November 29, 2010
Monday

The 8th Annual Sam Pitcher Memorial Scholarship Concert will open with the Soundwaves. Included in their set will Kris Berg's arrangement of the favorite, "Bye Bye Blackbird", with solos by Leslie Snodderly on alto saxophone and Jaren Escueta on piano. "Tomorrow" from the Broadway musical "Annie" will feature trombonist Dwayne Clary and Joe Truitt is the trumpet soloist. Gordon Goodwin's "Hit the Bricks", in a "funky" style has solos by Andy Sullivan (tenor sax), Jillianne Fazakerley (trumpet), and Sullivan Barry (alto sax). Gordon Goodwin is a Grammy and Emmy award-winning composer and is also the leader of the Big Phat Band. "Emergency Stopping Only", and of course a blues tune, "Blues Mode" fill out the Soundwaves part of the concert.

Previous Winners: 2010 Sam Pitcher Music Scholarship Winners (Click here)
Left to Right: Lisa Torres, Austin Kalkins, Andrew Sullivan, and Sarah Gucker
Photo by GAIL KLEIN

Next up is the Kayhi Jazz Band directed by Julie Cron. "How High the Moon" is a jazz standard first featured in 1940 in the musical "Two for the Show". Neal Hefti, who wrote for the Woody Herman and Count Basie bands, composed "Cute", which will also be on the program. "Lester Leaps In", is composed by Lester Young, a tenor sax player in the Count Basie Band in the 30's and 40's. The popular song "Blue Skies" written in 1926 by Irving Berlin, has been arranged for big band by Paul Jennings.

Discovery has some new faces in the band this semester, many of whom started playing jazz this past summer in the McPherson Summer Jazz Program. Included in their set is "Horse With No Name", made famous by the 70's group "America". Katie Powers on alto sax, Amber Junker on trombone and Inga Christensen on trumpet, are the soloists for "First Time Around" written by Mike Lewis, a writer for the Glenn Miller, Lionel Hampton and Jimmy Dorsey Orchestras, and presented in a medium swing style. Two songs made famous by the rock group, "Journey" entitled "Open Arms" with Tatianna Clary, trumpet soloist, and "Don't Stop Believin'" with Katie Powers, alto saxophone soloist, is arranged by Paul Baker. "Jazz Hero", a Latin-rock tune by George Vincent features soloists, Leslie Snodderly (tenor sax), Andy Sullivan (trumpet) and Amber Junker (trombone).

Previous Winners: 2009 Sam Pitcher Memorial Scholarship Winners (Click here)
L to R: Matthew Johnson, Micah Long, Louise Bryant, Alec Pankow, Victoria Clary, and Kate Guillemette.
Photograph by Jack Davies

The Windjammers Jazz Ensemble will perform "Ya Gotta Try" by Sammy Nestico, which was recorded by the Buddy Rich Band. Nestico has published nearly 600 songs for school groups and professional bands. Alec Pankow is the featured piano soloist on "Kid from Red Bank", the up-tempo Basie tune. "Original People" begins with the trombone section playing a very simple melody in a subdued, gentle ballad style. It is a very unique compostion by Bob Mintzer, dedicated by him to the Pequot Indian Tribe for their sophisticated approach to living in harmony with nature. The style is swing and reggae, and soloists are Rob Holston (trombone) and Dale Curtis (trumpet). Les Hooper, an accomplished composer, has written for band, orchestra, movies, television and his arrangement of "Green Dolphin Street" is a great example of his expertise in writing in the jazz idiom. Hooper has over 90 published compositions to his credit.

Previous Winners: 2007 Sam Pitcher Music Scholarship (Click here)
Kim Stone, Jolene Pflaum, Ausin Hays, Matthew Perry and Lindy Parsons
Photo Courtesy Sam Pitcher Music Scholarship Fund

Bill Holman's arrangement of "Stella by Starlight" will feature the Honorable Dave Kiffer, Borough Mayor and Woodwind Instructor, on alto saxophone. Charlie Parker made the first jazz recording of this tune in 1952, and it has been a popular standard over the years. Freddie Hubbard's "Sky Dive", from the album of the same name (1972) is arranged by Erik Morales. Don Loughman on flugelhorn and Kathleen Light on alto sax, are the soloists.

Previous Winners: 2004 Sam Pitcher Music Scholarship (Click here)
2nd annual scholarship winners: Amber Kiffer and Courtney Kiffer
Photo by Jack Davies ©2004

All of the bands will combine to perform "Blue Flame" the famous Woody Herman Band concert opener/closer  and "Opus One", the big jazz hit for the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra.

Sam Pitcher, a young man who excelled in music, died suddenly from Myocarditis in 2003 at the age of 16.  He was an excellent trumpet player and guitarist who played in all four of the bands participating in the concert. His parents, Dave and Karen Pitcher, established the Sam Pitcher Music Scholarship in his honor the following year and, to date, twenty eight local music students have received scholarships from the Fund.

Donations for the Sam Pitcher Memorial Scholarship will be accepted at the door. Proceeds from the concert benefit young musicians interested in attending music and arts camp. Scholarship applications are available at the Arts and Humanities Council Office and McPherson Music, and are due by January 1, 2011.

On the Web:

Previous Winners: 2008 Sam Pitcher Scholarship(Click here)
Seven Ketchikan musicians awarded music scholarships

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