Jazz Band

Glenelg High School has won another state championship.The Glenelg High School Jazz Band was one of 21 bands competing in the Maryland State Jazz Festival last Friday. The 12-hour marathon began at 7: 30 a.m.When it was over, Glenelg High School's Jazz Band won first place in the state. Saxophonist Chris Seymour won outstanding soloist of the festival, and pianist Matt Sandifer was named the outstanding rhythm soloist.At a banquet Thursday night, Glenelg's band director Barry Enzman was feted as one of Howard County's outstanding educators.

OLYMPIC VICTORY has arrived early for 46 local Girl Scouts.The Scouts, who range in age from 10 to 17, started working in June and have earned enough money to travel to Georgia this summer for an eight-day trip that will include two Olympic events.The girls and their chaperones will be gone from July 21 through July 28. Their itinerary includes time in Savannah, where they will visit the childhood home of Girl Scout founder Juliet Gordon Lowe; pontoon boating on Okefenokee Swamp; the Olympic field hockey and track and field events in Atlanta; and an overnight stay on the aircraft carrier Yorktown at Fort Sumter, S.C.Research, planning and raising funds have consumed the girls for months, said Julie Cowell, the leader of Junior Troop 2117, where daughters Mary Kate and Beth Ann are members.

Columbians need to attend a council meetingOn March 14, I attended a Columbia Council meeting. It was the first meeting that I had ever attended and I was surprised and dismayed by the lack of interest in obtaining information -- indeed the intent to prevent council members from obtaining information -- that I witnessed. . . . Norma Rose seemed to be the only council member who was seeking relevant information for making decisions.Perhaps more of us who live in Columbia should attend council meetings and ask our village representatives to take a more open approach.

The 1995 Howard County Gifted and Talented Middle School Symphonic Band had played together just one hour when I eavesdropped on their first rehearsal in January.The sound the 75-member band made was magnificent. Tomorrow, they will perform in concert at 7:30 p.m. at Centennial High School, with other outstanding groups.The Howard County Elementary Enrichment Orchestra, under the direction of Annette Szawan and Patrick Walls, will begin the gala evening. Rosemary Lather will lead the Howard County Middle School Gifted and Talented String Orchestra.

Philip Borsos, 41, a director whose works include "Far From Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog" and the Academy Award-nominated short "Nails," died of leukemia Thursday in Vancouver, British Columbia. His other credits were "The Grey Fox," "The Mean Season," "One Magic Christmas" and "Bethune: Portrait of a Hero." He wrote and directed "Far From Home," which was released last month by 20th Century Fox.Fred Briggs, 63, an Emmy-award winning news correspondent for NBC, died of cancer Thursday in Boston.

Lillian Moore rolled back and forth in her wheelchair, bobbing her head up and down as the jazz band from Brooklyn Park/Lindale Middle School played "All Shook Up."The sound was pure Big Band -- saxophones, trumpets, trombones and drums -- no electrified instruments, if you please. It sent Mrs. Moore, 72, back to the days when she glided across the dance floor and filled her with the urge to dance again."I can't help it," said Mrs. Moore, who wore red earrings, lipstick and a red-and-white blouse with white slacks.

There is so much going on in Western Howard County this weekend, so you won't have to go far to entertain your valentine.Students in the Glenwood Drama Learning Center supported by the Glenwood PTSA will perform Rogers and Hammerstein's "Carousel" on Saturday.The cast is led by Jenna Bythrow and Amanda Strandquist as Julie; Amanda Garrett and Michelle Barry as Carrie; Trey Hunt and Gabriel Martinez as Billy; Effie Harrison and Samantha Johnston as Jigger, and Gene Granger as Enoch Snow.Also performing are Ali Privitera and Melanie Dubin as Mrs. Mullins, Kelly Frey and Katie Frederick as Aunt Nettie; Monica D'Angelo and Katy Vance as Louise; and Andrea Gonzales and Jackie Burke as Star Keeper.

Roger "Ram" Ramirez, 80, a jazz pianist and composer best known for writing "Lover Man," a song Billie Holiday recorded in 1944, died Jan. 11 of kidney failure at Parkway Hospital in Forest Hills, N.Y. Though he is best known for "Lover Man," which he wrote in 1942, his career as a pianist spanned a good portion of jazz history. He was a child prodigy, and by the age of 20 he was performing with some of the best jazz musicians in New York. In 1933, he worked with the cornetist Rex Stewart and the drummer Sid Catlett, and a year later joined the Spirits of Rhythm.

Happy New Year! I hope your new year is off to a strong start.Glenelg High School's Band Director Barry Enzman received good news at the beginning of the new year.The Washington District Football Officials Association announced Monday that the officials voted the GHS Marching Unit the 1993 award for the Best Halftime Show in the region, which includes Montgomery, Queen Anne's, Prince George's, Anne Arundel and Howard counties, along with parts of the District of Columbia.WDFOA President Frank Puleo visited Glenelg High School Monday to present the award to the students and Mr. Enzman.

Larry O'Brien doesn't worry that the audience for big band music is dying out. As the leader of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, the 60-year-old trombonist sees too many young people swaying to the likes of "String of Pearls" and "In the Mood" to think that."