More for the songs, and ultimately.....the celebration of music....
Norman Leyden's Big Band Birthday
by Lynn Darroch
Posted by bajohnso October 18, 2007 14:16PM
Categories: Top Stories
After the standing ovations, the balloons and the cake, after "Happy Birthday" was sung twice, there was still only one thing Norman Leyden wanted to focus on: the music he loves. So when the curtain began to close on the last strains of "Moonlight Serenade," Leyden stepped forward, thanked the full house, played a brief cadenza on clarinet, and then turned back to his band.
Because in the end, as it was at the beginning of Norman's Big Band Birthday concert, it was all about music for the Oregon Symphony's Laureate Associate Conductor, who celebrated his 90th birthday Wednesday night at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
"I hope you came here for the songs more than to see an old geezer," he said.
Those songs - 30 period classics performed by the Norman Leyden Big Band with vocalists Renee Cleland and Rod Lucich as well as some younger guests - have been part of Leyden's professional life since World War II, when they were on the Hit Parade and he served as arranger with Glenn Miller's Air Force Band. Later, he arranged for the likes of Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan.
An expert on the Swing Era big band, Leyden's 17-piece group recreated that sound with excellent musicianship and solid swing. The ensemble supported Cleland with colorful instrumental work on a ballad medley that included "That Old Feeling," and demonstrated beautiful balance on an unusual arrangement of "Rhapsody in Blue." Spare, melodic solos - highlighted by trumpet/drum duets by Paul Mazzio and Carlton Jackson - contributed to the period feel.
Leyden's accomplishments also include the nurturing of young musicians, and on Wednesday he brought out Cleland's daughter, Aubrey, 14, who sang several tunes with the band. He also introduced woodwind phenom Hailey Niswanger, 17, whose duet on clarinet with Aubrey Cleland on "'S Wonderful" delighted the crowd. And he featured the teenaged members of Dance West.
Though he turned the spotlight on others, Leyden took several turns on clarinet and even sang a few verses himself.
"It doesn't get any better than this," he said. "Here I am at age 90 and still doing the things I love to do." But he kept his focus on the moment, not the past.
"I won't say much," he concluded, "because we've got so much music for you."
-- Lynn Darroch is a Portland writer; lynndarroch@yahoo.com
by Lynn Darroch
Posted by bajohnso October 18, 2007 14:16PM
Categories: Top Stories
After the standing ovations, the balloons and the cake, after "Happy Birthday" was sung twice, there was still only one thing Norman Leyden wanted to focus on: the music he loves. So when the curtain began to close on the last strains of "Moonlight Serenade," Leyden stepped forward, thanked the full house, played a brief cadenza on clarinet, and then turned back to his band.
Because in the end, as it was at the beginning of Norman's Big Band Birthday concert, it was all about music for the Oregon Symphony's Laureate Associate Conductor, who celebrated his 90th birthday Wednesday night at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
"I hope you came here for the songs more than to see an old geezer," he said.
Those songs - 30 period classics performed by the Norman Leyden Big Band with vocalists Renee Cleland and Rod Lucich as well as some younger guests - have been part of Leyden's professional life since World War II, when they were on the Hit Parade and he served as arranger with Glenn Miller's Air Force Band. Later, he arranged for the likes of Frank Sinatra and Sarah Vaughan.
An expert on the Swing Era big band, Leyden's 17-piece group recreated that sound with excellent musicianship and solid swing. The ensemble supported Cleland with colorful instrumental work on a ballad medley that included "That Old Feeling," and demonstrated beautiful balance on an unusual arrangement of "Rhapsody in Blue." Spare, melodic solos - highlighted by trumpet/drum duets by Paul Mazzio and Carlton Jackson - contributed to the period feel.
Leyden's accomplishments also include the nurturing of young musicians, and on Wednesday he brought out Cleland's daughter, Aubrey, 14, who sang several tunes with the band. He also introduced woodwind phenom Hailey Niswanger, 17, whose duet on clarinet with Aubrey Cleland on "'S Wonderful" delighted the crowd. And he featured the teenaged members of Dance West.
Though he turned the spotlight on others, Leyden took several turns on clarinet and even sang a few verses himself.
"It doesn't get any better than this," he said. "Here I am at age 90 and still doing the things I love to do." But he kept his focus on the moment, not the past.
"I won't say much," he concluded, "because we've got so much music for you."
-- Lynn Darroch is a Portland writer; lynndarroch@yahoo.com
posted by Carlton Jackson at 3:20 PM
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