NEWS OF OUR MUSICIANS: SUMMER 2007

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17 SEPTEMBER 2007:

10 SEPTEMBER 2007:

3 SEPTEMBER 2007:

AITDJB TOUCHES DOWN AT LAMBEAU FIELD

Happy PCMC L3 People

The Paper Converting Machine Company (PCMC) of Green Bay, Wisconsin, is full of happy, happy people. The AITDJB were invited by these happy people to perform at an employee-recognition shindig in the Lambeau Field Atrium on Thursday 30 August 2007. It was a really swell gig: the Johnny Blood room in the Atrium was a perfect performace space, the nosh was excellent, and the listening audience was preternaturally respectful. PCMC put us up for the night in the local Radisson, and those who wished for it were treated to a tour of the PCMC plant the next day.

At Lambeau Field

Here's a shot of the PCMC stage. Out front, left to right, we see Amanda DeBoer (AITDJB 2001 - 2007), Frank Ransley (SB 2003 - 2007, AITDJB 2004 - 2008), Gena Roisum (AITDJB 2007 - 2008, WitR 2005 - 2007) Brian Vanderbloemen (AITDJB 2005 - 2008), and Autumn Leonard (AITDJB 2001 - 2008, SB 2001 - 2007). In the back, Isis Leonard (WitR 2003 - 2007, SS 2004 - 2007, AITDJB 2007 - 2008) and Sara Siegmann (AITDJB 2004 - 2008) are visible at the piano, and Brad Anderson (AITDJB 2001 - 2008) at his drum set. The bottom of the tuba belonging to Quinn Leonard (SB 2001 - 2008, AITDJB 2001 - 2008) is also just visible. Glenn Nielsen (AITDJB 2001 - 2008) is sitting this number out.

27 AUGUST 2007:

20 AUGUST 2007:

DARK CLOUDS OVER THE CAPITOL

The AITDJB performance scheduled for Saturday 18 August at the Dane County Farmers' Market was cancelled due to drenching downpour.

13 AUGUST 2007:

6 AUGUST 2007:

30 JULY 2007:

ISIS LEONARD RISES TO THE RED BOWTIE

Isis in Larson Park, 17 July 2008

The AITDJB performed at the Larson Park Gazebo on the evening of Thursday 26 July. Isis Leonard (WitR 2003 - 2007, SS 2004 - 2007, AITDJB 2007 - 2008), longtime AITDJB roadie and music librarian, made her debut performance. Unfortunately no one captured an image of her Pink Bowtie Moment. We substitute this shot of her warming up for a McFarland Community Band performce 'neath the whispering larches of Larson Park:

23 JULY 2007:

NORA HICKEY, CONCERTO COMPETITION WINNER, FEATURED AT CONCERT

16 JULY 2007:

ZACH STASZEWSKI WINS MHS' NATIONAL CHORAL AWARD

At the MHS Music Awards Ceremony on 16 May 2007, Anne Nichols presented Zach Staszewski with the National Choral Award. Does the AITDJB always have the best students in it, or what?

All the members of the Almost In Time Dixieland Jazz Band, the Wind in the Reeds, and the Second String Violin Duo who are still in school scored piles of awards that night, including letters in music and medals from choral and instrumental WSMA Solo & Ensemble festivals. The list includes Zach, Andrea Bakunowicz, Eric Adams, Nick Bakunowicz, Isis Leonard, and Gena Roisum. Nora Hickey received a special commendation (and her own private ovation) for winning the WYSO Concerto Competition.


9 JULY 2007:

BLUES IN THE NIGHT

On Friday 11 May, McFarlanders were treated to an evening of fine jazz, featuring Dave Heilman's All That Jazz big band, and the McFarland jazz bands and choirs. The (hopefully) first annual Blues in the Night event, held at Madison's Marriott West conference center, featured a pretty-good dinner, a silent auction to raise money for McFarland music programs, and of course lots of great music. It was a smashing success.

Brian Vanderbloemen, who has been good enough to occasionally take the stage with the AITDJB, picked up a trumpet and sat in with All That Jazz, a great swing group that also includes two of Quinn's cousins. The 7th and 8th grade bands reprised their sets from the April concert at MHS, with the exception that the 8th grade group substituted Rude Dude for El Gato. Early Bird I and II had more variation in their sets, featuring Eric Adams very prominently on Pots and Pans and Jericho, the latter coming accross with even more thunder than in April. Andrea Bakunowicz gave a fine turn singing Come Fly With Me with EB II. The Blue Notes vocal jazz ensemble, featuring Zach Staszewski and Andrea, sang a very cool Take 5; Somewhere; and an arrangement of Listen to the Music that made good use of Isaac Siegmann's vocal percussion skills.

On the whole, I think the music department had better do this again next year.


2 JULY 2007:

GENA ROISUM RISES TO THE RED BOWTIE

Gena Roisum,
new AITDJB member

The AITDJB gave its first performance of 2007 on Thursday 28 June at the Larson Park gazebo. Weather and attendance were both excellent, and the band got in some fine season-opening licks. The concert introduced a new band member, a new piece of music, and possibly an art form new to McFarland.

Gena Roisum has played clarinet with the Wind in the Reeds woodwind quartet since 2005. This year she joins the AITDJB, and has jumped in with both feet, performing five pieces at Thursday's concert, four of them as the sole clarinet. She wore the Big Pink Bowtie when she stepped into Glenn's spot in the horn line to play Shine On Harvest Moon during our first set, then upgraded to a Red Tie for Jack Pettis's Bugle Call Rag, a piece that's new to our playlist this year. After the break Gena took three more turns, soloing on Saint James Infirmary and Basin Street Blues, and joining Glenn for our traditional closing When the Saints Go Marchin' In. She did a great job, showing both poise and talent on stage; she's a welcome addition to the band.

Pretty puirt-a-beul belles:
Bria Mason (left) and Beth Frieden

One of the best things about the AITDJB (other than the great sound, of course) is the loyalty of its members. Many have come back for seven seasons now, and even those who cannot be on hand all summer sit in with us when they can. Bria Mason is a fine example, always ready to share her considerable vocal talents, even though her home and heart are in Scotland. On Thursday we were fortunate to have a visit from Bria and her friend Beth Frieden, both students at the University of Edinburgh, who came to sing between the band's two sets. They chose to perform puirt a beul, or "mouth music", a traditional song form native to Scotland, Ireland, and parts of Nova Scotia. In puirt a beul, a song's lyric is chosen for rhythm and for the colourful impressions its sounds leave upon the ear, rather than necessarily for sense or content. The vocalizations may contain nonsense syllables; if there is comprehensible material, it's likely to be bawdy.

The lasses sang a medley consisting of Calum Crubach, Meall do Bhrogan, and Tha Bean Agam. I won't speak to the bawdiness of their selections, since they sang in Scots, which always makes the singer sound like she's got more than one meaning in mind. But I understand from Bria that the middle title means "Enjoy Your Shoes", and the lyric concerns one Neil, who has black shoes and a mother with two eyes. This performance may well have been the McFarland debut of mouth music. Bria and Beth sang with very evident pleasure in their ancient and honorable art, and did a lovely job as its ambassadors to the Midwestern hinterlands.


25 JUNE 2007:

'EVENING OF JAZZ' BLOWS DOWN THE WALLS OF JERICHO

On Monday 30 April 2007, the four McFarland school jazz bands gave a concert at MHS. The jazz concerts are always the highlights of the instrumental music year, because only the best and most enthusiastic young musicians choose to play in a jazz band. On Monday night we heard from several promising young soloists and maturing ensembles. Here's the program:
7th grade:
St. Louis Blues March by W. C. Handy, arranged by Robert Woods
Sunday Morning by Neal Hefti, arranged by Roy Phillippe
C-Jam Blues by Duke Ellington, arranged by 'Stitzel'
8th grade:
Gospel John by Jeff Steinberg
Cool Front by Doug Beach
El Gato by Jim Cifelli
Early Bird II:
Swing Fever by Dean Sorenson
Feelin' The Funk by Erik Morales
Oink Joint Rumble by Dean Sorenson
Buffalo Head by Bruce Pearson
Early Bird I:
Jericho, arranged by Chris Sharp
Spinning Wheel by David Clayton Thomas
Blue Skies by Irving Berlin
Sister Sadie by Horace Silver
The 7th grade jazz band featured great licks by Conley Potter on saxophone and Drew Kloes on clarinet, from both of whom I look forward to hearing more in the future. Brian Barr, who plays trumpet with Early Bird II, sat in with the 7th graders on harmonica. It was a great idea, and he looked like he was playing hard, but his mike was off or set very low and unfortunately we could not hear him.

The Early Bird II set featured solos by Nick Bakunowicz (AITDJB 2006) on Oink Joint and Buffalo Head. Buffalo also had a sax solo by Becca Funk (WitR 2003 - 2006). Gena Roisum (AITDJB 2007, WitR 2005 - 2006) also performed with Early Bird II, showing her versatility by taking up the tenor sax. But she didn't get any solos, and I can't think why.

Eric Adams was featured on set for Early Bird I's roaring Jericho, and he really skinned his drums alive. I hope we get to hear this piece again. It is wonderful when the McFarland jazz bands use a vocalist, and they could not have done better than Andrea Bakunowicz's sweet singing in Blue Skies. Let's have more Andrea!