Al Kiger, wonderful friend and one of the best jazz writers and musicians ever is having several of his charts performed by Mark Buselli’s BSU Jazz Ensemble on Weds., Feb. 8, 7:30, at Sursa Hall on the Ball State campus. Believe this is the annual Tom Shah Memorial Concert presented each winter to celebrate jazz and Tom’s life cut short in an overseas terrorist bombing. Tickets are available at the box office prior to the concert.

AU outstanding music alum Dave Coolidge will be featured in concert at Park Place Church on the westside of AU campus Friday evening, Oct. 21, at 7:30 pm. He will be accompanied by the Anderson University wind ensemble and jazz ensemble during the concert. Here’s a site to check out with a further description of the event: http://www.anderson.edu/arts-events/homecoming.html. Dave is one great lead player and worth everyone’s time to get by the church to hear some great music.

Heard Tommy Emmanuel in concert last Saturday at Emens Auditorium on the Ball State campus. What a knock-out! Put him on your list if he is near you. Incredibly gifted musician. Excellent humor intertwined with his performance too. Same stage where Chet Atkins appeared with the Muncie Symphony Orchestra many years ago, with Dr. Robert Hargreaves conducting.

On June 17, I visited the U.S. Copyright Office in the Madison Building of the Library of Congress. First visit after all these years of writing. It was a hoot…using the card catalogs to search for music written and copyrighted before 1977. I was told you will not find copyrights online written before that date unless they have been renewed in someway. Anyone in the music business should take in this tour and facility when they visit D.C. the next time. Very worthwhile!!

I’m available for requests for band and instrumental commissions and arrangements for the coming year. Please contact me here or at: les@lestaylorpublications.com.

When I started into the publishing business about 1970 working for Frank Cofield at Hal Leonard writing the pop marching band series, we sent only condensed scores in with the extra parts that could not easily be extracted by an engraver without more info, etc. (ex. baritone TC, opt. Eb horn, etc.). They were all handwritten and someone using a music typewriter set all the parts and scores which were returned to me for proofing. A writer was not involved with the technical aspect of the proofs but rather only the creative aspect. Some engraving was done inhouse and some later sent to Korea. Today, we have graduated to the music writing software age…Finale and Sibelius to name two front-runners. Most writers are now responsible for the engraving and paid little or nothing for it. I’ve always felt the engraving stage has more to do with final proofing for a writer rather than the old checking the transposition only approach. Here is a youtube clip about engraving from earlier generations which came to me from John Edmondson, one of instrumental music’s finest writers. Wherever John worked he left his positive mark of organization and grading in the band field…Hansen, Hal Leonard and Queenwood to name three. Here’s the site for you to check out this video clip on engraving. Enjoy! Paste to your browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5uPPJj_M_o

“Ancient of Days,” which I composed and arranged years ago for Tim Lautzenheiser when he was band directing at New Mexico State should be entered into Finale within the next 30 days and available to interested groups. The work is for standard symphonic instrumentation and features a jazz quartet of trumpet or flugel, clarinet or sop. sax, bass and drum set. It was premiered at the CBDNA regional in Dallas in 1974. Anyone wanting to know when it’s available should email me.

Continually looking for recordings and/or music by the Metropole Orchestra from the Netherlands. If you have any or know of any, please let me know. THANKS! Specific wants at the moment are: 1) TWILIGHT featuring Bart van Lier; and 2) DAYDREAM featuring Ack van Rooyen; plus anything arranged by Rob Pronk, Dick Bakker, John Clayton, Bill Dobbins, Bill Holman, Jeff Beal, Jerry van Rooyen, Rogier van Otterloo and Vince Mendoza. No reasonable offer refused on good quality recordings. Send your list(s) of one or more.

NEWS RELEASE: The Grace College Community Wind Ensemble will present their final concert of the year. The program will feature not only the Grace College Community Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Martin Becker, but also the popular 18 piece Truth in Jazz Big Band from Elkhart, Indiana. Additionally the concert will feature three soloists during the evening, including Jay Flippin from Lexington, KY, whose special arrangement “Tribute To The Duke” for jazz trio and concert band will be programmed. The concert will be held at the Warsaw High Performing Arts Center on Thursday, May 5 at 7:30 pm. Concert is free doors open at 6:45 pm and the Concert starts at 7:30 pm May 5, 2011.
For further info: email Martin Becker at  becker.martinandjudy@gmail.com; or call Marty at:
Home 574 834 2112
Mobile 574 551 3550

Doing some spring cleaning I came across several charts written by myself along with the likes of good writer friend’s Victor Lopez, Al Kiger, Mike Pendowski, Mark Spede, John Dilkey and the late wonderfully talented Bob Lowden. What a fickle relationship the music publishing world and band director buying public has…! If it’s not on the shelf at Pepper or written in the last year it generally gets snubbed or looked over…finds its way to the discount shelf or collects dust for 25 years. Ugly, isn’t it? These charts were recorded in DC at Omega by my good friend Pete Peterson and excellent service musicians…the same guys and gals that record for many well recognized companies. So, the promotional recordings were first-class! The charts were very well written. But because they don’t have a 2010 or 2011 copyright nobody considers them anymore…even with new promotions. What’s wrong here? I don’t stand alone…there’s hundreds and thousands of charts stacked outside the publisher’s dumpster. Yes, I’ve been there when the forklift brought down box after box of these charts. Good, well-written compositions and arrangements by some of the finest writers in the music business. I personally had one on a state list going in the proverbial hopper. This is not a new problem or issue worth a lot of discussion. It’s just a way of life in the music publishing world…and comes back to life annually when I move last year’s music over to the storage container and drag it to its new home in the garage…next to the other 25 containers.