A Cast of Thousands

Sunday, April 14, 2024

The big band Keith plays in, After Hours Big Band, played a shared concert with the Encore Wind Ensemble today. Their special guest was Chuck Lazarus, a trumpet player from the MN orchestra. The theme was jazz and classical music mixed together, or something like that. The Encore band really sounded good. I was impressed. Our friend, Jeffrey, plays in the band, as well as several other music friends. They played the Symphonic dances from West Side Story and that is one of my favorite pieces. Chuck played a piece with each ensemble, then they all played together. It was only the second time that piece had every been played because it is scored for full band plus full jazz band – therefore needing the proverbial cast of thousands (ish). It was good. I liked it.

The best part of the afternoon was Adalynn. She was there to cheer her dad on. She can say my name! It is the easiest name on Earth to say and I love that babies learn it very quickly. 🙂 That wasn’t the best part. The best part was when Jeffrey asked her what a trumpet says, and she buzzed her lips – doing a “raspberry”, if you will. Cutest. Thing. Ever.

My second favorite part was that Erick and Lindsay and Daniel and Amanda all came to Jeffrey’s concert (they invited me at eclipse time. I told them Keith was also playing (surprise), so they get all the credit for coming to Jeffrey’s concert). They were sitting a few rows ahead of me and while the big band was playing, Jeffrey was sitting with them – not with his small family (who were romping a bit in the narthex) or his mom and dad, but with his friends. I know they were closer to the front and all, but it looked entirely sweet to me.