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Sounds
from the Hudson Volume 13, Issue 1 COL Thomas Rotondi, Jr. - Commander
NEW
FEATURE Trombonist Jim Pugh Opens 2005 Concert Season Jazz Knights Celebrate African-American History Month Jazz Knights' Guitarist Retires Concert Band Principal Tuba Retires Academy
Band Musicians Make Historic Voyage to China Trombonist Jim Pugh Opens 2005 Concert Season
Trombonist Jim Pugh Performs with the Jim Pugh has had a distinguished career as a freelance trombonist, composer and educator. His playing crosses all boundaries. His recordings range from small-group jazz settings with Joe Lovano and David "Fathead" Newman to classical music with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble. Jim was also a featured soloist on Grammy winning recordings with Woody Herman and has recorded large orchestral works with several major orchestras. Read more about Mr. Pugh at his website: www.jazzmasters.nl/jimpugh.htm Jazz Knights Celebrate African-American History Month On February 18th at 8 p.m. in the Eisenhower Hall Ballroom the Jazz Knights will perform a concert in tribute to some of America's great African-American composers and musicians. Past guest artists during African-American History Month have included trumpeter Byron Stripling and the late jazz pianist James Williams. This year saxophonist extraordinaire David Liebman will share his intimate musical knowledge of the jazz idiom and its history as he performs with the Jazz Knights. Highly influenced by saxophonist John Coltrane during the 1960s, Mr. Liebman's illustrious career includes performances with drummer Elvin Jones' group in the late 1960s and membership in the legendary Miles Davis' group from 1970 through 1974. Today, Mr. Liebman is highly respected as a saxophonist, music educator, jazz historian and composer. In addition to Liebman, the Jazz Knights will feature several talented musicians from the band.
The Academy Band's "Music Under the Stars" concert series at the Trophy Point Amphitheatre was a popular success featuring a number of guests this season. On July 25th, Capt. Tod Addison presented a concert program featuring the charismatic bassist David Murray in solo works and accompanied by the Concert Band. In August, Capt. Addison conducted a concert of American works for band featuring guest clarinetist Deborah Chodacki on Leonard Bernstein's Prelude, Fugue and Riffs. Colonel Thomas Rotondi, Jr. took to the stage with the Concert Band for the closing performance of the season on September 4th. The band's traditional performance of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture was augmented by the presence of the U.S. Army Chorus under the direction of Maj. Jim Keene. Between performances at Army home football games the Concert Band presented a number of exceptional performances this autumn. Col. Rotondi opened the Band's Chamber Recital Series with a program of works for chamber winds and organ on September 19th in the Cadet Chapel, featuring organist Craig Williams. On October 14th, Capt. Addison, the Concert Band and the Magic Circle Mime Company performed for a group of 1400 students from a dozen area schools in the band's annual Young People's Concert. November witnessed the band heading for the warm weather and sunshine of Bradenton, Florida to participate in Bradenton's Patriotism Week. Col. Rotondi conducted the band on three concerts and a parade for the Bradenton community. The Academy Band's Jazz Knights look forward to a busy performance schedule this winter. The group's saxophone and rhythm sections will be performing on Saturday, January 8th at the United States Navy Band's annual saxophone symposium. A line up of high-energy compositions that show off the group's ensemble and improvisational skills is planned. During the same period, other members of the Jazz Knights will be operating an information booth at the International Association of Jazz Educators Convention in Long Beach, California, January 5-8. If you attend the convention, please see us about concert information and career opportunities in the Academy Band or the Army. From February 9th through 13th the Jazz Knights will be touring colleges in the Midwest, including Pennsylvania's Slippery Rock University, Ohio State University, Indiana State University and the Ohio University. In March, the Jazz Knights will hit the road again, performing in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on the 21st and in Tower City on the 23rd. On March 29th the group will host their annual Jazz Workshop at West Point. Each year three different high school jazz bands participate in this popular educational event. Activities include a motivating concert by the Jazz Knights, educational jazz clinics and opportunities for the school ensembles to perform for each other while being mentored by members of the Jazz Knights.
In addition to maintaining their ceremonial commitments at West Point and its surrounding area, members of the Hellcats have been actively performing with the Concert Band. In June, the Hellcats performed at Walt Disney World. While in Florida, the group performed at EPCOT, The Magic Kingdom and downtown Walt Disney World. Among their performances was a series of shows with Disney's "Spirit of America" Drum and Fife Corps in honor of Flag Day and the United States Army's 229th birthday. This is the second time the Hellcats have performed with the "Spirit of America." In September, the Hellcats traveled to Concord, New Hampshire to participate in the New Hampshire Highland Games. The ensemble's performances were coupled with the Strathclyde Police Pipe Band from the United Kingdom. The concerts were deemed a success as the Hellcats continue to entertain audiences with their unique and exciting show. Members of the ensemble have also maintained an active schedule. Most recently, Hellcat drummer, Sgt. 1st First Class Eric Sheffler attended the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Nashville, Tennessee. Additionally, Staff Sgts. Eric Miller and Gino Villarreal will be performing recitals and presenting master-classes as a part of their brass quintet tour to Iowa and South Dakota this January. Jazz Knights' Guitarist Retires
Concert Band Principal Tuba Retires
Academy
Band Musicians Make Historic Voyage to China This past October, the U.S. Military Academy Band commander and three soloists made an historic voyage to perform with the Military Band of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in Beijing, China. The collaboration between the Chinese and American bands was the first time U.S. military musicians performed with this organization in a live concert for a public audience. As the U.S. Military Academy Band commander, COL Thomas Rotondi, stated, "This was a significant international, musical partnership event. It was exhilarating to see Chinese and American musicians performing together. We will all treasure our time in China and will never forget this wonderful experience." The Military Band of the People's Liberation Army is the only state-level, professional military band in the Chinese Republic. Established in 1952, it has approximately 300 members and is divided into three large wind ensembles. It routinely performs for heads of state, national and international dignitaries as well as for the general Chinese populace. The musicians are the finest in the country, many of them graduates of the Central Conservatory in Beijing. The band headquarters and facilities are based in Beijing, China, and include multiple rehearsal halls, housing for the families, small shops, a cantina (or eating facility) and a school.
COL Rotondi served as guest conductor in a concert with the PLA Band on October 26th, 2004. COL Rotondi brought three USMA Band soloists to perform at the event: SFC MaryKay Messenger, soprano; SFC Wayne Tice, alto saxophone; and SSG Jason Ham, euphonium. During the trip Zhao Liu, a former member of the PLA Band, served as the interpreter for the Americans, and also as flute soloist on the concert. Zhao Liu joined the PLA Band as a flutist when he was 14 years old. He eventually left China to study music in the U.S. and currently freelances in the Chicago area. The four USMA musicians spent twelve days in China rehearsing with the PLA Band, giving master classes to band members and students from the Central Conservatory, and seeing some of the major Chinese cultural attractions. Each USMA Band member gave a master class to the students of the Central Conservatory and members of the PLA Band. Many fundamental musical concepts were explained to the Chinese about breath support, practice ethics, technique, tone and the relation to air support, vibrato and musical expression. COL Rotondi gave a master class to the Chinese conductors and band members and explained his approach toward the wind ensemble - the concept of sound, intonation, balance and blend. Rotondi had SFC Messenger sing during the class and he explained that instrumentalists should listen to vocalists more often. "Vocalists breathe and phrase naturally and they sing from the soul. Whatever they are feeling at the time, they can express it," stated Rotondi. With SFC Tice, Rotondi had him demonstrate keeping the same tonal concept across all the dynamics and range of the saxophone. With SSG Ham on euphonium, they showed the essential practice habit of learning a technical passage slowly with the metronome and gradually speeding up to the desired tempo. SSG Ham expressed, "I was moved by their desire to work with us." For the concert, COL Rotondi programmed several Western/European works to include Verdi's overture to La Forza del Destino, James Barnes' Variations on a Theme by Niccolo Paganini, Edwin Franco Goldman's march On Parade and Wagner's Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral. "I found the Chinese musicians to be wonderful, exciting players. They were magnificent with standard repertoire like the marches and orchestral transcriptions." Also on the program were uniquely American selections like SFC Messenger's Broadway feature Thoroughly Modern Millie and vocal selections from Gershwin's American Opera Porgy and Bess. "It was a thrill to share our American musical styles with the Chinese musicians. They played our styles with energy and vitality," Rotondi said. Both SFC Wayne Tice and SSG Jason Ham sat in the band during rehearsals and at the performance. Tice was featured performing the alto saxophone showpiece Introduction and Samba by Maurice Whitney and Ham played Vladimir Cosma's Euphonium Concerto. Zhao Liu was featured on the concert performing Bizet's Carmen Fantasia.
"The band made a great transformation during the rehearsals and were very excited about the result in the performance," stated SFC Tice. COL Rotondi added, "It was electric!!! All the things we worked on for a week and a half seemed to click from the downbeat." The Chinese and Americans sat side-by-side in the performance in the Concert Hall at the Chinese National Library. Programmed at the end of the event was Philip Egner's Official West Point March. The crowd of 1500 roared on to receive two encores, the nationalistic Chinese work Good News from Beijing Reaches the Frontier and then John Philip Sousa's masterpiece The Stars and Stripes Forever. Academy Band and PLA Band members made lasting and continuing friendships. SSG Jason Ham reveled in learning about the short history of the euphonium in China and meeting the only Chinese euphonium instructor currently in the Republic. COL Rotondi was able to continue his musical encounters with Brigadier General Yu Hai, Master and Conductor of the Military Band of the People's Liberation Army. General Yu Hai and COL Rotondi met when Rotondi was the commander of the U.S. Army Europe Band and Chorus in Schwetzingen, Germany. They then met again spontaneously at the Midwest Band and Orchestra Convention in Chicago where the invitation to China was conceived. SFC Tice noted, "The way they embraced us, everyone in the band was so gracious and the positive feelings were so mutual. They treated us great and the interaction was between people, even though there was a communication barrier, it did not seem to exist."
"The Chinese were certainly hospitable to us," SFC Messenger noted. "Flowers awaited us at the airport when we arrived and in our hotel rooms. The food was magnificent and they freely spent time with us touring the historical Chinese sights like Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, the Ming Dynasty Tombs and the Great Wall of China. It was the experience of a lifetime," SFC Messenger added. COL Rotondi concluded, "We shared musical ideas and learned about the culture of the Chinese people. More importantly, we will be bonded forever by friendship."
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The
Academy Band has invited a world-renowned soloist to join its ranks each
January for the last two years. Past soloists were virtuoso
clarinetist Eddie Daniels and percussionist Steve Houghton. The
versatility of these two well-known talents allowed them to appear with
both the Concert Band and Jazz Knights on the same event. This
year's soloist is legendary trombonist Jim Pugh. He will join both the
Concert Band and Jazz Knights for a performance on January 14th, at 8 p.m.
in the Eisenhower Hall Theater.
On
Sunday, March 6th, members of the Hellcats will perform a recital as a
part of the U.S. Military Academy Band's Chamber Series. Held at the
Jewish Chapel at West Point, the performance will begin at 3 p.m. and will
showcase a variety of trumpet ensemble literature in the classical and
jazz idioms. Selections will include Eric Ewazen's Fantasia for
Seven Trumpets and Staff Sgt. Jon Leonard's arrangement of Manteca,
made famous by the late Dizzy Gillespie. In addition to larger
trumpet ensemble pieces, members will be presenting works for smaller
ensembles. As with all Academy Band events, this recital is free and
open to the public.
Master
Sgt. Robert Helsel, guitarist with the United States Military Academy
Band's Jazz Knights, is a native of Miami, Florida. Master Sgt.
Helsel has been a member of the U.S. Military Academy Band since May 1986
and served as rhythm section leader in the Jazz Knights since 1996.
Since joining the Army in 1980, Master Sgt. Helsel attended the Army
Element, School of Music and performed for six years with the band at Ft.
McPherson in Atlanta, Georgia. There, he performed with such artists
as Cab Calloway and Bill Watrous. He studied guitar with Steve
Freeman of the Guitar Institute of Technology, acclaimed local Atlanta
area guitarist Bob Shaw and ECM recording artist John Abercrombie.
Here in West Point's marching band, Master Sgt. Helsel fulfilled his
duties on cymbals for many parades on the plain and at Army sporting
events. In 2001, he became the computer system administrator/ IMO
for the Academy Band. After his retirement in November of 2004, he
became the system administrator at the Department of Foreign Languages,
Office of the Dean at West Point. Master Sgt. Helsel currently resides in
Newburgh, New York and will continue to work as a free lance musician in
the area.
In
November of 2004, the U.S. Military Academy Band bade farewell to Master
Sgt. Joe Roccaro. Roccaro joined the United States Military Academy
Band in May of 1981, and for the last several years served as principal
tuba and tuba section leader in the Concert Band. He was a founding
member of the West Point Tuba Quartet and performed for many years with
the Highlands Brass Quintet. Roccaro was also an integral part of
the standing friendship with the Allentown Band, America's oldest active
civilian band in Allentown, Pennsylvania. As the Allentown and
Academy Bands shared the stage on several joint concerts during Joe's
time, he was reunited with his former tuba teacher, Mr. Ronald Demkee, the
conductor of the Allentown Band. Before coming to West Point,
Roccaro attended the Juilliard School of Music where he earned both his
Bachelor and Master of Music degrees. Joe is a native of Easton,
Pennsylvania, and plans to move back to the Easton area with his wife
Denise.
Staff
Sgt. Erin Foster, clarinet
Staff
Sgt. Glenn West, bassoon
