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Camp went great! We learned a lot. Now it's time to use part of what we learned. Read closely - there is a lot of information about this week:
*PRACTICES THIS WEEK ARE VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT! There are only two practices and both have to be shortened due to THS summer building schedule. Monday Aug 20 and Wednesday Aug 22 practices will run 6-7:30 pm (regular practice time 6-8 pm will start next week when the regular building schedule starts). The two 1.5 hour practices will be plenty to learn and clean the opener - be there! *IF YOU WERE NOT AT BAND CAMP, YOU MUST BE AT PRACTICES THIS WEEK! This week will be when we reteach the opener drill set by set. We will move into segment two next week - you will be on your own to learn the opener if you miss this week. Our second performance is on Sept 7 where we will perform the opener and segment 2. *OUR FIRST PERFORMANCE OF THE SEASON IS ON FRIDAY. Truck will be at school at 1:30 pm and buses will load at 2 pm. Game is at 4 pm and we will return to THS approximately 7 pm *We will distribute 2018 season show shirts after Wednesday's practice. That shirt with shorts and sneakers will be your uniform for the first performance at Wayne State on Friday. *  If you are in the mood for some jazz, the River Raisin Jazz Festival is happening on Saturday (and Sunday) at St Mary's Park in Monroe - right by the Custer Statue downtown. The "River Raisin Big Band" is opening the festival again this year at 1 pm on Saturday - that's the jazz festival name for the Monroe Big Band. Since I play trumpet for that band, I wanted to promote this free festival. Bring a chair and enjoy some very good jazz. My group is performing some Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band arrangements, some great vocal standards, a few flashy festival selections, and some great featured soloists. Playing with us this year is Rich Cieslowski (the "R" in A+R Music) on drum set whom you may not know played on Motown recordings and has played with everyone in the Detroit jazz scene since the 1970s. Hope to see you there!
http://www.riverraisinjazzfestival.org/the-lineup.html Saturday, August 11 1:00 pm - River Raisin Big Band Website / Facebook 2:30 pm - Dee Brown Website / Facebook 4:00 pm - DA'JA Band Facebook 5:45 pm - Mindi Abair and the Boneshakers Website / Facebook 7:30 pm - Alexander Zonjic Website / Facebook w/Special Guest Eric Darius Website / Facebook Sunday, August 12 2:00 - Michele Ramo and the World Jazz Group featuring Heidi Hepler Website / Facebook 3:30 - Gregg Karukas Website / Facebook 5:15 - Marion Meadows Website / Facebook 7:30 - The Rance Allen Group Website / Facebook Pre-camp is going well. Attendance has been great and we are getting a lot done in prep for our band camp week.
I have just updated the drill files on the THSMB18 page with the cleaner, easier to read pages that I received and scanned from our drill writer. Individual drill numbers will be much easier to read. The entire 2018 Guys and Dolls show including all parts and drill for four segments is now online on the THSMB18 page. Drill number and instrument part information is also now included as are movies of all four segments of drill.
WE ARE NOW READY FOR PRE-CAMP!!! Here's what I want to accomplish next week: 1. Learn music for opener and segment 2. We will start on memorization at camp. 2. Rehearse seg 3 and 4 music to get idea of those segments 3. Marching basics - WEAR SNEAKERS EVERY DAY! No sandals or bare feet EVER. 4. Learn FIRST THREE** SETS OF SHOW - bring SET BOOK (small spiral notebook) - **If we can learn first FOUR, even better 5. Set tone for the rest of the fall - learn to rehearse well, be responsible for yourself and to your section, be there ON TIME, and always have everything you need. What to bring to pre-camp (and to every marching band practice):
Be there early and ready at 9 am - don't GET there at 9 am. We will never go past posted ending time of noon for precamp. We will not work you to death but we will be working - be prepared to do so. This is not a boot camp but it is also not summer vacation anymore - it's part of your regular classroom requirements for being in high school band. We will not be able to hold your hand the whole time - this is high school; it's time to be responsible for yourself, your results, and your own actions. We will assist your learning but we cannot MAKE you learn. WE ASSUME THAT YOU ARE IN MARCHING BAND TO BE A PART OF OUR SUCCESS. Marching band is a lot of fun and you will be working with a lot of very enthusiastic, fun, hardworking, intelligent, goal-oriented people, both staff and peer students. Sometimes things are hard to learn. Sometimes it's easy. Sometimes it rains and we have to change plans. Sometimes everything goes so well that we move faster than planned. Or vice versa. Point is that OUR TOTAL BAND ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING. We strive to make the whole greater than the sum of it's parts - and one of those parts is YOU. Be prepared to have the time of your life. |
