[TPIN] The Best of Leon's Legacy - Please Read

[Steve Roiland]

Sorry if this is a repeat for anyone.  I posted this just before I realized 
TPIN was having difficulty posting to some domains including hotmail that I 
am on.

From: , "Steve Roiland" <sjrtrumpet1 at hotmail.com>
To: tpin at tpin.okcu.edu
Subject: The Best of Leon's Legacy - Please Read
Date: Wed, 29 Aug 2007 07:50:38 -0500

With the recent passing of Leon Merian I find myself looking for 
inspiration, for answers.  Where it is clear that we celebrate birth with 
hope and joy it is much more challenging to cope with the
permanent realities of death.  I believe that with such a loss we are 
charged with the task of understanding and sharing the very best of Leon’s 
legacy.

Leon Merian was an extraordinary trumpeter and an even more extraordinarily 
complex man.  A tribute to one of the “last of his kind” as so many 
interviewers would call him is certainly deserved.
The ITG Scholarship idea is good.  Leon’s best wishes were for promotion of 
a movement away from what he called “Virtual Orchestras” and toward NEW 
GENERATIONS of expression through music and improvisation.  Leon wondered 
why he was chosen to survive so many of his peers, and he wanted to thank 
them for the rich education and life experience they gave.  People like 
Lucky
Millinder who overcame racial issues and gave Leon his start as a prominent 
“ofay” (white performer working with black bands).  I started a biography 
that was to be called “Pass the Torch Man” which
as many of you know, a more experienced author, our own Bill Bridges 
completed brilliantly.  I started a not-for-profit corporation named after 
the biography called Pass the Torch Music Mentoring Program.  Leon, often 
accompanied by the Big Band participated in numerous Pass the Torch 
programs.  Starting eight years ago, the AMS (a system I developed that some 
of you have been reviewing) began grabbing the attention and facilitating 
successful solos from young musicians spanning four counties.  Leon’s 
concerns about artistic experience helped influence our focus on working 
with seasoned mentors like Leon.

Our own Dan Ostler was one of the musicians who purchased a copy of Leon 
Merian’s Big Band Library.  The entire library was copied to a collection of 
CD’s after a portion of the library was nearly lost.  Dan contacted me with 
an idea that I had already been considering.

MAKE A COPY OF THE LIBRARY AVAILABLE TO TPIN TO RAISE FUNDS FOR THE LEON 
MERIAN FOUNDATION.

My immediate concern is that there are a few people who own copies of some 
or all of the library who may feel slighted if we make the library 
available.  The solution is to publish my intentions and
invite any of the owners to contact me personally sjrtrumpet1 at hotmail.com 
over the next two weeks with their concerns.

I AM INSPIRED TO CREATE A WEBSITE WHERE I WILL PURSUE THE CREATION OF NEW 
GENERATIONS OF EXPRESSION THROUGH MUSIC AND IMPROVISATION.

This site may add access to some commercial recordings, as well as a CD 
collection of live performances of LEON AT THE “ALLEY CAT”.  There is a 
VIDEO BIOGRAPHY on Leon as well as a TAPED BROADCAST of Leon performing 
several of his favorites.

_________________________________________________________________
Kick back and relax with hot games and cool activities at the Messenger 
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