Big band hits from past eras fill AMR concert

Big band hits from the 1930s, 40s and 50s enjoy the spotlight when Purdue's American Music Review gives its final concert of the 2003-04 school year at the Long Center on Saturday, April 17.

Sponsored by Purdue University Bands, the concert is set for 8 p.m. at the Long Center, 111 N. Sixth Street, Lafayette. Admission is free and no tickets are needed.

"We've just got a program of good old standards," says veteran director and Asst. Prof. Bill Kisinger. Several 1950s tunes Frank Sinatra made famous - like "Come Fly With Me" and "Luck Be a Lady" highlight that era in the show.

American Music Review's singers will also tackle Sinatra versions of two 1930s hits "All or Nothing at All" and Rodgers & Hart classic "The Lady is a Tramp." "What's unique about that tune, from the Broadway show Babes in Arms , is its mixture of salsa and swing," Kisinger says.

Fans of The Andrews Sisters will be treated to a vocal rendition of the 1940s girl group's most famous song - "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy." Other hits from the 1940s include "How High the Moon" and "I Could Write a Book."

Hits representing the 1930s include George Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm" and Ella Fitzgerald's "A Tisket A Tasket." Lafayette senior and liberal arts major Sara Suppinger will sing the song in Fitzgerald's legendary style.

Another noted song stylist whose music gets a showcase at the concert is Nat King Cole. Muncie senior and chemical engineering major John Metzger will pay tribute to his style in "Straighten Up and Fly Right."

American Music Review's trombone section, led by Carmel junior and science major Kristen Wilde, gets an instrumental spotlight in Gershwin's "I Got Rhythm."

To end the concert, Kisinger sneaks in a brand new big band tune called "Count Bubba" by Gordon Goodwin. Among bands, "it's the hot tune of the year and has unaccompanied features for the trombone, saxophone and trumpet sections," Kisinger says.