Carson in Jazz band tonight

Tonight we went to jazz concert at the middle school where my grandson, Carson, plays percussions including drum. My wife, Pat, reminded our grandchildren that their great grandfather, her father was a drum player and had his own big band in the 30’s call Vin Gary. (See picture below). My wife wanted to be a drummer but in her day girls were not allowed to play drums. Our deceased son Peter was an excellent self taught drummer and played with various bands. Now our two grandsons play drums and other percussions in the school bands. The beat of the drum goes on now for four generations.

There is an African American youth group in Milwaukee called We are the Drum. Each year they perform a music and dance production that traces the drum beat from African to modern day. This year it was called the “Wisconsin Movement” highlighting civil rights struggle in Wisconsin. The beat of the drum goes on from African till today.

When I was in young a friend and I took a long walk in the woods. By pounding a rock on a rock we pretended we were inventing the first music of humankind. The beat goes on.

The music of many cultures, from India to Venezuela, is grounded in the beat of the drum. In our family and throughout the world the beat goes on. (See picture below of Vin Gary Big Band)

Vin Gary & Ochestra in 1934

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