PIONEER JAZZ BAND David A

The Ann Arbor Public Schools presents the PIONEER JAZZ BAND David A. Leach, Conductor 2013 Michigan Music Conference Saturday, January 19, 2013 3:00 p.m. Ambassador Ballroom, Amway Grand Plaza Hotel Grand Rapids, Michigan PIONEER JAZZ BAND 2012-13 Saxophone Trombone Trumpet Kevin Tian Halley Bass Tyler Leach Zach Sedgwick Sam Blackburn Jesse Lemons Jr. Enze Xing William Wang Elliot Polot Austin Stout Hyun Won Katy Ross Eddie Codrington Henry Pakela Josh Sherick Michael Shapiro Nick Lemerand Oscar Cojocario Levi Brown Rhythm Section Vocalist Bass Drums Olivia Roumel Adam Olszewski Deondrae Jones Ross Johnson Peter Doyle Piano Guitar Gabe Novak Aidan Cotner PIONEER JAZZ BAND MMC 2013 PAGE 2 PIONEER JAZZ BAND PIONEER HIGH SCHOOL ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN David A. Leach, Conductor CONCERT PROGRAM MILESTONES................................... MILES DAVIS/ BARDUHN THEN AND NOW .............................................. STEVE SPIEGL Adam Unsworth, Horn A NIGHT IN TUNISIA ................................ DIZZY GILLESPIE Rodney Whitaker, Bass BLUE SKIES ................................... IRVING BERLIN/HOLMES CONCERTO FOR COOTIE ....... DUKE ELLINGTON/BERGER GRANADA SMOOTHIE .................................... MARK TAYLOR SKYLARK ................................. HOAGY CARMICHAEL/WOLPE Jack Wagner, Tenor Saxophone KO-KO ....................................... DUKE ELLINGTON/BERGER GEORGIA ON MY MIND .. HOAGY CARMICHAEL/CLAYTON PIONEER JAZZ BAND MMC 2013 PAGE 3 PROGRAM NOTES MILESTONES................................... MILES DAVIS/ BARDUHN Miles Davis, back from Paris where he had recorded the music to Louis Malle’s film Lift To The Scaffold, added Cannonball Adderley’s alto to his quintet. John Coltrane’s cubist abstractions and Cannonball’s bluesy lyricism offered Miles the contrasts that he was looking for, while his rhythm section of Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones provided the “intensity of a Formula 1 racing car and the comfort of a limousine” for every tempo. With this composition, in which a simple alteration of two harmonic colors replaced the tortuous progression of Bop, Miles had entered the world of modal jazz. THEN AND NOW .............................................. STEVE SPIEGL Originally written to feature saxophonist Pete Cristlieb, then playing with the Tonight Show Band, it was an almost instant success. Then and Now was also the title track of the successful early 90’s album of the same name. Spiegl hoped to write a piece that was playable for both secondary school and university bands. Since its publication, this unique chart has become a popular selection in the vast Spiegl catalog. A NIGHT IN TUNISIA ................................ DIZZY GILLESPIE A Night in Tunisia, originally entitled Interlude, is one of the best known and most played jazz tunes and has been for over 60 years. Latin music had a peripheral place in jazz during the Swing Era. In the 40’s a change began, and Gillespie was more than a little responsible. This arrangement was written for Boyd Raeburn’s band with Gillespie featured as guest soloist. Dizzy later played and recorded this arrangement with his own big bands. BLUE SKIES ................................... IRVING BERLIN/HOLMES Written in 1926 as a last minute addition to the Rodgers & Hart musical Betsy, Blue Skies has become one of the most recognizable and recorded charts in music. Whether set as jazz, contemporary, or country, (Willie Nelson topped the charts in 1978 with his rendition) this familiar and catchy tune is performed throughout the world nightly. CONCERTO FOR COOTIE ....... DUKE ELLINGTON/BERGER Cited by critics as Ellington’s masterpiece, Concerto for Cootie is a collaboration between Duke and his trumpet star Charles Melvin “Cootie” Williams. Cootie showed his boss the opening eighth-note motif; Duke immediately offered him $75 (equal to Cootie’s weekly salary) for all the rights. From those eight notes, Duke wrote more than three minutes of inspired music perfectly framing Cootie’s playing with the plunger as well as with the open horn. PIONEER JAZZ BAND MMC 2013 PAGE 4 PROGRAM NOTES GRANADA SMOOTHIE .................................... MARK TAYLOR Featured on Stan Kenton’s album Journey into Capricorn, this memorable Latin classic continues to be a staple for advanced Jazz Bands. For this edition, Taylor spent considerable time completely re-editing, changing horn and rhythm section parts and adding a full score. SKYLARK ................................. HOAGY CARMICHAEL/WOLPE Carmichael originally wrote the composition that would become Skylark for a musical about his deceased friend Bix Beiderbeck. The melody is said to be based on Beiderbeck solos, at least the phrasing, a claim supported by the composition’s original title Bix Lix. Though the musical did not get produced, Carmichael reworked the composition and passed the melody along to good friend Johnny Mercer who, some months later, called Hoagy and sang him Skylark. It is reported that Carmichael had forgotten he wrote it! KO-KO ....................................... DUKE ELLINGTON/BERGER Poet and philosopher Eli Siegel defined beauty as “the making of opposites.” Certainly in all great art we learn of the simultaneous one-ness of the universe. Twentieth-century art centers around the primitive and the sophisticated - consider Picasso, Hemingway, and Stravinsky. In Jazz, Ellington’s music best exemplifies this aesthetic, and the singular piece that perhaps captures this relationship better than any other is Ko-Ko. Although Concerto for Cootie and The Mooche are sometimes cited as Ellington’s greatest works, a majority of critics agree on Ko-Ko as Ellington’s supreme masterpiece. GEORGIA ON MY MIND . HOAGY CARMICHAEL/CLAYTON Written in 1930 by legendary jazz musician Hoagy Carmichael (music) and Stuart Gorrell (lyrics) Georgia On My Mind has been covered my many artists. Gorrell originally wrote the lyrics for Hoagy’s sister, Georgia Carmichael, however the lyrics of the song are ambiguous enough to refer to either to the state or a women. It was not until Ray Charles' 1960 recording on The Genius Hits the Road that the song became a major hit. On March 7, 1979, as a mutual symbol of reconciliation after conflict over civil rights issues, Charles performed it for the Georgia state legislature. After this performance, the connection to the state was firmly made, and then the George State Assembly adopted it as the state song on the following month on April 24. PIONEER JAZZ BAND MMC 2013 PAGE 5 DAVID A. LEACH, Director David A. Leach has been Director of Bands at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School since 2002. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Music Education at Eastern Michigan University, where he studied conducting with Professor Russell Reed and Dr. Max Plank. He began his teaching career at Ypsilanti High School in 1988 and spent fourteen years there before coming to Ann Arbor. He was appointed Chair of the Pioneer High School Music Department in 2006. Leach sustains the long tradition of quality performance and repertoire in the Pioneer Bands. During his ten years at Pioneer, his Symphony and Concert Bands have received consistent top ratings at district and national festivals. His Symphony, Concert, and Jazz Bands have won overall festival championships at every national event entered. Leach wrote curriculum for and introduced the Ninth Grade Jazz Lab, increased student numbers, and enhanced his students’ personal success in music with a high percentage of his graduates going on to study for careers in music education and performance. Under his baton, the Pioneer Symphony Band has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Mid-Europe Music Festival in Schladming Austria, and performed on tour in China. Leach has served on the executive board of MSBOA’s District XII as Secretary and Vice-President of Adjudication, and has been an active member since 1988. He is a member of MENC, ASBDA and the National Association for Music Education. He has been included five times in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. The University of Michigan chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia honored him in 2000 with the Pendleton Memorial Award for outstanding achievement in music education. He has been nominated four times for Disney’s American Teacher Award. Leach has received honors from the United States Marine Corps for sending his students to the Marine bands, including two to the Commandant’s Own Marine Band in Washington, D.C. He was the 2006-07 MSBOA District XII Band Teacher of the Year. He has won the praise of international composers such as Michael Daugherty, Thomas Duffy, Alfred Reed, John W. Stout, Jan Van der Roost and others for his insightful conducting of their compositions. He studies conducting with U-M Director of Bands Michael Haithcock and Maestro Michael Adleson, and recently attended the 2012 EMU Wind Conducting Symposium. David A. Leach is a proud member of the Pioneer High School Music Department which has earned GRAMMY Signature School honors during his tenure at Pioneer High School. In 2002 and 2003, the department placed in the top 40 schools in the nation. In 2004 and 2005, the department achieved GRAMMY Signature School Gold status as one of the top seven public high school music programs in the nation. In 2006 and 2011 the Pioneer Music Department was named the National GRAMMY Signature School as the number one public high school music program in the nation; the only program ever honored twice by the GRAMMY Foundation. PIONEER JAZZ BAND MMC 2013 PAGE 6 ADAM UNSWORTH, GUEST SOLOIST Soloist and recording artist Adam Unsworth is Associate Professor of Horn at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He is currently anticipating the release of two new recordings, Balance, a jazz recording for horn and chamber orchestra, and Snapshots, a compilation of previously unrecorded music for horn, much of which Adam commissioned since starting at Michigan 2007. In 2006 Adam released his first jazz CD entitled Excerpt This!, which received critical acclaim from jazz and classical horn reviewers alike. Since then he has completed a second jazz CD, Next Step, and contemporary music CD, Just Follow Instructions, a recording of the chamber music of crossover saxophonist/composer Daniel Schnyder.

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