A Rousing Rally ‘Round the Flag

When the Hollywood Bowl management originally programmed an evening built around John Philip Sousa to end the season Saturday night, little did they suspect that the timing would be so tragically apt. Never in this Bowlgoer’s memory had the national anthem, the Sousa marches, a George M. Cohan medley (a last-minute insert) or even the always-spectacular patriotic fireworks display been cheered with such deeply felt fervor. A lot of people apparently needed precisely this kind of program at this time.

There were, however, more colors in the American Winds’ paint box than just red, white and blue. Band conductor Larry Curtis’ idea was to construct a concert much in the way Sousa might have--with patches of seriousness, silliness, sentiment and showboating--and if the applause was deemed loud enough, he would launch into a Sousa march off-the-cuff.

The symphonic wind band numbers ranged from Lucien Cailliet’s straightforward treatment of “Elsa’s Procession” from Wagner’s “Lohengrin” to Ron Nelson’s joyously scampering “Rocky Point Holiday”--with the American Winds leaning toward a mellow, somewhat homogenously voiced overall sound.

Along the way, there were some solo turns--a cute medley of vintage tunes played with skeleton-esque razzmatazz by xylophonist John Magnussen, and four numbers for tuba showcasing the astonishing agility and goofy humor of Patrick Sheridan. And in another fortuitous feature, three waltz-tempo numbers by Puccini, Sousa and Victor Herbert--and “God Bless America” with the rare verse--were sung with voluptuous tone and piercing high notes by soprano Renee Sousa, who happens to be John Philip Sousa’s great-grandniece.