We went to the see the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra's annual Big Band show last evening at the Arts; it was, as expected, a good time. The NSO has been doing these concerts for years, and the tunes roll off with ease.
This year's theme was Motown and soul - even though some of the tunes were from the Brill Building songbook. No matter. The singers were Kelly-Ann Evans on lead with backup from Janet Cull and Crystal McCarthy, and they were quite good - most notes nailed, right on the ceiling. I would say most in the audience were touched when Evans described how she had attended a Big Band show featuring Beatles tunes 10 years ago that very night as a music student, and how she wished she would one day get to sing with the band on the same stage. Nice.
My favourite moment, though, was when Jim Duff, the conductor of all the Big Band shows, had the full orchestra play along with Sandy Morris - sitting in as guitarist with the Big Band - on On The Beach, which is better known (and evidently very familiar) as the theme of Land & Sea. (You can hear an excerpt here.)
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