Lansing Civic Events Blog
Waverly Spring Band Concert
May 11, 2017
By Chuck Krafft
Recently, I listened to
Waverly Band Director’s Band, Jimmy Likes Pie and met him. He told me of the upcoming Spring Band Bounce
on May 11. As I had been impressed with
the Waverly Marching Band during a couple football games, I was eager to come
to see the concert!
Here is my recap of the
Marching Band on the field (at the beginning of the game and at halftime.)
The evening started off with
four songs from the Concert Band.
The first piece was a
collection of marches from “Great Movie Marches”. I especially loved the way they handled the
theme from the “Bridge over the River Kwai.”
They substituted flutes for the whistles very effectively and got the
confident, forceful spirit of the other marches well, too!
The second song was Mars (from
“The Planets”) which was a space aged song.
The music was a controlled sort of space age chaos that was refreshing
and interesting!
The third piece by the
Concert Band was the “Theme from Mission: Impossible.” Those of us who remember that show from the
late 1960s and early 1970s found the band’s rendition so spot on that I
actually expected a reel to reel tape to go up in smoke like they did in the
introduction to every episode of that show!!
The Symphonic Band came
next.
Their first piece was “The
Stars and Stripes Forever” by March Master John Philip Sousa. This was an impressive performance of a
stirring march.
Next, they carried us into
the future with a great rendition of the “Symphonic Suite from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
Their final song was a
collection of three Movements from “Video Games Live - - Part 1”. They asked us to wait until the final
movement to applause. It was an
interesting piece of music.
At this point we were treated
to a Drum Duet by two seniors, A.J. Pirochta and Jacob Martin. They played “Susquehanna” by Haskell W.
Harr. They played this exciting song
with great precision and enthusiasm. The
interplay between A.J. Pirochta on the Bass Drum and Jacob Martin on the Snare
Drum was smooth and really got the most out of this piece!
It was now time for the
Waverly Jazz Band to make its appearance.
They played three swinging
numbers.
The Jazz Band started with “Blue
Train.” by John Coltrane. This song
featured some fine solos as the soloists were supported by a superb performance
from the rest of the band the gave the soloists a flawless bed on which to
play. The solos by A.J. Pirochta on Alto
Sax (as man does not live by drums alone) and Hunter Temple really stood out.
The next piece, “Tastes Like
Chicken” by Kris Berg, displayed the Jazz Band’s mastery of some funkier rhythms.
The Jazz Band finished up
with a song that I sing occasionally when I entertain called “In The Mood” by
Joe Garland. There was some great
interplay between A.J. Pirochta on the Alto Sax as well as Michael Griggs on
the tenor sax as well as between Tyler Steel and Hunter Temple on the trumpets.
I really enjoyed the Jazz
Band’s work!
The Waverly Warrior Marching Band finished out the evening.
They did many of the songs
from their halftime routine. It was
exciting to watch their precision moves closely on the stage as it was much
easier to see everything in the auditorium.
(The press box at the football field is much farther away.)
The drum section came up
first and laid down a great rhythm as the rest of the band made a procession to
the stage.
First, they played the
Waverly Fight Song, “Anchors Aweigh.”
(Waverly may use different lyrics and a different title.)
The first song was “Hit the
Road, Jack” which was made famous by Ray Charles. Vanessa Garza conducted the band.
Next, they played, “Sing,
Sing, Sing” a 1940s swing standard. A.
J. Pirochta led this swinging song; it was fun to see the band go into swing
steps at various parts of the music. Of
course, this was another song well-done by the Warrior Band!!
“Friend Like Me” was the next
song from the movie “Aladdin” in 1992.
Vanessa Garza led the band through this song.
“Zoot Suit Riot” from the
Swing Dance revival of the late 1990s followed.
A.J. Pirochta led this well-executed toe-tapping swing piece!
Xavier Carroll conducted the
band through the “Theme from Spider-Man next.”
The Marching Band played this song with precision and spirit as well!
The Band then had newly
elected drum major Ashley Thompson lead them through a song for next year that
they had just learned, “The Bare Necessities.”
They had just worked on the song for a few days; even if it was
understandably not played at the same level as the fully rehearsed songs, it
still sounded pretty good.
After they introduced the
band’s seniors to the audience, the band finished up with “Theme from the
Incredibles” directed by A.J. Pirochta.
The band finished with a
rousing performance of the Waverly Fight Song.
I’m glad I was able to attend
this concert. The Waverly Bands played
well through the night and displayed the ability to handle many types of
music!! If you get a chance to listen to
the Waverly Band, I highly recommend that you go to a concert!!
