FUN TIME

After the concert last night we discovered that the Holiday Inn we are in had a nice little karaoke bar. Just what a bunch of tired road musicians need to insure that we get no sleep at all. LOL It was so much fun. Lots of us took our turns. My Cuban friend Damian sang Besame Mucho, Jamie Parker sang the Humpty Hump, Daniel Pucket sang How Sweet it is to be Loved by You, and I sang Lady Down on Love by Alabama. At the end of the night Daniel and I did Old Time Rock and Roll. Today we sleep on the bus.

Hi Katheryne, Flat Stanley had a great time last night. However he did not sing. For all you guys that don't know Flat Stanley, he is my friend that my 3rd grade cousin sent with me to gather information for her class from all over the world as we travel.

We are off tonight so a little rest and as always practice. Back to concerts tomorrow.

Rain

Its amazing that hundreds of people would set in the rain with umbrellas to hear a band play. But they do. Last night we played for 1 hour in a covered gazebo. The audience of several hundred people sat there until we finally had to stop as the weather got worse. The Glenn Miller Orchestra fans are the greatest.

Fantastic

Fantastic is the perfect word to describe our lead alto player, Kevin Sheehan, on his clarinet solo he played on Swing Low at the Artpark concert in Lewiston New York. Kevin playes a Buffett Greenline clarinet.

The entire concert was good but the encore featuring Kevin brought the crowd to their feet.

For you future musicians: Road life can be good or bad. It was bad when I was on the road with the River City Street Band in 1980. Today in the Glenn Miller Band it is really nice. We always stay in nice motels, ride on a 45 foot bus, eat good food, have time to exercise and practice. Think about it: Practice and Perform, thats the job. Our performances are usually 2 hours long with an intermission. The pay is regular. Everyone knows they will get paid every two weeks. Can you think of a better job? So I say to you , PRACTICE, it really will pay off if you want it to.

Hi Katheryine, I hope you had a great time in London. Flat Stanley misses you.

UAM Jazz Camp

Hey guys send in your questions. If you really want to be a musician this is your opportunity to get the real information.

Where is CE?

Has anyone seen my good buddy CE Askew is the last week or so? He is somewhere in New Zealand playing drums and teaching many young drummers.

Hey sax guys, I have a new practice schedule. Here is how it works.
Long tones, lip slurs with mouthpiece and neck, all major scales, natural minor scales, octatonic starting on low b flat with appegios moving up by half steps(1 per week until perfect at all tempos) and sightreading. Then the same on flute and clarinet except slowly working scales.(not all every day) Finally,The Glenn Miller Book, much harder than most people think. After all that, a little improv. By the way, all exercised done with a tuner.

Hi Katheryine and classmates. Flat Stanley is doing very well. He really enjoyed the people in Canada and is having a great time in Ohio playing with the sax section.

WEBSITE

Check out www.glennmillerorchestra.com for up to date schedule and event calendar. Also lots of historical info.

Canadian concerts come to end

It is hard to believe but over the last three days the Glenn Miller Orchetra and the Harry James Orchestra combined concerts played for close to 10,000 very excited spectators. We played 4 concerts and they were all either sold out or really close to sold out.

For the folks that think big band might be over you should think again. Check out the following bands web-sites: Glenn Miller, Harry James, Count Basie, and Tommy Dorsey just to name a few. All of these bands are gearing up for big tours in 2010 due to popular demand. It is amazing to me how wildly popular big band and jazz music is in Canada and most all of the world outside the US.

After the final concert both bands got together and just had a great time. The Harry James Band went to Vermont today and we headed for Ohio.

Make sure to stay in touch with the Glenn Miller Web Site for our schedule. Please send in any questions or comments you might have for the band or its members.

Headed for the USA

Tomorrow we will return to the US. I will blog a full report on our Canadian tour tomorrow night. Just too tired tonight. Check in late tomorrow night. It will be worth it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Battle of the Bands

We did get the trophy tonight but we should have played better. It took me a couple of tunes to relax.

The concert started with the Harry James Band. The leader of the band, Fred Radke was fantastic. He played the trumpet beautifully and very exciting. There soloist were great too. The Harry James band was really awesome. The tenor player and the alto player were very fine players. The lead alto player just finished studying with Donald Sinta in Michigan.

We began with our Theme song, Moonlight Serenade and followed up with I Hear You Screaming. Our soloist were great tonight too. Scotty VanDomelen our lead tenor played a fine clarinet solo and several fantastic tenor solos. Daniel Puckett our second alto turned in one of his best solos tonight. Kevin our lead alto plyed one solo late in the concert: It was beautiful.

Late in the concert we played Chelsea Bridge featuring our band leader tromboneist Larry O'Brien. If you have not heard Larry's trombone sound you are missing it. Im pretty sure his feature is what carried us over the top. It was magnificent!

We will battle the Harry James Band again tomorrow in Montreal. I think we have a trombone section feature tomorrow as well as many other tunes. I will let you guys know about in tomorrow night. Bt the way, we played for about 2000 people tonight in a beautiful concert hall in Quebeck. Flat Stanley was very impressed.

Arrived safely

We are in Quebec Canada tonight and headed for Montreal tomorrow. I have always wanted to go to the Montreal Jazz Festival.

Our regular piano player Ron Mills is back with us. He is a very nice force to help the rhythm section. He is a great player and just a really good guy.

I will write a report on the Battle of the Bands with Harry James Orchestra tomorrow night if I can get internet service.

Hi Katheryine. Flat Stanley is excited to be in Canada. He is very happy to hear Lee Konitz and Joshua Redman tomorrow. I am too. Two great saxophone players.

On The Road Again

Here we go again. After a great two week vacation it was great to play tonight. We have a new drummer, Ron Coulter. He will be with us for three weeks and then a young man from UNC will join us full time. The band was pretty good for the fist gig. I will post new info over the next few days. We are in Maine and headed for Canada to play with the Harry James Orchestra.