Summer Sizzles with Jazz and the “Great American Song Book”
The last concert of the Wheaton Municipal Band's 84th season heats up on Thursday, August 8 at 8:00 p.m. in Memorial Park in downtown Wheaton. Under the direction of Doug Beach, the big band jazz sound takes music directly out of The Great American Songbook. The music focuses on a variety of composers who created the most important and most influential American popular songs of the 20th century. Much of this music came from the theatre and from Hollywood musical film, and was created from the 1920's through the 1950's. Favorite songs like "Fly Me To The Moon", "The Lady Is A Tramp", "Our Love Is Here To Stay", At Last" and many more.
The featured vocalist, Bethany Norman returns. An active performer in the Chicago area, she graduated from Elmhurst College and was chosen by Down Beat Magazine as an outstanding vocalist in 2010. Other featured performers include Frank Caruso-piano, Keith Brooks-drums, Adam Frank-tenor sax, Dan Parker-bass and Kirk Garrison-trumpet. The rest of the band is made up of auditioned musicians from the Wheaton Municipal Band.
Doug Beach, a performer (trumpet and flugelhorn), composer, publisher, educator, arranger, and Grammy Award winner, directs the acclaimed Elmhurst College Jazz Band (since 1978) and serves as director of jazz studies. Under his direction, the Jazz Band has performed in festivals across the world and regularly appears with jazz greats such as Clark Terry, Diane Schuur, Nicholas Payton, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Pete Christlieb, Lee Konitz, Louie Bellson, and Bobby Shew. Beach is equally well known for his work as a publisher and composer. His company, Doug Beach Music, is one of the world's leading publishers of educational jazz music, and has won 17 consecutive awards for composition from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). In 1996, the Count Basie Orchestra and New York Voices recorded his arrangement of “Cottontail” on a CD that went on to win the Grammy Award for best large jazz ensemble.
The jazz concert rounds out the 2013 season with the hopping sound of “The Great American Songbook.” Don't miss the concert on Thursday, August 8 at 8:00 p.m. in Memorial Park. Bring a lawn chair and relax. The concert is FREE.