1980...my senior year, and here I am winning the Louis Armstrong Jazz Award for the second time in my high school tenure. If that doesn't look like the face of someone who is rightfully impressed with the Armstrong award, let's just say that I'd had my eye on the John Philip Sousa award that year. I deserved it, but it was down to two of us and since the other guy didn't have the added talent of an adeptness for jazz, the lot fell to me to abdicate my hard-earned Sousa to this guy who really didn't need any more awards than the ones he already had anyway.
That's Mr. Price handing me the award. Mr. Early gave me my first, but he wasn't able to ride out his tenure into my senior year. That was okay, as I had just about as good a relationship with Mr. Price than I did with Bob Early.
What a band geek I was.
With a girlfriend in the band, as well, so all those bus trips to other schools representing the Pride of Prague Marching Band were the stuff young men's dreams are made of.
And for all my time and trouble I had yet another Armstrong Jazz award to use as a bookend with the other.
My high school stage band, in my Junior year (1979).
Top Row: Tom Gregory (trumpet), Steve Duncan (trumpet), Mark Newcomb (trumpet), Sorry, but I don't remember this guy's name...
Middle row: Randy Blackwell (trombone), Charles Coulter (trombone), Billy Newcomb (trombone), Jeff Murray (drums)
Bottom Row: Jim Casey (baritone saxophone), Carrie Sands (tenor saxophone), Patricia Pritchett (alto saxophone), Richard Shreves (alto saxophone), Larry Countz (tenor saxophone)
Not pictured: Philip Pechacek (bass), Anna Novotny (piano)
No comments:
Post a Comment