And So it Goes in Shreveport: free

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Thursday, August 14, 2008

In the Mood

Last night was the Dimensions In Blue Jazz Ensemble concert. The group is based on Lackland AFB and was created in 1941. They put on a great show, and like the Falconaires concert that we saw in the spring, they had a female vocalist who was very good. The concert was at the Bossier Civic Center and it was filled with people from little kids to elderly folks. This group was heavy on the jazz, as you might expect, but played some Paul Simon ("Still Crazy After All These Years") as well as traditional selections ("Battle Hymn of the Republic"). Vocalist Donna Siler brought tears to some eyes with her rendition of that one.

To me, the BEST part of the night was when they did their final song which was Glenn Miller's "In The Mood" which EVERYONE loves. At the very first notes the little white haired lady in front of me squealed with glee and waved her hands in the air, jitterbug fashion, tapped her little feet, and danced in her chair throughout the song! It was priceless! The horns left the stage and mingled through the audience as they played and it was simply fabulous!

Steve and I just love these concerts. They bring people of all ages together through the music and they are just good fun.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Band Banter

I just got my tickets for the Air Force Band of the West concert for August 13. Steve and I take our cheap thrills where we can get them and these free concerts are really a lot of fun. Our first experience with this was last summer when we went to see the 156th Army Band at the Strand. We had dinner at Nanking first and then took balcony seats in the theater for the concert. It was really great! There was lots of patriotic Sousa type marches as well as, and our favorite, a Big Band ensemble. There was a great crowd there. It was Myron Turner’s farewell concert and at the end the band presented him with gifts.

Our second trip was this spring when we went to see the USAF Falconaires perform at a local high school auditorium. We loved this one. They played a LOT of big band music, which we both love. An elderly gentleman sat next to me and his toe was tapping the whole time! They had a female vocalist, TSgt Christina Saalborn, and she was awesome. The best part of that concert was Louis Prima’s “Sing, Sing, Sing” in which the drummer MSgt. Christopher Gaona played an extended drum solo that blew me away. If you sit still to that song, there is something wrong with you; in fact you are probably dead. The band, in a humorous gesture, walked off stage in mock-disgust during the drum solo because it was so long, but it was a class act – they just wanted to highlight MSgt Gaona’s performance.

Recently we saw the 156th Army Band again at the Strand and they added a rock ensemble to the show which was different. Because Steve and I are old-fogeys at heart, we liked the Big Band ensemble better, but it was still fun.

One thing they all do is near the end of the concert, they will play the songs for each military service branch. If you have served you are supposed to stand up when they play your song. There are always lots of Air Force folks around here and lots of them stand up. Lots of Army folks. Very few Coast Guard people here! Steve has a lot of fun with this because he gets to stand up twice (Air Force AND Army) and people look at him funny.

I’m excited to see what the AF Band has in store for us next week! If you want to join us, get your free tickets from The Shreveport Times.