Press Release

Saturday, September 23, 2000

ALL-AMERICAN “FROM RAGTIME TO OUR TIME” CONCERT WITH A SPECIAL SALUTE TO THE ARMED FORCES AND FIREWORKS AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 8:30 PM

Come join the fun when the American Winds Concert Band led by conductor Larry Curtis fills the Hollywood Bowl with music from the Ragtime, Dixieland, and Big Band eras at the Bowl’s annual band concert on Saturday, September 23, at 8:30 p.m. The concert, “From Ragtime to Our Time,” features Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue in its original version for the Paul Whiteman band, Bennett’s Old American Dances, various Sousa marches and much more. Vocalist Barbara Morrison, Jack Reidling on piano, and Leo Potts on saxophone join the band for the evening. The program also includes a patriotic, musical salute to America’s Armed Forces and concludes with one of the Bowl’s renowned fireworks diplays.

Concert tickets ($5 - $70) are now on sale at the Hollywood Bowl box office [open Tuesday-Sunday, 12 Noon - 6 p.m., and through intermission on performance nights], all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons-May, Tower Records and Ritmo Latino locations) and by credit card phone order at 213/480-3232. Tickets are also available on-line at www.hollywoodbowl.org. For further information, please call 323/850-2000. Groups of 10 or more can receive a 20% discount on single ticket prices; call 323/850-2050 for details.

LARRY CURTIS is a distinguished author, performer, educator, and conductor. Curtis has established an international reputation with performances and conducting engagements in Japan, Scotland, Canada, England, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and Australia. His recent guest conducting engagements have included performances with the Sydney Wind Orchestra of Australia, the Los Angeles Brass Ensemble, the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, and the Americus Brass Band. Curtis is also the founder of the American Winds Concert Band, a professional wind band of symphonic instrumentation. Currently, Curtis also serves the City of Long Beach as its Director of Music. He recently conducted his 250th performance with The Long Beach Municipal Band, the nation's most distinguished professional community wind band, presently enjoying its 91st year of continuous service.

A tradition continues as the Hollywood Bowl’s own “Sousa Band,” THE AMERICAN WINDS CONCERT BAND, returns following its acclaimed inaugural performance last season. Drawn from the very best of the Los Angeles area’s brass, wind, and percussion players, this ensemble hearkens back to the era of concerts in the park under Sousa and Goldman, while setting a new contemporary standard for professional concert band performance. The ensemble is led by conductor Larry Curtis, known internationally for his rousing interpretations of the wind ensemble repertory.

BARBARA MORRISON has performed with a virtual “who’s who” of the jazz and blues world, including with Dizzy Gillespie, James Moody, Ron Carter, and Ella Fitzgerald, to mention a few. She has been featured on over 20 recordings in most every genre – from traditional jazz to gospel and pop standards. Born and raised in Michigan, her first recorded appearance was on the radio in Detroit at age 10. Although she is well-known in Los Angeles for her duo and trio dates, Morrison travels extensively, opening shows for Ray Charles throughout Europe, and she recently toured with Doc Severinsen’s Big Band. She has recorded several solo albums, including Doin’ All Right (1992) and I Know How to Do It (1996). With her most recent recordings, I’m Gettin’ ’Long All Right (1997) and Visit Me (1999), Morrison has explored the full array of her eclectic musical personality.

Pianist JACK REIDLING will make his Hollywood Bowl debut as soloist in Ferde Grofé’s original jazz band scoring of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue as it was played by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra of 1924. Reidling has performed with such notable big band leaders as Ralph Marteri, Jimmy Dorsey, Les Brown, Tex Beneke, Harry James, Les Elgart, Ray Anthony, Jack Sheldon, and Ray McKinley. His versatility as a musician enables him to bring together the worlds of commercial music and classical performance. He has performed with the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, the Long Beach Symphony, the Pasadena Symphony, the Henry Mancini Orchestra, and the Great Lakes Symphony. As a recording artist, Reidling is featured on At Last with the Tom Kubis Big Band, Live at the Jazz Bakery and Two Sides, which also features many of his own compositions.

Saxophonist LEO POTTS has been a faculty member at California State University Long Beach since 1978, where he teaches saxophone, coaches the saxophone ensemble, and conducts the symphonic band. His formal education was acquired at CSULB and the National Conservatory of Music in Paris. Potts is an active solo performer with a number of recordings to his credit, a member of the highly acclaimed West Coast Saxophone Quartet, and has performed extensively throughout the United States, including at Carnegie Hall, and in Japan and Italy. He was featured in a television special entitled "The Saxophone Experience," and is a conductor and clinician with Disney’s Magic Music Days.

One of the largest natural amphitheaters in the world, with a seating capacity of just under 18,000, the HOLLYWOOD BOWL has been the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic since its official opening in 1922, and, in 1991 gave its name to The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, a resident ensemble that has filled a special niche in the musical life of Southern California. A "hit" from its very first season, the Hollywood Bowl has remained popular and accessible to a wide cross-section of Southern California's diverse population. To this day, $1 buys a seat at the top of the Bowl for many of the Los Angeles Philharmonic's concerts. While the Bowl is best known for its sizzling summer nights, during the day California's youngest patrons enjoy "Open House at the Bowl," the Southland's most popular summer arts festival for children, now in its 32nd season. Attendance figures over the past several decades have soared: in 1980 the Bowl first topped the half-million mark and last summer, close to one million admissions were recorded. It is no wonder that the Bowl's summer music festivals have become as much a part of a Southern California summer as beaches and barbecues, the Dodgers, and Disneyland.

This summer, the Bowl continues to symbolize the glamour, romance, fun, and great performing arts tradition of Southern California. This season offers ten weeks of concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; eight Lexus Jazz At The Bowl concerts featuring the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra; 13 weekends of popular classics - seven with John Mauceri and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra; a special new four-concert series on Sundays, Sunset Performances; and World Festival 2000 - six concerts featuring music and dance from around the globe.

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:
Saturday, September 23, 8:30 PM
HOLLYWOOD BOWL
“From Ragtime to Our Time”
The American Winds Concert Band
Larry Curtis, conductor
Barbara Morrison, vocals
Jack Reidling, piano
Leo Potts, saxophone

Joplin: The Entertainer
Levy: Hunkatin
Wiedoeft/Schuller: A Tribute to Rudy Wiedoeft (with Leo Potts)
Sousa: Easter Monday on the White House Lawn
Bennett: Suite of Old American Dances: Cake Walk, Schottische, Western Two Step, Wall Flower Waltz, Rag
Dixieland Jam!

Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue (with Jack Reidling)
Gershwin, arr. B. Liston: Strike Up the Band!
Ella! First Lady of Song: St. Louis Blues • Mack the Knife • In a Sentimental Mood
A Tisket, a Tasket • How High the Moon (with Barbara Morrison)
Arlen/Mercer, arr. B. Liston: Come Rain or Come Shine from St. Louis Woman (with Barbara Morrison)
A Tribute to Stan Kenton
A Salute to the Armed Forces (with fireworks)
Sousa: The Stars and Stripes Forever (with fireworks)

Media sponsor for the evening is KLON 88.1 FM.

Concert tickets ($5 - $70) are now on sale at the Hollywood Bowl box office [open Tuesday-Sunday, 12 Noon - 6 p.m., and through intermission on performance nights], all Ticketmaster outlets (Robinsons-May, Tower Records and Ritmo Latino locations) and by credit card phone order at 213/480-3232. Tickets are also available on-line at www.hollywoodbowl.org. For further information, please call 323/850-2000. Groups of 10 or more can receive a 20% discount on single ticket prices; call 323/850-2050 for details.

Contact: David Barber, 213/972-3084