Melodies in the Night

Anderson, South Carolina

One does not have to spend six hours listening to the whine of jet turbines in order to hear the great melodies of life. Sometimes a two-minute drive in an eighteen year old Toyota will suffice - at least for me this was recently the case. Two of my favorite things to do in the world are taking pictures of people doing the things they love the most and listening to those blessed people who know how to make music in a twenty-three piece big band. For the first time ever I was able to do both of these things at the same time. I was asked if I would be interested in taking a couple of photographs at a big band concert in the nearby university auditorium. Part of the deal was free tickets to the event. The band was wanting some pictures for publicity purposes. I thought about this for at least a nanosecond and said I would be happy to do so.

It was as if I had my own private concert. I was told to feel free to move about the auditorium, the stage, and the green room spaces. For two hours I basked in the rich sounds of twenty-three musicians who really know how to bring to life nineteen of the classic big band standards of greats like George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers, and Lerner and Loewe. For what seemed like but a few seconds I scampered about this melodic oasis and took hundreds of pictures of twenty three musicians and a dozen fine vocalists in complete flow with each other. How grand it is to document people doing something really well - giving pure pleasure to the several hundred aficionados in the audience who have really good taste. I was granted a close-up perspective not usually granted to concert goers. It is amazing the different ‘regions’ that exist within a large big band. It was a delight for me to photograph the band from front, back, and sideways.

I can only hope that these musicians want me to digitize them again the next time they blow magic into our lives.