Swing and Sway

So here's something that I don't normally get to do: play piano with the Sammy Kaye Orchestra! Once a year or so, bandleader Roger Thorpe will call to see if I'm free to fill in. Usually the answer is no, but I could accept yesterday's engagement at the Clemens Center in Elmira, NY. It was a hoot!

The Sammy Kaye Orchestra is one of the "sweet" bands from the swing era. With a lot of hit records from fifty and sixty years ago, they continue to tour around the US. The concerts may be getting earlier due to the aging of the audience, but yesterday's crowd was very appreciative.

The band is based in the Hudson River valley, and includes four musicians from the Binghamton area (that's Al Hamme in the sax section during our rehearsal).

It's a sight-reading gig (note to self: time to get those bifocals). The "book" includes about 230 tunes, all numbered and well-worn. Roger calls about fifteen numbers for the first set, making sure that he's balancing ballads and dance tunes with features for the "boy singer" and the "girl singer." The second set is all the "82's," which is where the band's hits are numbered: 82-A, 82-B, and so on.

The afternoon is a celebration of American song, and a whole lot of fun. It's pure show biz, and I'm grateful that I look pretty good in red.

Since I was traveling to Elmira, I decided to go early and worship with my home church in Owego, NY. Lest anybody think I'm sleeping in during the sabbatical, the alarm went off at 6:30. Had to be on the highway by 8 AM to catch the 9:30 service.

Nobody knew I was coming, but everybody knew I was there. That's how it is when you go home. Mom and Dad are in western Pennsylvania, hosting their grandchildren for a week of cousin camp. When I called my brother to see if he would be attending worship, his wife laughed and said, "Since the kids are with Grandma and Grandpa, he's sleeping in." Ah, yes; I forgot that's what some people do on Sundays.

Rev. Parrish Bridges, pastor of the church, is a great guy. He preached a good sermon that my brother, my sister, and parents did not hear. I sat in the back row, two rows behind the parents of my kindergarten love interest. The chair of the worship committee approached me over coffee to get my "outside opinion" on applause in worship. In fine Carter tradition, I was the last person to leave coffee hour.

This is the church that taught me to love and memorize the psalms. Above the organ pipes, there's a quote from Psalm 100: "Enter Into His Gates With Thanksgiving." That's what I do every time I go into that building.