MOVIES & MUSIC -- Rushford-Peterson Senior High Band

Rushford-Peterson High School Theatre

An assortment of band music with a movie theme.

"Jazz It Up!" -- arr. Victor Lopez
     "Sing Sing Sing" - Louis Prima
     "It Don't mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing)" - Duke Ellington
     "La Suerte de los Tontos" - Juan Ricardo Cascales
     "The Jazz Police" - Gordon Goodwin
"Bella's Lullaby" -- arr. Edward lee
Selections from The Rolling Stongs -- arr. Michael Story
     "Jumpin' Jack Flash"
     "Get Off of My Cloud"
     "Ruby Tuesday"
     "Paint It Blck"
     "I Can't Get no Satisfaction"
"JAI HO" -- arr. Michael Brown
"COLDPLAY ON STAGE" -- arr. Michael Brown
     "Clocks"
     "Lost!"
     "Viva La Vida"
"THE DARK KNIGHT" -- arr. Douglas Wagner
"Taylor Swift In Concert" -- arr. Michael Brown

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Some exciting music, moderately well played. 

It's early in the school season and it seems that nearly half the band is made up of freshmen, so it wasn't the highest quality, but still a fun program.

TWO BY TWO - Winona State University

music: Richard Rodgers
lyrics: Martin Charnin
book: Peter Stone
based on the play The Flowering Peach by Clifford Odets.

The story of Noah and the ark, slightly modernized, with music.

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Although I'm fairly familiar with MANY musicals, especially those by familiar musical-makers, this was not a show that I was aware of. And there are reasons for it.

The music was generally fun, with a nice assortment of ballads and quickly moving songs, humorous and dramatic. Though even so, none of the songs were particularly memorable. nothing that makes one sing it again on the car ride home.

But the music wasn't the problem.

The problem here is the story. There's no real climax, which isn't surprising, since there's no real conflict. We know how the story is going to end before we go into it, and while they try to introduce a few little plot twists, it generally doesn't pan out to much.

The performances here at Winona State University were generally pretty good. No one stood out as not being able to carry their role, and in fact some were quite outstanding. The directing was a bit weak. The actors seemed to wander around the stage for no purpose.

And while I'm glad to have seen it, I'm not likely to seek it out should it be playing anywhere near.

DALLAS BRASS: AMERICAN MUSICAL JOURNEY -- Gale-Ettrick High School

Gale-Ettrick-Tremepealeau Performings Arts Center, Galesville, WI

Michael Levine - trombone/director
Brian Neal - trumpet
D.J. Barraclough - trumpet/alto horn
Charles Porter - trumpet/alto horn
Clint McCanless - tuba
Jeff Handel - percussion

An evening of wonderful music, wonderfully played. One number was played with the G-E-T Middle School Band and one number played with the G-E-T High School band.

*****

This was an absolutely delightful evening of music. The Dallas Brass are definitely accomplished musicians, but they set themselves apart from other talented brass groups in a couple of ways.

First, they work and perform directly with students. Perhaps this isn't totally unusual, but there is definitely a sense that these performers really enjoy working with the youngsters. Michael Levine phrased it very nicely when he reminded the audience that each of them had once been students with band teachers who encouraged them as well.

Second, the addition of percussion really added a nice element to the music. I think that it actually helped us hear the tuba more as the tuba wasn't totally relegated to the role of keeping the beat.

But the addition of percussion wasn't the sole factor that worked well here. The fact that Jeff Handel was the percussionist is what added to the show. Mr. Handel truly seemed to enjoy making music. His enthusiasm was infectious, and we couldn't help but enjoy ourselves because we could see how much he was enjoying playing.

A real delightful evening.