The Bridge

The SuperJazz Big Band will be performing on Sunday, November 19, 2006 at 3 p.m. at John Carroll High School. The cost of admission will be $5.

This will be the second concert of the season and will feature guest vocalist Jane Drake. Jane will vocalize on two big band charts and perform two songs with a trio, including one from her current CD, “Brand New Woman.” The band also features 21 of Birmingham’s top professional jazz players.

Auburn Knights’ Alum Jane Drake’s “Brand New Woman” CD is making its way slowly around the world on radio. It’s now in rotation at the following jazz stations: WSHA 99.9 FM – Raleigh NC, which will also be offering her CD as an on-air promotion; WUMR – Memphis; WBZC – Philadelphia, PA/Pemberton, NJ; KUER – Salt Lake City, Utah; KASU – Arkansas State University; KEUL – Alaska; WCLV/WRMR – The Netherlands (played song “Brand New Woman” on Oct. 31st show); CJAM – Windsor, Ontario; KCME – Colorado Springs; KUNV – Las Vegas; WRTC – Hartford, CT; KLBC – Long Beach, CA; WESM –Maryland; WRFR – Maine; WFHU – Tennessee; WDNA FM – Miami (Played “Frim Fram Sauce” on Oct. 26th show) and all 14 GA jazz radio stations.

Peter Kuller, Host of Radio Adelaide – Sellicks Beach, Australia, who will be adding “Brand New Woman” to his rotation, had this to say: “Jane Drake has a great voice and the backing trio is excellent. Choice of songs has universal appeal.”

For more information, see Jane’s web site or CD Baby.

Jane Drake sent this report about the performance for the Auburn University College of Education on Auburn-Florida Game Weekend (October 16, 2006).

Dean Fran Kochan of the AU College of Education set up our group of music makers under a big white tent beside the new Ag Heritage Pavilion, which looks like a cute red barn. It was a great place to perform outdoors.

The temperature was mild, the sun was out and a breeze was briskly blowing. There was plenty of barbecue and fixin’s.

We called ourselves the Auburn Knights Orchestra Alumni Group. (And we have this picture to prove it. The smallest “cat” is Patrick’s son.)

The band nucleus was Steve Means subbing on drums; John Norton on keyboard; Richard Garrett on bass; Patrick Bruce on guitar; David Zuwiyaa on drums; Cecil Welch and Daniel Tidwell on Sax. Cecil was there during the first half and Daniel, who is in his last year on the current Knights, came on board during the second half of the gig.

Daniel told me he is from a small town in Alabama with no high school jazz program. Amazingly he didn’t get interested in playing jazz until he arrived at college. You certainly wouldn’t know it by hearing his inventive playing. We really appreciated the support from one of the current Knights.

One delightful surprise was when Steve took to the drums (he seldom does) with his old trio of many years, The Wineheads. John, Richard and Steve performed a beautiful Beatles medley ending with one of my favorites “Norwegian Wood.” And believe me, they didn’t miss a lick. They sounded like they’d been rehearsing all week, but I know they couldn’t have been.

I held down the vocal duties and had a blast singing through some of my favorites. Dean Kochan — a long time supporter of the Auburn Knights — was all smiles. The crowd was appreciative (No, I don’t think it was the wonderful barbecue…surely not!), and we were heard as well by hundreds of passersby. The tent was set up right by the roadway. The weather was sunny and mild. It was great to be among the crowd and the action on game day in Auburn. One thing for certain, there was an mass of orange and blue covering just about every inch of campus and much of the main roadways for as far as one could see. I think I heard that 87,000 people were in the stands for the Auburn-Florida game that day.

The icing on the Aubie-flavored cake that day was the Tigers’ spectacular win over Florida. After our bitter loss the week before, we all enjoyed this win to the max. It doesn’t get much sweeter than that 2nd half. And we certainly enjoyed entertaining the people passing by and through the College of Education Tent before the big game.

War Eagle to All Auburn Knights!