Let's start with music on this Tuesday when maybe - keep fingers crossed - spring is breaking through? It has to happen at any time now, right? Our patience has been strained. At least mine has. So the weather can wear on us but school music compensates.
The audience at the concert hall was enriched by the Monday night jazz concert. The high school musicians played a succession of lively tunes. Some of their melodies bring back memories. Consider "Can't Take My Eyes Off You." Jazz I led off with this tune. "You're just too good to be true, can't take my eyes off of you." The words come back so readily, don't they?
The song is lodged in the memory of boomer-age people. It dates back to 1967. It became one of the biggest hits for Frankie Valli. It got to No. 2 on the billboard Hot 100 for a week. NASA has used it as a wake-up song on space missions.
The biopic about Valli, "Jersey Boys" (2014), showed the singer being thrilled about having horns join the singing. Horns cost money! The scene made an impression on me because it showed how the restrained use of brass, its strategic placing, can have special power. Brass by its nature is powerful. But it loses its special effect if it comes at you full-bore all the time. The Maynard Ferguson band was a full-bore example. Not that a whole lot of people didn't love that. The late Ferguson and his band came to Morris twice.
Art can be loud, but a lot of us prefer the more measured approach. My generation of the boomers liked loud rock music when young. At present I'm sure most of us have become more restrained. And when music is presented the way we like, the occasional emergence of brass has an especially pleasing effect. The Valli movie showed the man reacting with visible joy when he performed "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" with the horns.
With Lawrence Welk, the joy came from violins! And yes, they cost money too!
Enhanced with vocal
So it was a wonderful jazz concert for all to enjoy Monday night at our concert hall. It was a joy to again hear Emily Hamm's singing. We heard her in December for "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" when her microphone was not cooperating. And it didn't matter! Her mike worked on Monday. She was featured on "Feeling Good."
Her voice blends so well with a band whether it's jazz or concert band.
Jazz I wrapped up its performing with "American Patrol." It's a march-style song that was popularized by Glenn Miller during World War II. Miller applied swing to the march. Miller went overseas for the war but did not come home. His plane went down over the English Channel.
The Monday concert had three parts: Jazz II, Tiger Jazz and Jazz I. Some of the kids played second or even third instruments!
The MAHS band and choir were able to escape our winter to visit Texas recently. They departed from the Twin Cities right after our basketball team's experience in state. A friend forwarded to me a photo from the Texas trip, from a Facebook page, and I was happy to share it with my April 1 post on my "Morris of Course" blog. If you haven't seen it, here's the link:
Our band director is the immensely gifted and inspired Wanda Dagen. I plan to never again miss any of her concerts.
As an aside, please allow me to "plug" my new original song which has just been placed on YouTube. I wrote "Why Can't We All Get Along?" which springs from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The song's title is from the Rodney King quote from many years ago. He was the guy who was beaten by police in California, remember? Eventually he gave us the quote for the ages about how we all ought to just "get along."
I'm not expecting my song to have any great impact, but I felt moved to write it. The song was recorded at one of my favorite places: Nashville TN. The Frank Michels studio. Here is the link and thanks:
Softball wins 11-5
The kmrs-kkok site has a headline about the MACA softball team's Monday success, but upon checking, all I could find is the score, no summary, unfortunately. But we can feel good about the Tigers winning 11-5 over West Central Area.
I watched the game briefly because I was out for a walk. The softball complex was in use. Cars parked along Prairie Lane. Temperature a bit chilly, which I suspect held down the fan turnout. I saw no fans trying to watch from the third base side. It's hard to watch from there. You're down the foul line a ways - length of the dugout is a problem - and it's not easy seeing through the fence. The ground is uneven and susceptible to getting muddy.
Some fans felt they had to go out by the outfield fence. I don't think this would be their first choice. Behind home plate? Only about 1/3 of the seating area there provides a full view of the playing field. All in all it's not a nice setting for softball, IMHO. And that's too bad.
I would like to see all of the MACA and UMM softball games played at Big Cat Stadium! The fans have a great situation there. What could be better than playing on that beautiful turf? The Cougars are well familiar.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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