One O'clock....rock

Embarrassingly enough, I missed the first date of the best part of my summer – Thursday nights at the Dallas Museum of Art - Jazz Under the Stars. But I redeemed myself tonight.

If you, as I did, grew up playing jazz/stage band in DFW, you probably dreamed of playing in the University of North Texas’ (formerly North Texas State University) One O’clock Lab Band.

On this unseasonably cool May night, I got to listen to the fabled band that once featured some of my favorite musicians from as far back as the eighties and recently as the few years ago. I have always loved this band. The tradition of the One O’clock Jazz Band has always been a standard bearer for Jazz Bands in the area and by the very fact that they have been nominated for Grammys, all over the world.

Tonight, this band did everything a stage band is supposed to do; from the swingin’ saxophone line soli and screamin’ trumpets to the full trambone harmonies and the tight rhythm section. I was not disappointed. They played about 8 – 10 tunes total. Two of the tunes really stood out for me. First being a tune called HIP PICKLES. This tune was written by a student in the 70s and it sounded like it. It was a funk fusion piece complete with funky guitar rhythms and those screamin trumpets abovementioned. Also, there was beautiful ballad titled, YESTERDAYS. This tune was led by the lead tenor player. Real nice…I found a couple of videos of this band from 2010 playing these tunes. I recognized the players. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.