Purdue News
Purdue News
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November 10, 2000 Purdue bands drum up a free Mardi Gras celebrationWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Masked ushers, street musicians, free Mardi Gras beads and upbeat jazz will fill the Purdue Jazz and Lab bands' New Orleans Night on Saturday, Nov. 18. The concert is at 8 p.m. in Loeb Playhouse, Purdue Stewart Center, celebrates the conclusion of the Big Ten football season. No reservations are required for the free concert. "When you think of New Orleans music, you think of the traditional elements of Dixieland, straight-ahead swing and good-time music," said M.T. "Mo" Trout, band director and assistant professor of University Bands. "There's a party atmosphere to the music. "So it wouldn't be a night in New Orleans without the city's raucous jazz anthem 'When the Saints Go Marching In' and tunes like 'Mack the Knife' and 'Struttin' With Some Barbecue,' made famous by the legendary trumpeter Louis Armstrong." Trumpeter Bruce Knepper and saxophonist Ned Boyd, both members of Purdue Bands' applied music faculty, solo on "Potato Head Blues," a transcription drawn from Armstrong's "Hot 5" series of recordings. "These seminal recordings, done in 1927-28, really changed the whole focus of jazz from collective improvisation to more of a soloist art," said Trout. The soloists, who also will be featured on other numbers, are familiar to many in Greater Lafayette's music community. Knepper leads the jazz band at Lafayette Jefferson High School, and Boyd is in charge of Sunnyside Middle School's band program. To create the true feeling of a night out in the French Quarter, Trout decided to extend the music beyond the stage. "A trio of Purdue jazzmen, led by Roger Hoover, an Elkhart senior in chemical engineering on washtub percussion, will hang out in the lobby prior to the concert and perform, just like New Orleans jazz musicians hang out in streets and play whatever just to get your attention," Trout said. Vienna Espresso, a West Lafayette restaurant that offers many sandwiches named after jazz greats, purchased long strands of glittery beads so that every concertgoer can slip into the Mardi Gras mood. Ushers wearing feathered masks will greet people as they arrive. "New Orleans is not only the birthplace of jazz, it's one of the birthplaces of the blues," said Trout, and the concert reflects that as well." Jamie Benson, a senior math/English major from Indianapolis, solos on electric organ in a slow tune, "Blues to Grab You." Two other blues-based numbers include the "Queen City Shuffle" and "Bird Blues." Charlie Parker's influence on jazz will be felt in "Parker's Mood," a spotlight number featuring Joe Winters, a senior electrical engineering major from Menomonee Falls, Wis., on alto saxophone. Winters first encountered the Lovell Ives' big band arrangement of "Parker's Mood" at a summer music camp in 1994, and fell in love with the piece. He convinced Trout to include the song and tracked down Ives, now retired, to obtain the music. Ives arrangements have been performed and recorded by Johnny Mercer, David Seering, Tommy Newsome, and the Tonight Show Band. "'Parker's Mood' really fits my personality," said Winters. "It's just like I'm talking through my saxophone. I can be very laid back, but I can also be excitable, and this song is like that. It's very laid back but it has moments where it pops right out there. "I'm playing a very special solo with the band that has had the greatest impact on my life." CONTACT: Kathy Matter, (765) 496-6785; kcmatter@purdue.edu
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