ablaze! kick in the brass! blue beamer!

Alex, what are three songs I heard tonight?

"Seriously? Those are song titles?"

Correct! To my knowledge, none of the tunes have words, just music, but, oh! What fresh groupings of notes they bring to the ear!

"Very nice! I take it, then, that you knew none of those three?"

Hey, I'll do you one better... I knew naught of the majority of the songs I heard tonight. I had returned to Savannah Country Day, having heard last week of this Middle School Fine Arts Night. I thought it all started at 6 PM and was so pleased to be on campus a little past 5:30! But, oops! I'd missed two portions by then. Oh, well. You can't have it all - where would you put it?

"Hahahaha! You used to say that quite a bit!"

I did. I think I'm going to bring it back. (smile!)

"Okay, I see the items you've crossed out, so those must have been missed. That means you had orchestra and multiple jazz bands, right?"

You're correct again! The first song in the post title - "Ablaze" - was one the students chose, a modern piece by Chris Bernotas. Why did I say it's 'modern'? The composer's only 56 years old, two years younger than my youngest brother. Several of the students even had solos in that piece.

"Oh, nice!"

The other pieces I liked were "Double Trouble", by Lauren Bernofsky, a 58-year-old woman; "Finger Rock", a piece by 72-yo Bob Phillips [that included finger snapping!!!]; and Johannes Brahms' "Hungarian Dance No. 5", especially because it was performed by three basses. That was really awesome to see! Nice of the teacher to say before that one that "the b-a-s-s is the b-a-s-e of an orchestra." 

"That's a very nice acknowledgement for those folks! They're typically relegated to playing at the very back of the band."

Yes, I agree. I'm sure those parents were pleased as punch about that! Speaking of parents, many of them did not have kids both in the orchestra and any of the three jazz bands. When we had a break so they could change up the stage, over half the audience left and didn't return. Not that anyone would have noticed that wasn't there for the orchestra! By the time the 6th graders came on for the Beginner Jazz Band, Jelks Auditorium was at least as full as it had been.

"Well, that's in keeping with family size now, right? Most folks have no more than two kids, and quite a few have only one. Just think about Stephen, Jason, Michael, Christina, Hope - each have two. Then there's Emily, Christy, Zach, Tyler - just one apiece. Damon is the only one with more than that - but that's a different story. In so many ways he reminds me of our Uncle Jimmy."

Yeah, he ended up with seven children from four different mothers. There's no way he would have been able to afford to have them as students at that school.

"Back on track shall we go?"

Yes, let's! Okay, I'd gotten to the jazz portion of the evening. There were three of those bands: Beginner, Intermediate (7th grade), and Advanced (8th grade). Remember, this was a Middle School only event!

"That's right! So they're the source of the other two songs in the post title?"

Kinda sorta. (smile!) I really liked "Drama For Your Mama" from the 6th-graders, but that was too long to use up there. (smile!) "Blue Beamer" was a very lively piece, but I admit to having a preference for a song I knew and loved: "Gimme Some Lovin' ". Oh, yeah!!! Nice of "The Blues Brothers" movie to give it an extended life on radio!

"I get a chuckle from that "Drama For Your Mama" - hahahaha!"

Right? I think part of my attraction to "Kick In The Brass" is the pun in its name, but, let me tell you, that truly was a kick ass tune!!! There were five - F-I-V-E - trumpet players lined up in front of the others, playing like they were grown ups, too!!! Wow! The look, the sound - just amazing!

"Wow! I know you loved that!"

I did, I most def did. Then they played Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" a couple of songs later and did me proud on that one. I know their grandparents must have been thrilled to hear that one from their past, too. I'm so glad I was there tonight!