Navy and High School Jazz Bands Cruise Pottstown

If your anchors were not taken aweigh Tuesday night, then you must not have been at Pottstown High School.

Because that's where the U.S. Navy Band Commodores Jazz Ensemble performed in a free concert as part of Berks Jazz Fest.

The opening act was the Pottstown High School Jazz Band, who played a four-song set.

As usual, the battery on my iPhone was not up to the task.

I "live-streamed" the high school performance and part of the Commodores' performance on Periscope, (You can see alerts and links in my Twitter feed), but it was too much to get the whole thing.

Sadly, I did not catch any of the Navy performance featuring their vocalist, Musician First Class Kristine Hsia, who was pitch perfect, but you'll just have to take my word for it.

Photo by Fred Remelius.

Pottsgrove High School music teacher Victor Holladay, right,

introduces Pottsgrove students to a former student of his,
Musician 

First Class Ben Ford, a member of the U.S. Navy
Jazz Commodores 

and a student of Holladay's
when he taught in Coatesville.

She began the show with the "Star Spangled Banner," which she sang without musical accompaniment, and ended it with America the Beautiful. In between, she had some lovely tunes.

One highlight was when high school percussionists Dylan Thorne and Gabe Francis were invited up to play with the band for an arrangement of Maynard Ferguson's "Nice and Juicy."

Anyway, as usual, the videos, which I saved and posted on YouTube, are embedded in the Storify below.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.