thedrifter
05-12-06, 07:18 AM
Marine Corps band’s jazz ensemble warms up
May 12,2006
ANNE CLARK
DAILY NEWS STAFF
Spectators will likely leave the air show Saturday feeling inspired and proud of their military — and maybe wanting more. If you’re not ready to go home just yet, swing by Riverwalk Park to hear the Marine Corps Band’s Jazz Ensemble. Made up of 18 musicians from the 2nd Marine Division Band and the 2nd Marine Air Wing Band, the group will play big band standards like “In the Mood” and “Take the ‘A’ Train,” as well as patriotic songs like “Stars and Stripes.”
“It’s a swing version,” said Master Gunnery Sgt. Mark Michielsen, director of the jazz ensemble. “It’s not your standard march.”
Michielsen was “discovered” at boot camp, where Marine instructors noticed that he’d marked a knowledge of music on his questionnaire.
“They marched me to the Parris Island band hall,” said Michielsen, who auditioned for and was accepted into the Marine Corps music program. He said the Corps doesn’t audition budding musicians at boot camp anymore; these days, they find them at the recruiting level.
He plays trombone, which he took up in high school after a fight left him with a broken jaw. While he was recovering, Michielsen’s father brought him home a trombone.
With a career that includes a Master’s degree in music composition and a tour in Iraq, Michielsen now leads the jazz ensemble. They’re practicing on this day at Riverwalk Park, under the breezy shelter of the pavilion, going over “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore.”
They could almost pass for a civilian band, except for the flat-topped hair; and when Michielsen gives an instruction, the Marine musicians respond with the good-natured “urrr!”
“It’s a great way to be a Marine and keep up with music at the same time,” said Lance Cpl. Bryan King, who plays trumpet with the 2nd MAW Band.
A Marine can choose music as their MOS, or military occupational specialty, but they’re expected to train just like any other Marine — in the field, in the gas chamber, physically.
“Every Marine is a rifleman,” said Michielsen, who deployed to Iraq last year. “We put down our instruments and picked up weapons.”
As part of the 2nd Marine Division, Michielsen worked the security detail in Iraq.
During quieter moments, Michielsen hoped the band could perform with the Iraqi symphony. But the Marines never played with them, and they never performed together as an ensemble in the desert. Every now and then, a Marine played his horn alone; sometimes it was the mournful, solitary bugler playing “Taps” during a memorial service.
Being a Marine makes a difference in the way these musicians play in concerts. Because they work together every day on base, the trumpet player and the drummer and the pianist and sax player know how to read each other, musically.
“They’re more tuned into each other,” said Michielsen.
Being in a jazz ensemble is also a little different than playing classical pieces in a concert band. Playing jazz gives each musician the chance to do a solo, allowing them space to improvise. How do Marines, who are trained for any contingency in the field, deal with ad-libbing on stage?
“It’s not like you’re getting up and doing what you want to,” said Cpl. Demarius Jackson, who plays soprano sax, flute and clarinet with the 2nd Marine Division Band. “There are chord changes you have to follow — style, tempo, phrasing.”
“It’s freedom within boundaries,” said King, before the musicians took their chairs again, behind the music stands that carry the Marine Corps emblem.
May 12,2006
ANNE CLARK
DAILY NEWS STAFF
Spectators will likely leave the air show Saturday feeling inspired and proud of their military — and maybe wanting more. If you’re not ready to go home just yet, swing by Riverwalk Park to hear the Marine Corps Band’s Jazz Ensemble. Made up of 18 musicians from the 2nd Marine Division Band and the 2nd Marine Air Wing Band, the group will play big band standards like “In the Mood” and “Take the ‘A’ Train,” as well as patriotic songs like “Stars and Stripes.”
“It’s a swing version,” said Master Gunnery Sgt. Mark Michielsen, director of the jazz ensemble. “It’s not your standard march.”
Michielsen was “discovered” at boot camp, where Marine instructors noticed that he’d marked a knowledge of music on his questionnaire.
“They marched me to the Parris Island band hall,” said Michielsen, who auditioned for and was accepted into the Marine Corps music program. He said the Corps doesn’t audition budding musicians at boot camp anymore; these days, they find them at the recruiting level.
He plays trombone, which he took up in high school after a fight left him with a broken jaw. While he was recovering, Michielsen’s father brought him home a trombone.
With a career that includes a Master’s degree in music composition and a tour in Iraq, Michielsen now leads the jazz ensemble. They’re practicing on this day at Riverwalk Park, under the breezy shelter of the pavilion, going over “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore.”
They could almost pass for a civilian band, except for the flat-topped hair; and when Michielsen gives an instruction, the Marine musicians respond with the good-natured “urrr!”
“It’s a great way to be a Marine and keep up with music at the same time,” said Lance Cpl. Bryan King, who plays trumpet with the 2nd MAW Band.
A Marine can choose music as their MOS, or military occupational specialty, but they’re expected to train just like any other Marine — in the field, in the gas chamber, physically.
“Every Marine is a rifleman,” said Michielsen, who deployed to Iraq last year. “We put down our instruments and picked up weapons.”
As part of the 2nd Marine Division, Michielsen worked the security detail in Iraq.
During quieter moments, Michielsen hoped the band could perform with the Iraqi symphony. But the Marines never played with them, and they never performed together as an ensemble in the desert. Every now and then, a Marine played his horn alone; sometimes it was the mournful, solitary bugler playing “Taps” during a memorial service.
Being a Marine makes a difference in the way these musicians play in concerts. Because they work together every day on base, the trumpet player and the drummer and the pianist and sax player know how to read each other, musically.
“They’re more tuned into each other,” said Michielsen.
Being in a jazz ensemble is also a little different than playing classical pieces in a concert band. Playing jazz gives each musician the chance to do a solo, allowing them space to improvise. How do Marines, who are trained for any contingency in the field, deal with ad-libbing on stage?
“It’s not like you’re getting up and doing what you want to,” said Cpl. Demarius Jackson, who plays soprano sax, flute and clarinet with the 2nd Marine Division Band. “There are chord changes you have to follow — style, tempo, phrasing.”
“It’s freedom within boundaries,” said King, before the musicians took their chairs again, behind the music stands that carry the Marine Corps emblem.