The First Annual Jazz Classic
A few of us decided to have a small jazz festival in Sherman this year-2018. We brought in the UNT One O’Clock Lab Band, and their director (Alan Baylock) suggested bringing in Doc Severinsen as the guest artist. The concert was on April 12, 2018. I have attached some Youtubes of the concert, and later I post Youtube of the Q&A session at the Sherman Jazz Museum that afternoon with Doc and Alan. A film crew also arrived who were filming a documentary on Doc’s life, along with Doc’s daughter, Nancy. I was honored to give Nancy and Doc a tour of the third floor of the museum.
It was a great start to what I hope to be an annual event in Sherman, which can showcase the museum, and a guest artist.
The Fort Worth Symphony at the Main Street festival in Ft. Worth 2018
This is the Ft. Worth Symphony performing at the Fort Worth Main Street Festival 4/20/2018. Because you can’t record their performances indoors, outdoors is the only way to preserve what they sound like. Our society is getting so used to hearing only amateur musicians, it’s nice when the public can hear real professional musicians. It’s a different experience when the pros do it.
Q&A Session with Doc and Alan at the Sherman Jazz Museum
The afternoon of the concert on 4/14/2018 we asked Doc and Alan Baylock to come to the museum for an hour to meet the public in a short question and answer session. This is a brief excerpt from that session. I think Doc wants us to open up the ballroom for dances someday, and he said he would be the first to volunteer to play for the dance! My dad actually held a few dances there when his antique museum opened around 1986. However, I don’t plan to hold dances there at this point.
The First Annual Sherman Jazz Classic
For eight years I wanted to do a jazz concert to go along with our jazz museum in Sherman, and in 2018 we finally did the first one. I wanted The North Texas One O’Clock Lab Band to play and to backup a great jazz artist. I also wanted the director, Alan Baylock, and the band perform with someone they were excited to perform with, so I asked Alan to help choose someone. It was a long shot, but we decided to go with Doc Severinsen, who was 90 years old, but still sounded great. Hopefully, Doc would agree and he did. This was the closing tune of the concert. Doc and the band sounded great! The concert was on 4/14/2018 at Kidd-Key auditorium in Sherman, TX.
Maynard Ferguson playing “Somewhere” in 1969.
Maynard would have been about 41 and living in Europe during this time. The big bands were dying and he would reinvent himself and his music in another year when MF Horn 1 came out.
My dad’s group–1988
Here’s my dad’s group playing “Indiana” in September of 1988 in Ft. Worth. Neil Slater-piano, Dr. Gene Hall-clarinet, Jack Rumbley-drums, Jack Petersen-guitar, Perry Sandifur-trombone, unknown bass player.
They were playing for a gathering of UNT people in Ft.Worth, and my dad asked me to video the band. This was one tune they played that day. They played two hour long sets without any music, and this group had never played together before this day. My dad and Gene Hall were 75 at this time. Gene Hall died in 1993, and my dad died in 2008. They were soul mates, having been best friends throughout their lives. My mom was always in the audience to hear him play.