Last night we went to a Salute to America Concert at Greenfield Village, Dearborn MI.   This concert has been presented every year for 25 years.  It featured the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and The US Army Jazz Band in accompaniment.   It was a beautiful evening, and the concert was great and so too were the fireworks!.  The 1812 Overture at the end with cannon accompaniment was extraordinary, and made everyone jump!  I don’t know if I’ll ever listen to symphonic music on a regular basis, but sometimes it is so uplifting as it demonstrates what we as humans can collectively create through so many separate efforts.  So many instruments combined into beautiful music that inspires.  The passion of an individual artist is amazing to see, and sometimes when you focus on a single artist perform you come away with a great sense of their soul as it is exposed through music. However, 50 people all playing their part with passion rises up to an unassailable force and wall of passion and sound.   I’m sure you know the experience and understand it if not exactly in these words, then in that feeling in your chest that rises up into a sensory explosion as the mind tries to follow the flow of the music, even individual notes, it’s ebb of emotions with quiet sounds of few instruments, and rising crescendos of all musicians expressions and play, wow!

The Army Jazz band in accompaniment and solo performances were great too, they mixed in some Jazz and Swing as well.  The Army Band also played a Jazzy version of each of the Armed Services songs, they asked all the veterans and current military to stand when they hear their service’s song.  My dad looked so absolutely proud to be standing during the Navy’s Anchors Away song… he seemed to stand a little taller and straighter than usual on this his 83rd birthday!