washington high school: 1969 summer jazz band

In the summer of 1969, following graduation, a number of the members of the Washington High School Jazz Band got together for a couple of months to play through music scored by Fred Horn and Tom D'Alessio. The makeup of the group changed a bit from week to week, and I will revise this description as I can correct memory, but the following (at least) were the players:

       Gary Christiansen, electric bass
       Craig D'Alessio, percussion
       Tom D'Alessio, cordovox
       Dan Dumesic, vibraphone
       Greg Holt, trumpet
       Fred Horn, alto sax
       Grant Lubin, tromboone
       Mike Szymanski, sax
       ... tenor sax
       ... baritone sax
       There was another bassist who played some of the time. I will try and track these down...

Each week we would play through the scores while a 7" reel-to-reel tape deck recorded. Microphones were a mis-match of inexpensive items from Radio Shack (accounting for the tinny sound) run through a mixing console soldered together from an odd assortment of scavenged potentiometers. The music did receive some air time on Annie Christ's radio show at "progressive" WTOS FM.

The following links are to mp3 files. If you click on them, they should stream in.
harvey's tune
       (music: Harvey Brooks; arr. T. D'Alessio)
The song originally appeared on an album titled "Supersession" (Al Cooper, Mike Bloomfield, Stephen Stills, Harvey Brooks).
This arrangement is a reverse-engineered transcription of the song on the album.

creme tangerine
       (music: The Beatles; arr. T. D'Alessio)
The song by the Beatles appeared on their "white album."
This arrangement steals some rhythm and blues horn parts from the Electric Flag.

theme from joy house
       (Music: Lalo Schifrin; arr. T. D'Alessio)
Originally performed by Jimmy Smith on his album "The Cat."
Besides being a transcription Lalo Schifrin's work, part of this arangement is a direct rip-off from the Electric Flag's "In Another Country."
And a Cordovox is no match for Jimmy Smith's Hammond B3, but hey....

the horse
       (music: Cliff Nobles; arr. F. Horn)
This arrangement is a straight-up transcription from the original.

It was a fun venture. At the time I was studying arranging from Miton Mieritz and had scored a piece titled "Al Di La" which I took to Mr. Clifford Gribble (jazz bnd instructor) to see if the band could play through it so I could hear what I had scored. He consented, and that is how I got involved. My brother became the drummer because we wanted Dan Dumesic to play vibes. Whether these tracks curl your ears or bring a smile, they are what they are, and the times were what they were.

           + Tom