not sure yet if that's a good thing, or not, but certainly the group has plenty of power. The lineup is:

Soprano:

Sydney Cook, Alyssa Gray, Kelsey Beck, Lauren Sladek, Caley Polipnick, and Ally Schmaling (last year's truly magical Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz

Alto:

Andrea Bakunowicz, Melissa Kuehl, Amanda Maund, and Melanie Williams

Tenor:

Tim Meisel, Kolin Walker, and Zach Staszewski

Baritone:

Kristofer Buhalog, Stephan Buhalog,, and Isaac Siegmann

Bass:

Ben DuCharme, Michael Flaherty, and David Michaels

Blue Notes performed Route 66, by Bobby Troup, in an arrangement by Dick Averre, and Alice in Wonderland, arranged by D. Rutherford from a work by Hilliard and Fain.

Concert Choir, which includes Isis Leonard, performed Songs of a Prospector, by Stephen Chatman. The text is taken from a set of poems by pioneer and miner George Winkler. Movements included: Pals, Memories, The Scout, Roses I Send to You, and The Calliope.

More review will follow, as soon as I get to listen to a recording of the show.

---

Brad

16 OCTOBER 2006:

AN AFTERNOON WITH THE UW BANDS

On Sunday afternoon, the University of Wisconsin bands gave a series of excellent concerts in Mills Hall. Brad Anderson (AITDJB 2001 - 2006) performed in the percussion section of the UW Concert Band, with Scott Teeple conducting. Autumn Leonard (AITDJB 2001 - 2006, SB 2001 - 2006) played euphonium with the third of three University Bands, under the direction of Michael Lorenz. Tonya Neumann (AITDJB 2003 - 2006) also performed later that evening with her University Choir ensemble; I couldn't make it to the performance and would be grateful for any program information, photos, or comments submitted to me by Gentle Readers.

Brad's band, a clean, well-knit group, performed first. Their program consisted of:

Overture to 'Candide', by Leonard Bernstein
Amazing Grace, arranged by L. Maldonado
Second Suite in F, by Gustav Holst
In Evening's Quiet, by Charles Rochester Young
Vesuvius, by Frank Ticheli
Folk Dances, by Dmitri Shostakovich

The Shostakovich piece was particularly animated and crisp.

Autumn's band, which included the orange piccolo guy, performed

The Battle Pavanne, by Tielman Susato
Polestar, by the UW's own Michael Leckrone
The Trombone King, by Karl King
Harvest Hymn, by Percy Grainger
Pines of the Appian Way, from 'Pines of Rome', by Ottorino Respighi

Polestar proved to be a surprisingly mature, listenable work. Grainger's piece was performed at a rapid (and steady) tempo that might have robbed it of a little dignity, but certainly gave it some needed clarity. I am generally surprised when a work for one type of ensemble turns out OK when rearranged for another type; Antonio d'Elia's version of Pines for wind ensemble worked surprisingly well, although alto saxophones are still not violas.

---

M

13 OCTOBER 2006:

ANNE NICHOLS BEWITCHING AS DOROTHY

The 2006 MHS Marching Spartans got off to a roaring start at the home football game Friday night, taking us through the ever-crowd-pleasing Malaguena, and of course Finally Victors. Anne Nichols sang The Star-Spangled Banner with the band.

Kids from our groups are even more heavily represented than usual this year. From the Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band, Eric Adams, Andrea Bakunowicz, Nick Bakunowicz, and Zach Staszewski were all on the field.

From the Wind in the Reeds woodwind quartet, and from the Second String Violin Duo, the pregame marching show featured Becca Funk, Nora Hickey, Isis Leonard, and Gena Roisum.

The halftime show was a splendid condensation of The Wizard of Oz, complete with a roll-out Yellow Brick Road and drill formations that spelled OZ. Dorothy was fetchingly portrayed by Anne Nichols (AITDJB 2005 - 2006); her companions were Eric Brehm, Mike Roltgen, and Tod Lacy.

The opening drill performance, marched to a medley of Follow the Yellow Brick Road, If I Only Had A Brain, and Off to See the Wizard, was as cleanly marched as anything I've seen the MHS band do. The music sounded good, too, with clear projection decent football-field intonation; even the woodwinds came through well. Low brass was especially strong. Even with all those tubas, Andrew Garvey's distinctive, muscular sound is clearly audible. The band performed Miss Gulch and Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead! in formation, them marched again to Over the Rainbow, sung tonight by our own Anne Nichols. It was a show worth seeing, and a fine finale to Dave Heilman's string of excellent halftime shows.

The Senior band members get their own feature each year, generally hoking it up in some pop-culture homage. This year, the targets were Michael Jackson and The Blues Brothers, both of whom made appearances on the field. The senior segment opened with Thriller, followed by a conga-line rendition of Tequila, the Blues Brothers theme, and, naturally, Finally Victors, which ended in a photo op.

---

9 OCTOBER 2006:

TONYA AND THE HORN DOGS

A couple of weeks ago Tonya Neumann was invited to join a local R&B band on stage. Here's her report of the adventure:

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who dreamed of nothing more than to play with the renowned band, the Red Hot Horn Dawgs.

Or something like that.

Some Horn Dogs

Last month, I received an invitation to perform in Stevens Point with the Red Hot Horn Dawgs, a local horn band (tricky tricky) specializing in “Rock & Soul, Rhythm & Blues.” As their usual saxophonist had a real job and was thus unable to attend a noon performance at the Land’s End anniversary celebration, I had the opportunity to step in and sight-read – yes, sight-read. Who needs rehearsals? – hit pieces such as “Hold on I’m Comin’,” “Brown Eyed Girl,” and “Pick up the Pieces” at the event.

Performing with this talented group of musicians was quite the experience. The energy and enthusiasm they bring to each performance is contagious, and their wide variety of chart-topping music hits puts them in the prime position to perform at various venues, including the McFarland Adventures in Music Camp, Harvest Fest, and the Dry Bean. And of course, their willingness to pick up a random sax player less than 24 hours before a gig makes them an awesome group in my book, as it allowed this girl a new outlet to do what she loves – perform.

---

2 OCTOBER 2006:

FROM MCFARLAND, WITH LOVE

The Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band's 2006 season came to a close with a suave James Bond bang, in three performances at the McFarland Family Festival on 22 - 24 September. Clots of rain blew through McFarland all weekend, but by chance or providence the sun always shone on us.

We were the opening act on the Big Top stage, playing three of our best sets of the summer on the evening of Friday the 22nd; Isis and Nora provided between-sets Celtic and Hungarian violin duets, and Autumn performed a banjo-and-voice version of Puff, the Magic Dragon which will not soon be forgotten. The delightful, gifted Ms. Anne Nichols also joined us on stage, giving a soulful rendition of Basin Street Blues: she, too, has suffered.

The Homecoming parade was Sunday, and this year's theme was "007" - although for some reason the Marching Spartans played Malaguena in the parade, and prepared a Wizard of Oz medley for the halftime show that was rained out at the Homecoming game last week - more on that when it happens. But the AITDJB got the theme and dressed the part. In the photo above (click on it to get a bigger version, if you need to), notice particularly:

Brad's fingers in the iconic Bond gun pose;
Sara's snappy, fetching Marlene Dietrich look,
Glenn's hat, which at first I thought was the same one he wore for Under the Sea in 2005 and for Retro Decades in 2004, but which is demonstrably different, and
Tonya's Bond Girl costume, which almost stayed on without help, and which she tells us makes her "Helga Brandt, SPECTRE agent no. 11 in You Only Live Twice. I attempted to kill Bond by leaving him in a crashing plane, but of course 007 lived and later vengeance was had on me."

After the parade we tumbled off the float and back onto the Big Top stage for our last two sets of the year. This time we were joined by Emily Raasch, who split the vocal spotlight with Zach.

Thanks to everyone who made this such a great year: the helpful custodial and administrative staff at MHS; the parents who schlepped; and the MHS music faculty who shared their rehearsal spaces and - most importantly - their fine student musicians. Of course the deepest thanks are due the musicians themselves. Some of you travel from far away and hang around to play Dixie music; some are newcomers who have just gotten beyond the big pink bowtie. But it is a delight and a privilege to play music with each of you.

The Yeare gone by was a grand old Dame; may the Yeare to come be so grand, or the Same

---

29 SEPTEMBER 2006:

ELDERLY MARCHING SPARTANS REFUSE TO YIELD

---

25 SEPTEMBER 2006:

ALMA MATER LURES HOMING TOTS: THOUSANDS DUE

Well, dozens maybe. This Friday night is MHS Homecoming, featuring a halftime show by the 2006 Marching Spartans. Also, be prepared to cheer geezers during the pregame show, when MHS alumni return to march in convict uniforms.

Here's a listing of some of the good stuff you have to look forward to in October:


UPCOMING EVENTS


[There used to be a list of October events here. On 2 October 2006 new material was added to the list, and it was moved to the central EVENTS LISTING page]

---