Jackson Municipal Band tunes up for the 2011 season

The Jackson Municipal Band begins its 91st season Monday with a performance at the American Legion Memorial Day ceremony at the city cemetery in uptown Jackson.

The band begins its regular Thursday night performances at 8 p.m. June 2 at the Jackson band shell. It will continue weekly until the final concert Aug. 11, which will be at the courthouse gazebo, where the band played when it first began.

The summer season will see a diverse selection of special guests. Jackson High School alumnus Kirk Hanser's guitar group Saint Louis Bella Corda is made up of nine young guitarists who studied under Hanser in the Childbloom Guitar Program.

The members range in age from 12 and 19.

Bella Corda will play an extended concert at 7 p.m. July 7, according to Scott Vangilder, director of the Jackson Municipal Band.

"Kirk will be the special entertainment when the band takes intermission as well."

Two other groups will be featured in extended concerts this season.

"Pat Schwent and Saxy Jazz will be playing an early concert at 7 p.m. on the Fourth of July," Vangilder said. "The Southern Brothers gospel group will also be playing an extended concert with us in June."

Southeast Missouri State University director of percussion Dr. Shane Mizicko and the university percussion group, the Southeast Steel Drum Band, will bring a new flavor to the concert series.

Many of the community's favorite performers will return, as well as new local talent that the concerts will showcase.

"In July, the Cape Girardeau Pipes and Drums, based with the fire department, will be one of the highlights of the summer," Vangilder said.

Jackson residents like singer/songwriter Doug E. Rees, vocalist Robyn Hosp, country fiddler Steve Schaffner and folk singer and guitarist Julie Walker round out the performances in the summer series.

Steve Meier has played trombone with the Jackson Municipal Band for 43 years as well as serving as the announcer at the concerts, and has seen a lot of entertainment pass by on the stage.

Meier said he is proud that the band and its concerts have served as a starting ground for local talent and is glad to see the musicians who have succeeded come back to share their gifts.

"I've seen such good, young talent that came out of the city of Jackson that started many years ago, and now I see them where they are performing professionally," Meier said. "Sometimes, we were the first ones to introduce them to the public, and it builds pride in our city of Jackson to be the ones to do that."

The band has between 50 and 55 members.

Vangilder, a relatively new face at the helm of the group, took the post after Nick Leist retired last year. Vangilder, who teaches band in the Jackson School District, was a performer in the group under Leist before taking the post.

"Each one of our directors has had their own unique abilities, and Nick was such a good guy to work with all those years," Meier said. "He was so congenial; he worked with anybody all the way through, and Scott has just taken right over in following Nick and has such a professional attitude. It's really exciting to see the change in styles."

Meier, who also serves on the band's board of directors, said the band is planning more themed concerts this year.

"We're looking to have a Broadway night or a Sousa night," he said. "Also, a Rodgers and Hammerstein night; there's such a variety of music to play that people have never heard about, and we'll be able to introduce new stuff that will be a delight for the people."