I mostly rested today, hoping my cold or whatever it is will get better. Ken worked on photos and ripped DVDs.
Tonight we joined our friends, Hardy and Judy, at the McAllen Civic Auditorium (not to be confused with the new convention center) for a concert by the Dallas Brass. The performance was creative, very entertaining, and often amusing. The five brass players demonstrated their versatility by playing different instruments, including a flugelhorn and piccolo trumpet, the latter of which was made to sound eerily like a clarinet in a Benny Goodman solo part of Sing, Sing, Sing. The lone percussionist had a chance to shine in a percussion piece called Xylophonia.
The theme of the show was a history of American music, so it included patriotic tunes, including Yankee Doodle and the military hymns in a tribute to veterans and their spouses in the audience. The Marine Corps hymn had only a very few people standing, illustrating the Marine motto "The Few. The Proud. The Marines" admirably.
The emcee asked everyone to turn off their cell phones before the performance. Then he asked any who felt they might have an urge to cough or sneeze to do so now. I had my handkerchief and some candies ready to soothe my throat, but I was afraid that I might cough too much and have to leave. Fortunately I had only one persistent coughing spell, and a candy quelled that one.
Here's a good summary of the concert I found on the web. The only real difference is that they hadn't been able to line up any local band kids.
From the Hays Daily News (http://www.hdnews.net/Story/firestone101010 accessed 11/21/10)
Dallas Brass gives a great start to FHSU Encore season opener
Dallas Brass, an ensemble of five brass players and one percussionist, provided a perfect season opener for Fort Hays State University's Encore Series. As their founder, director, trombonist and emcee Michael Levine promised, they took us on an "American musical journey from the time of George Washington to the present."
After a spirited beginning including numbers as different as Sousa's "Semper Fidelis" and Euday Bowman's "Twelfth Street Rag," they went on to a group of early American songs, among which an arrangement of "Yankee Doodle" with a long, jazzy bridge passage was most impressive. Levin told us, "This song is the only one (from the Colonial era) that has remained familiar to every generation."
By way of introducing Henry Mancini's "Pink Panther Theme," Levin mentioned certain brasses could imitate other instruments, whereupon trumpeter D.J. Barraclough imitated a flute and trumpeter Dan Kocurek imitated a violin on a piccolo trumpet. While performing "Panther," all five brass players moved around, creating pleasant changes in the balance of sound. Not to be outdone, percussionist Jeff Handel showed he could move around, too, carrying what I think was a cowbell. Afterward Kocurek, Barraclough and Juan Berrios, who plays horn, alto horn and flugelhorn, stood in order of height from shortest (Berrios) with flugelhorn, the largest trumpet, through middle-sized (Barraclough) with a B-flat trumpet, to tallest, Kocurek, with the smallest, or piccolo trumpet. This was just one of the many brief, but amusing and instructive moments that enhance the performance of these virtuosos, making them popular with audiences throughout the country.
Recalling the days before mass media, Levin introduced a piece that conjured the good old days of band concerts, the "Hocus Polka." This gave Barraclough a chance to shine in a solo turn with, as Levin pointed out, "Two-octave runs, triple-tongue and low, tuba tones." Another little joke -- tuba player Paul Carlson supplied a low note at the end.
The concert turned temporarily more serious with the Brass's own transcription of "Slav" ("Glory" in Russian), written by Leonard Bernstein for cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and full orchestra. A piece composed especially for this program by Charles Porter, "Proclamation for Freedom," followed. Both pieces firmly established the Brass performs serious music as effectively as they do lighter fare.
The audience was nonetheless glad when they continued with the state song of Kansas, "Home on the Range," and the chase section of Rossini's "William Tell Overture." This concluded the first part of the concert in style. A surprise awaited us after intermission.
Hundreds of "band kids," a few from FHSU and high school students from almost all of western Kansas, performed with the Brass "American Tableau," a medley of familiar patriotic anthems. After their amazing performance, Levin told us something even more amazing -- they had worked together only about 45 minutes. As stated in the program, "the Dallas Brass has strong dedication to working with young musicians." If all their results are like this, I say, "More power to them."
Jazz dominated the rest of the program, much to the delight of all present. Levin described the different themes of Gerschwin's "An American in Paris," not that you need a road map to love his music. Another self-explanatory piece followed, "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong. After another amusing interlude during which the group played what Levin called "sophisticated patty cake," percussionist Handel got his place in the sun with "Xylophonia," accompanied by the rest of the Brass. The concert proper concluded with more jazz, Benny Goodman's "Sing, Sing, Sing," which, according to Levin, in 1938 established jazz as music fit to be played in Carnegie Hall.
However, the Brass did not just finish and accept their well-earned standing applause. They treated us to the various U.S. military service hymns, asking veterans and their spouses to stand as their hymn was played. Then they worried about an encore -- since it was Barraclough's birthday, someone in the band suggested the "Chicken Dance." They finally performed a medley of "32" songs, from the "Anvil Chorus" to "Happy Birthday" and left the audience standing, laughing and asking for more.
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