AJChenMPH
Forum Health Inspector
And who said soldiers couldn't groove? ;-)
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Army Ensemble Passes Muster at Blues Alley
by Andrew Lindemann Malone
The Washington Post
Friday, January 5, 2007; C04
When the U.S. Army Blues Jazz Ensemble, a component of the U.S. Army Band, "Pershing's Own," took the stage at Blues Alley on Wednesday night, it marked the first time an American service band headlined at a jazz club in the United States. Though the musicians' dress uniforms initially looked out of place in Blues Alley's casual quarters, once the band started laying into its charts under the direction of Chief Warrant Officer Charles H. Vollherbst, the players couldn't have seemed more at home.
Any lingering civilian curiosity about whether a military band could be spontaneous was resolved by Sgt. 1st Class Steve Fidyk, a drummer, in the set-opening tune "In the Still of the Night," as he toyed playfully with the beat before locking into a tight groove. The precise, balanced attack the horns subsequently displayed showed the advantages of military discipline. Staff Sgt. Joseph Henson soloed incisively on his tenor sax in "Freedom Jazz Dance," and his original composition "Hmmm . . . " accelerated from surly bass grumbles into an infectious romp. "Skylark" provided a showcase for Sgt. 1st Class Harry F. Watters, who coaxed a gorgeous, precise melody from his trombone before launching into fleet, imaginative solos. And pairs of band members dueled in hot two-bar licks on "One Mint Julep," capped by Fidyk's infectious solo.
The set closed with "Nola's Lament and Nola's Return," which Sgt. 1st Class Graham Breedlove, a trumpeter, composed for a series of concerts the band played in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Besides showing the band's commitment to public service, it was also a terrific composition, with luminous, fine-grained, autumnal harmonies followed by a blaze of rollicking brass, all rendered in rich tones and rock-solid rhythm by the Army Blues.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/04/AR2007010401879.html
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Army Ensemble Passes Muster at Blues Alley
by Andrew Lindemann Malone
The Washington Post
Friday, January 5, 2007; C04
When the U.S. Army Blues Jazz Ensemble, a component of the U.S. Army Band, "Pershing's Own," took the stage at Blues Alley on Wednesday night, it marked the first time an American service band headlined at a jazz club in the United States. Though the musicians' dress uniforms initially looked out of place in Blues Alley's casual quarters, once the band started laying into its charts under the direction of Chief Warrant Officer Charles H. Vollherbst, the players couldn't have seemed more at home.
Any lingering civilian curiosity about whether a military band could be spontaneous was resolved by Sgt. 1st Class Steve Fidyk, a drummer, in the set-opening tune "In the Still of the Night," as he toyed playfully with the beat before locking into a tight groove. The precise, balanced attack the horns subsequently displayed showed the advantages of military discipline. Staff Sgt. Joseph Henson soloed incisively on his tenor sax in "Freedom Jazz Dance," and his original composition "Hmmm . . . " accelerated from surly bass grumbles into an infectious romp. "Skylark" provided a showcase for Sgt. 1st Class Harry F. Watters, who coaxed a gorgeous, precise melody from his trombone before launching into fleet, imaginative solos. And pairs of band members dueled in hot two-bar licks on "One Mint Julep," capped by Fidyk's infectious solo.
The set closed with "Nola's Lament and Nola's Return," which Sgt. 1st Class Graham Breedlove, a trumpeter, composed for a series of concerts the band played in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Besides showing the band's commitment to public service, it was also a terrific composition, with luminous, fine-grained, autumnal harmonies followed by a blaze of rollicking brass, all rendered in rich tones and rock-solid rhythm by the Army Blues.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/04/AR2007010401879.html
