TUES13JUN17 - The Daily Poop - Badda Bing!

I enjoy meeting newcomers at NMA reunions. We're all shipmates, even if we've never met before. If you're coming to your first reunion, you might not understand this, but when we're all saying goodbye after the last tune, you'll get it.

Off course, it's good to meet up with old friends, too. I've heard tell that Bing Walden is coming to the reunion next week. I'm happy to welcome him to the growing number of reunion-going, story-telling members of the NMA.

After all, Der Bingle welcomed me to Newport in the early '80s. He talked me into playing with a civilian Monday-night big band that gigged around southern New England. Good guys, good fun, good music. 

On the other hand, Bing also introduced me to jai alai. I spent the rest of my tour in Newport watching, a game in which Portuguese guys whack a ball around while Americans throw their money away.. 

MON12JUN17 - The Daily Poop - First Edition

The 2017 reunion of the Navy Musicians Association is so close you could whack it with a soprano saxophone. It's time to begin the annual pre-reunion run of The Daily Poop, the unofficial, day-by-day chronicle of reunion news, scuttlebutt, hearsay and self-aggrandizement. Mostly the self-aggrandizement.

Although the reunion officially begins on Wed., June 21, my wife and I will depart from Illinois on Thurs. the 15th and arrive Sat. the 17th. Arriving early will give us time to see some sights, rest up for the reunion and meet up with other early birds. Members tend to dribble in over the days before a Virginia Beach reunion. We're expecting a big get-together in our homeport this year--a lot of first-timers have signed up.

Things will get busy on Monday and Tuesday as volunteers start setting things up. We generally have enough folks for a jam session on Tuesday night.

So, on that Tuesday (or maybe even the day before), we'll wrap up this year's series of Daily Poops and switch over to the also-traditional reunion LiveBlog.

The difference between the Daily Poop and the reunion LiveBlog is one of frequency. The Daily Poop is a once-a-day affair, usually a morning presentation. The LiveBlog features reunion events  around the clock, as they happen. Sort of.

So until the festivities begin, enjoy your Daily Poop. Ha ha.

Over There

This is the 100th anniversary of the publication of Irving Berlin's Over There.

It's not only an American classic; it's also the first song I arranged for a Navy band.

I did it for a live Armed Forces Radio broadcast from Treasure Island, a recreation of the days of old radio featuring Bing Crosby, Mel Blanc, Meredith Wilson and a bunch of other fogies.

(The chief told us we were doing this big-deal radio show in the drill hall. He said the theme song would be Over There. "We don't have an arrangement yet," he said. "Maybe Seaman Mullen will do it." He was kidding. But I brought in the arrangement the next morning. He was surprised. So was I.

If it's on the internet, my wife can find it. First she came up with this  hour-long audio track of the show. The band gets a bit of play throughout. Over There  gets it's first airplay at about 3:15, after a comedy routine with Mel Blanc.

Then she found this video clip from the show. At 9:35, the band and cast close the performance with Anchors Aweigh (the modulation at the end throws off even the best) and a reprise of Over There.

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US Navy Band - Augustana College, April 2, 2017 -- Wow!

This Sunday, I saw the U.S. Navy Band at Augustana College in Rock Island. 

While the personnel have changed since I used to see them in the '70s and '80s, my reaction was the same as it was those many decades ago: This is a topnotch band, maybe the topnotch band, full in sound, sharp in appearance, crowd-pleasing in every way, so good, in fact, that the only thing that could make the band better would be having me in it.

Yeah, that mixture of pride and envy has never gone away. I'm a fleet MU, proud of my contributions and my association with the fine fleet bandsmen and women with whom I served. Like them, I loved the DC band because they were special, the best, and I hated the DC band because they were special, the best. And I never understood why they wouldn't take me, because I was special, the best.

Well, I have gotten over that part of it. In fact, I can't recall what talent I had that I assumed would have raised the Navy Band to greater heights of perfection.

Doesn't matter. I'm now quite content to sit in the audience at a Navy Band concert and applaud every proud musician on the stage. I can appreciate a Navy Band performance because I have an MU's understanding of the talent and dedication it takes to create such an ensemble. And I can appreciate the band like any aged sailor who enjoys each musical number more than the one before it because each tune brings us closer to Anchors Aweigh.

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Disclaimer: In 1977, after completing a hitch in San Francisco, I got sent to the DC band. It was a short tour of duty; MU2 Mullen checked in at 0800 on a Monday morning and was gone before lunch. This is a long sea story that can only be appreciated in detail and is occasionally related at NMA reunions. It's a transcontinental tale of escalating errors that involves planes, trains, a baffled warrant officer and a chief whose heart was in the right place but whose brains were on terminal leave. When it comes to Navy inefficiency, this story has it all. My father, a WWII fighter pilot, even plays a cameo role in the story. 

Come to the next NMA reunion for a full rendition. I name names and catalog sins.

The Navy's Newest Bandmaster

I don't suppose the Navy music program will ever honor me with a special "it's never too late" award for all my great sacrifices. On the the other hand, I was never in harm's way during my Navy service.

But Ira "Ike" Schab was. He was an MU1 with Band 13 in Pearl Harbor when our Navy underwent the surprise attack of 7DEC41. He spent that "Day of Infamy" passing ammunition aboard USS Dobbin.

Ike served his Navy and country until 1947 but never achieved his dream of becoming a bandmaster--until now. Our brother-in-arms has been promoted to Honorary Bandmaster and spent his first day on duty with the Pacific Fleet Band.

Lots more details at navy.mil, but right now, here's our newest bandmaster in action:

 

 

Let it Be the Russian Navy Snow Band Forever.

I repost this every few years because, like fine wine and Frank Sinatra, it improves with age.

It's the Russian Navy Show Band's stirring performance of "Let it Be." What's great about this?

Everything.

• They're serious. You can tell because, obviously, no one's having any fun. 
• The lead singer is highly trained. The giveaway? He sings sharp. Anyone can sing flat, for any number of reasons: the key is out of your range, you're tired, you can't hear the monitor, you're tired or you just suck. But singing sharp takes talent. Singing above pitch is the domain of experts, and this guy is an expert. He's not always sharp; that'd mark him as an amateur. No, he's sharp just often enough to let you know he's a real pro. And he smiles when he does it.
• It's just as good when you turn off the audio. Try it. Particularly during close-up shots of the lead singer, you'd swear you're watching New Gingrich in a community theater production of "The Good Ship Lollipop."
• It's a reality check for those old-timers who reminisce about their days as active-duty Navy musicians and say, "I'd join up again in a heartbeat if they'd let me." Well, this is what your dream come true would look like. Check out the backup singers, most of whom are two-decades too old to be wearing sailor suits.   

This is as good as it gets. Encore!