Posts Tagged ‘band’
Posted by glennled on May 28, 2014
On 6 November 2013, at his home, my 21st trumpet student had his first lesson with me. He’s a fifth grader who recently turned 11 years old. He attends the Morningside Academy, a private, non-profit school founded in 1980. It’s located in Seattle and has a typical enrollment of 70-100 students. However, the school has no music program. His parents play the piano and flute, so they encouraged him to choose an instrument, too. Like most of us trumpeters, he likes the strong sound of the trumpet.
For our instruction book, we’re using “Standard of Excellence” by Bruce Pearson–the same book used by my brass students in the 5th and 6th grade elementary school bands which meet for practice at Skyview Jr. High School in Bothell. The plan is to have him ready to transition into band classes once he transfers into a school that offers music instruction. Meanwhile, he’s memorized “Happy Birthday” and plays it for his family members on their birthdays.
Posted in New Students - Intro Posts | Tagged: band, brass, Bruce Pearson, lesson, Morningstar Academy, music, Standard of Excellence, trumpet, trumpeters | 2 Comments »
Posted by glennled on May 26, 2014
Skyview Jr. High School, Bothell, WA
On 16 September 2013, I resumed teaching beginning brass at Skyview Jr. High School (SJHS). Students from three elementary schools come to SJHS for classes from 7:55-8:35 a.m. The three elementary schools are Canyon Creek, Fernwood, and Crystal Springs. A few students from other nearby schools also attend.
First-year band students come on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings for sectional classes, and second-year band students come on Mondays and Wednesdays. Then on Fridays, I conduct a class for the whole second-year band. Mr. Shawn McGinn has been Director of Instrumental Music at SJHS since 1999, and has taught over 10,000 students! His students feed into Bothell High School.
There are numerous other posts, with photos, on this blog about the many band concerts that have been held at Skyview and at the Northshore Performing Arts Center in Bothell since I’ve been been teaching trumpet and other brass instruments here.
Posted in Skyview Junior High | Tagged: band, brass, Canyon Creek, Crystal Springs, elementary, Fernwood, music, Northshore Performing Arts Center, Shawn McGinn, Skyview Jr. High, trumpet | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on August 21, 2013
Trumpet Soloist, Symphonic Band, HIMS
Dan Rowe, Music Director of Concert and Jazz Bands at Hamilton International Middle School (HIMS) in the Wallingford district of north Seattle, ended the school music year on 6 June with an expert Spring Band Concert at Lincoln High School Auditorium. He conducted four bands comprised of almost 300 students in total: the Beginning (58 members), Cadet (87), Concert (72), and Symphonic (75) bands.
Two trumpet players were among those singled out in each band for special awards. The Outstanding Musician Award for the Cadet Band went to trumpeter, Carter Eng. The Most Improved Musician Award for the Concert Band went to trumpeter, Juliana Silldorff.
The music program at HIMS is supported by Friends of Music at Hamilton International (FOMAHI). Please see www.fomahi.org. FOMAHI was headed in 2012-2013 by Alicia Edgar, President. For my article and photos about last winter’s band concert, please see my blog post of 24 December 2012.
Below is a gallery of photos from the concert. Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
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Beginning Band, HIMS
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HIMS Beginning Band
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Trumpeters, Beginning Band, HIMS
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Cadet Band, HIMS
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Trumpet Section (14), Cadet Band
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Dan Rowe presents Outstanding Musician Award, Cadet Band, to Carter Eng, trumpeter
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Concert Band, HIMS
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HIMS Concert Band
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Trumpet Section (9), Concert Band
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Piano soloist, Concert Band, “”The Seal Lullaby” by Eric Whitacre
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Symphonic Band, HIMS
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Trumpet Section (10), Symphonic Band, HIMS
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Trumpet Duet
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Balloon Soloists, Symphonic Band, HIMS, “Rondo” by W.A. Mozart/Arranged by Larry Clark
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Clarinet Section, Symphonic Band, HIMS, “Pie In the Face Polka” by Henry Mancini/Arranged by Johnnie Vinson
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Posted in School Concerts | Tagged: band, concert, Dan Rowe, FOMAHI, Friends of Music at Hamilton International, Hamilton International Middle School, HIMS, musician, symphonic, trumpet, trumpeter | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on May 31, 2013
It started in 1984, when Eric Lucas was a senior in high school—a concert called “Northshore Jazz Night” that features the high school jazz bands within the Northshore School District. Mr. Lucas is now Director of Instrumental Music and Performing Arts Department Chair at Woodinville High School. “So often,” he said, “when we play at jazz competitions and individual school concerts, we never get the chance to hear each other play. This is a fun event, usually about the first week of May, just for the entertainment of ourselves, parents, relatives, and friends.”
And on 30 April at Inglemoor High School in Kenmore, we heard five bands from Woodinville, Bothell, and Inglemoor high schools. I got photos of almost every band, but my camera’s battery died just before the Inglemoor Jazz Ensemble took the stage. The lead trumpeter in the Woodinville Jazz Ensemble is my former student. Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
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Woodinville Jazz II
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Six trumpeters, Woodinville Jazz II
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First trumpet soloist, Woodinville Jazz II
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Next trumpet soloist, Woodinville Jazz II
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Trombone soloist, Woodinville Jazz II
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Inglemoor Jazz II
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Saxophone section, Inglemoor Jazz II
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Trumpet soloist, Inglemoor Jazz II
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Trumpeters, Inglemoor Jazz II
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Saxophone soloist, Woodinville Jazz Ensemble
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Trumpet section, Woodinville Jazz Ensemble
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Vocalist, Woodinville Jazz Ensemble
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Eric Lucas, Director of Instrumental Music, Woodinville Jazz Ensemble
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Lead trumpeter, Woodinville Jazz Ensemble
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Trumpeter friends, Woodinville Jazz Ensemble
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Trumpet soloist, Bothell Jazz Ensemble
Posted in School Concerts | Tagged: band, Bothell, ensemble, high school, Inglemoor, jazz, Kenmore, Northshore School District, trumpeter, Woodinville | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on February 5, 2013
Tahoma National Cemetery, Kent, WA, view of Mt. Rainier
As of now, I have played “Taps” 50 times at various veterans’ memorials and funerals in the Greater Seattle area. The latest veteran so honored was Richard Louis Larson (1927-2013), whose cremated remains were inurned at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent on 2 February.
A U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, Richard was renown for his life-long, kind service of others. After he heard me sound “Taps” at a Veterans Day ceremony, he told me he had been a bugler aboard the aircraft carrier, USS Shangri-La (CV-38), where he served from 1945-48 while I was a boy in Texas. According to his memorial service program, Richard saw the first jet airplanes launch from and land on a carrier deck. When that ship crossed the equator, he entered King Neptune’s Realm and
USS Shangri-La (CV-38) underway in the Pacific, crew paraded on flight deck, 17 August 1946, almost exactly one year after V-J Day. U.S. Navy photo.
was transformed through an old Navy tradition from a pollywood to a shellback. I later learned from Brian Seguin, a fellow VFW and American Legion member with Richard, that in 1946, he participated in Operations Crossroads, during which atomic bombs were tested at the Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. In September 2011, Brian escorted Richard on his Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. (see www.honorflight.org). That’s when Brian learned that Richard carried a small Bible, given to him by his parents when he entered the Navy at age ~17.
Richard also was a talented poet and musician. He played cornet, trombone, baritone, and drums in Salvation Army bands. For 35 years, his father had been a chaplain for the Salvation Army men’s service department for alcoholics, helping men rebuild their lives. Richard met Lillian at a Salvation Army camp, and they were married 62 years. Richard often volunteered for the Salvation Army’s Emergency Canteens. And he loved to attend Salvation Army band concerts (see my blog post of 3 June 2012).
He had many more laudable qualities and accomplishments than I have mentioned here—he was special, a man of deep Christian faith and practice, a servant of others. It is blessing to me to sound “Taps” for such men.
Please click on either photo to enlarge it.
Posted in Ceremonies & Celebrations | Tagged: American Legion, band, bugler, concerts, cornet, Navy, Salvation Army, Shangri-La, Tahoma National Cemetery, Taps, veterans, VFW | Leave a Comment »
Posted by glennled on January 17, 2013
Lately, I’ve been listening again to Dire Straits, a British rock band led by Mark Knopfler. Their biggest selling album, Brothers in Arms, has sold over 30 million copies, and their worldwide album sales exceed 120 million. The band’s career spanned a combined total of 15 years (1977-1988, 1991-1995). Their most popular songs include “Sultans of Swing,” “Money for Nothing,” “Walk of Life,” “Brothers in Arms,” “Lady Writer,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Tunnel of Love,” “Private Investigations,” “So Far Away,” and “Your Latest Trick.”
In the “Sultans of Swing” song, a crowd of young boys in the honky tonk, “dressed in their best brown baggies and their platform soles,” are drunk as they listen to a band called the Sultans of Swing. Two lines, sung with dripping disdain, catch my ear: “They don’t give a damn about any trumpet playing band, It ain’t what they call rock and roll…”
Well, now, wait just a minute! You can’t dismiss all us horns. Those boys obviously don’t know their jazz music history and don’t even care about learning it either. No, even though the Sultans of Swing may play some swing music on their rock and roll instruments (guitars, keyboards, synthesizer, and percussion), that’s not the swing music of the great Swing Band Era, ~1936-1944. And all those big bands did feature trumpeters—and some great ones, too!
Want to hear some swing trumpeters from a time long gone by? Try these, for seven of the best:
Yeah, that was then, way back when I was a boy. Today, I also love the “Sultans of Swing” by Dire Straits even though they trash us trumpeters. But someday, they, too, will be bye-gones, like brown baggies and platform shoes. 😉
Please click on any image to enlarge it.
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Louis Armstrong
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Ziggy Elman
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Harry “Sweets” Edison
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Bobby Hackett
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Oran “Hot Lips” Page
Posted in Selected Trumpet Music | Tagged: band, big, Bobby Hackett, Dire Straits, Harry Edison, Harry James, horns, instruments, Louis Armstrong, Mark Knopfler, music, Oran Page, rock and roll, Roy Eldridge, Sultans of Swing, swing, trumpet, trumpeters, Ziggy Elman | 4 Comments »
Posted by glennled on December 24, 2012
Symphonic Band, Hamilton International Middle School, Seattle
“The music program at Hamilton is thriving,” said Daniel Rowe, Music Director of Bands, “and we’re making beautiful music!” The standing-room only audience responded in loud applause as the Symphonic Band from Hamilton International Middle School (HIMS) prepared to play the concluding, ever-popular piece, “Sleigh Ride,” by Leroy Anderson. The two-hour Winter All Bands Concert was held on 13 December in Lincoln High School Auditorium in Wallingford in Seattle.
Concert Finale: Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride”
The total membership of the four bands at Hamilton is 295 student musicians: the Beginning Band has 58 members, Cadet (86), Concert (75) and Symphonic (76). That’s almost one-third of the entire student body of about 1,000. The growth that’s underway is exceptional. Mr. Rowe recalled that the Concert Band had 31 members only three years ago. Some 600 students are involved in the bands, orchestras, jazz ensembles, and choir. The music program is supported by the non-profit organization, The Friends of Music at Hamilton International (FOMAHI)—see www.fomahi.org, which coordinated arrangements for this concert. This year, Hamilton musicians will perform in almost 40 concerts. Before Mr. Rowe came to Hamilton, he taught in the highly successful music program at Eckstein Middle School (see my post of 14 December 2011).
Six trumpeters in the Cadet Band, HIMS
I went to hear one of my trumpet students, a 6th grader, perform in the Cadet Band. On top of that, I got an unexpected surprise—my very first cornet student also performed in the Symphonic Band (see my post of 14 August 2009). He’s now an 7th grader, and he switched to tuba last year. Both these students had made the Seattle Public Schools’ All-City Honors Elementary Band (see my posts of 10 April 2011 and 2 April 2012). It was a thrill to me to see and hear them both perform on the same stage on the same night! Both come from great families, and it was fun to see the relatives there, too.
Each band had its highlights, and I’ll mention only a few. The Cadet Band featured its 15 trumpeters in “Trumpets of Symphony Hall” by Don Brubaker. Among the four pieces played by the Concert Band, “The Hunger Games,” arranged by Jay Bocook, was very impressive. The clarinet soloist, Sadie Morriss, accompanied by the Symphonic Band, drew a standing ovation for her performance of “Viktor’s Tale” by John Williams. And the Symphonic Band demonstrated its high skill level by performing the superb “My Neighbor Totoro” by Joe Hisaishi, arranged by Yo Goto.
Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
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Beginning Band, HIMS
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Student Guest Conductor, “March Miniature”
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Cadet Band, HIMS
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Five trumpeters, Cadet Band, HIMS
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More trumpets, Cadet Band, HIMS
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Cadet Band trumpeters rise to play “Trumpets of Symphony Hall” by Don Brubaker
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15 trumpeters (standing), Cadet Band, HIMS
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Daniel Rowe, Director (L), and Alicia Edgar, President, FOMAHI Board of Directors (R)
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Two of 9 trumpeters in the Concert Band, HIMS
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Daniel Rowe conducts Symphoic Band, HIMS
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Clarinet soloist, Symphonic Band, HIMS
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Symphonic Band and clarinet soloist conclude “Viktor’s Tale” by John Williams
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Five of 11 trumpeters in the Symphonic Band, HIMS
Posted in School Concerts | Tagged: All-City Honors Elementary, band, beginning, cadet, concert, Daniel Rowe, Don Brubaker, FOMHI, Friends of Music at Hamilton International, Hamilton International Middle School, HIMS, Jay Bocook, Joe Hisaishi, John Williams, Leroy Anderson, My Neighbor Totoro, Sleigh Ride, symphonic, trumpet, trumpeters, Trumpets of Symphony Hall | 4 Comments »
Posted by glennled on December 20, 2012
Please click on any of the 32 photos to enlarge it.
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7th-Grade Band, SJH
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Six trumpets, four trombones, one baritone
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Two French Horns
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8th-9th Grade Band, SJH, entertains orchestra (upper right), 7th grade band (middle right), and full-house audience
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The Brassy side of the band
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The Woodwinds side
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Trumpets (lead on left)
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More trumpets…
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And more trumpets…
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And even more trumpets…
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Hit it!
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Who’s playing? Saxes, tuba, baritones and French horns
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Muted trumpets
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Front and center
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Full orchestra
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Advanced orchestra
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Mr. Shawn McGinn, SJH Director of Instrumental Music
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Jazz 1 Band, SJH
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The Four trumpets
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Trumpet solo 1 (lead)
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Trumpet solo 2
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Trumpet solo 3
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Trumpet solo 4
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Alto sax solo
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Tenor sax solo
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Baritone sax solo
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Piano solo
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Mr. Shawn McGinn conducts
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Jazz 2 Band
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Four trumpets
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The Four Trumpeters
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Dawn Mark, SJH Principal, congratulates Shawn McGinn on the concert and the music program
Posted in School Concerts, Skyview Junior High | Tagged: band, concert, Dawn Mark, instrumental, jazz, music, muted, orchestra, Shawn McGinn, Skyview Jr. High, solo, trumpet, trumpeters | 6 Comments »
Posted by glennled on December 17, 2012
As the fans filled the stands in the gym at Skyview Junior High in Bothell, they were entertained by Arcade Mocha, a jazz combo formed by eight students in 2011. People were coming for the Winter Concert of the orchestra and 7th, 8th, and 9th-grade bands. Arcade Mocha played Christmas songs and other pieces for half an hour before the concert began.
Vaughan has been my trumpet student since 2010
It was their 19th gig so far (see http://www.facebook.com/ArcadeMocha?ref=ts&fref=ts). They play for festivals, auctions, fundraisers, variety shows, promotional events, and such at malls, stores, coffee shops, churches, schools, and more. For example, during the holidays in 2011, they played at the Barnes and Noble Book Fair in Woodinville, and twice in 2012, they played at the Crossroads Mall in Bellevue. Last November, they played at “This is the Night,” the Skyview Spaghetti Dinner, and helped raise $1,700 in funds for the Music Boosters and
Music Department of the school. Musically, they’ve stepped up into jazz circles by playing twice at afternoon gigs at Tula’s Jazz Club in Belltown in Seattle (see www.tulas.com).
This group of talented teenage musicians launched from the Skyview Jr. High music program (see http://www.nsd.org/education/staff/staff.php?sectionid=429). They practice, using The Real Book of charts, every Saturday at the home of their booking agent, Dianne Kinney, 425-275-8696, dianne@adamkinney.com.
Please click on any photo to enlarge it.
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Alto sax solo, Arcade Mocha, jazz combo
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Trumpet solo, Arcade Mocha, jazz combo
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Vaughan, lead trumpet, Arcade Mocha
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Nikki, guitar, Arcade Mocha
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Dean, alto sax, Arcade Mocha
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Alex, tenor sax, Arcade Mocha
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Xinwang, piano/keyboard, Arcade Mocha
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Tori and Vaughan, trumpet, Arcade Mocha
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Nikki, guitar, and Sami, bass, Arcade Mocha
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Tori, trumpeter, and Olivia, guest drummer, Arcade Mocha
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Tori and Vaughan, trumpet, Arcade Mocha
Posted in School Concerts | Tagged: Arcade Mocha, band, Bothell, charts, combo, jazz, music, Skyview Jr. High, The Real Book, trumpet, trumpeter, Tula's Jazz Club | 4 Comments »
On 6 November 2013, at his home, my 21st trumpet student had his first lesson with me. He’s a fifth grader who recently turned 11 years old. He attends the Morningside Academy, a private, non-profit school founded in 1980. It’s located in Seattle and has a typical enrollment of 70-100 students. However, the school has no music program. His parents play the piano and flute, so they encouraged him to choose an instrument, too. Like most of us trumpeters, he likes the strong sound of the trumpet.
Glenn's Trumpet Notes 