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Pasadena Tabernacle Band Thanksgiving Fesitval
by Robert Docter –
| < CHRIS JAUDES, Salvationist and professional musician, reaches stratosphere with Tab band. |
Broadway came to Pasadena on the occasion of the Tabernacle Band’s annual Festival of Thanksgiving. Under the direction of Bandmaster William Flinn, the band successfully navigated the intricate melodies and dramatic tempo and style changes demanded in a program with five trumpet solos and seven solo presentations by the band itself.
Special guests for the evening were Broadway performers and Army music-makers Chris and Carol Jaudes. They did a lot more than simply entertain the capacity crowd. The active soldiers at the Montclair, New Jersey Corps communicated contemporary Christianity with a dynamic message of Salvationism in the excellence of their presentation, the excitement of their service and the enthusiasm of their message.
The program was headlined “Broadway Comes to Pasadena—a Festival of Thanksgiving—Chris, who has played lead trumpet in about a dozen Broadway shows, provided several solos with the Pasadena Tabernacle Band. He combined both high energy and sensitive artistry with an absolute mastery of the trumpet in his presentations of works from the traditional literature—like Eric Ball’s “The Challenge,” the contemporary Army literature—like Krister Lundkvist’s “This is My Story” and Stephen Bulla’s arrangement of “Holy Holy Holy,” as well as some compositions hot-off-the-press—like Dorothy Gates’ arrangement of Al Hirt’s “Green Hornet” and Bulla’s adaptation of “Joshua Swings the Battle.” His mastery of both classical and jazz idioms clearly revealed why he makes his living in the orchestra pits of Broadway.
Carol, a Broadway singer/actor, performed in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Cats for five years as Jennyanydots. She left the play to accept an invitation from then Eastern Territorial Commander Commissioner Joe Noland to become the founder and director of the Territory’s Special Events and Arts Ministries unit in 1998 and has successfully built that ministry over the succeeding years.
During the evening, she presented a flavor of backstage life with a video vignette of life in a Broadway dressing room with ten other “cats” as well as some of her favorite songs from various Broadway productions. Additionally, she performed a monologue titled The Tale of Three Trees that examined the “dreams” of three trees and how each touched the life of Jesus.
Carol met the Army through Chris, whom she met in St. Louis while traveling with a show. This was Chris’ hometown. His father had been the bandmaster of the Carondelet Corps there for 38 years. A romance ensued with a marriage shortly thereafter. It wasn’t long before Chris had her involved with the Army. The significant dimensions of her commitment to Christ through the Army are revealed in her consistent and active soldiership in her corps and her witness through her ministry of drama, music, and dance.
For the past several years, Carol’s presentations have been accompanied by the piano artistry of Karen Krinjak, the songster leader of the Manchester, Connecticut, Citadel Corps. During the program Karen delighted the audience by composing an “instant piano concerto” based on themes and melodies from various songs shouted at her from the audience.
The Tabernacle Timbrel Brigade added its own unique contribution to the evening as the timbrelists danced and performed to the accompaniment of Peter Graham’s mambo-style arrangement of the Gowans and Larsson melody Ask.
The band’s executive officer, Lt. Colonel Don McDougald provided a devotional based on the “Shenandoa” setting by Leonard Ballentine of John Oxenham’s hymn “ ‘Mid All the Traffic of the Ways.”
Moving from the rhythm of the march “High Council” through the intricacies of Peter Graham’s “Ad Optimum—To the Highest,” the fun of Kevin Norbury’s “Hallelujah Parade” and the swinging tempo of Ballantine’s “Shall We Gather?”, the capacity crowd delighted in the diversity of the entire program as the band continued its Thanksgiving tradition, in place for well over a century, of joyful praise and thanksgiving to God.