John Hightower
Host of Brass, Reeds and PercussionBorn in Natchez, Mississippi, in 1951, John moved to Huntsville in 1975, where he worked for a communications training firm. From 1997 to 2022, John worked for the Lanier Ford law firm. During his tenure, He served as Lanier Ford's law librarian, marketing specialist, trainer, and professional recruiter.
From 7th grade to 12th grade, John was involved in band (he played flute and piccolo), a fact that explains his fascination with band music.
John graduated from Mississippi State University (MSU) with a degree in communications and from the University of Mississippi with a law degree. While attending MSU, he worked in professional radio in Starkville for WSSO and WSMU-FM (sister stations). While attending law school in Oxford, John worked for WSUH and WOOR-FM (sister stations). .He served as program director at both sets of stations. Radio was always a lot of fun for him, and he said, "I can't believe how lucky I am to be working in radio again."
John says he has big shoes to fill in following Darryl Adams as host of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion. Darryl passed away on October 18, 2011. But since that time, John has continued a Huntsville tradition at 1 p.m. every Saturday on WLRH.
Thank you, Darryl Adams, for the many wonderful years you dedicated to WLRH. You are missed!
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Rampart Street in New Orleans is the northern border of the French Quarter. It’s called Rampart Street because a rampart—or a dirt wall—was built there to defend the early French colonial city. In the early and mid-20th century, Rampart Street was the center of an important African-American commercial and entertainment district. Louis Armstrong grew up on South Rampart Street. The name of the street appears in the title of at least three compositions, but this edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion opens with one written in 1937 by Ray Bauduc and Bob Haggart: “The South Rampart Street Parade.” The show opens with a version recorded by Pete Fountain in 1963. -
The Turkish crescent, also known as a jingling Johnny, is a percussion instrument typically about 6.5 to 8 feet tall. It consists of an upright wooden pole topped with a conical brass ornament and having brass, crescent-shaped crosspieces. Numerous bells are attached to the crosspieces and elsewhere on the instrument. Often two horsetail plumes of different colors are suspended from the ends of the crosspieces. The instrument is held vertically and is played by either shaking it up and down or twisting it. Today’s edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion opens with a recording of the “Nobles of the Mystic Shrine” in which a Turkish crescent is heard.
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In recognition of Veterans Day, this edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion features original wind-band recordings from World War II including the original Glenn Miller recording of the “St. Louis Blues March.” As a matter of fact, you’ll not only hear the music but also the recorded voices of Glenn Miller and Irving Berlin from V-discs, V standing for “victory.” To lift the morale of troops, the military issued V-discs, made by many performers of the day. Many musicians volunteered for the military, including Glenn Miller. So we are going to open today’s edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion with the original V-disc recording of “St. Louis Blues March.” The recording opens with a greeting from Glenn Miller himself.
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This edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion features original classical wind band music by the Bavarian composer Johan Simon Mayr. But this edition begins with an arrangement of the default national anthem of the United Kingdom. Most often, this tune is named “God Save the King.” In the United States, it is known as “America” or “My Country Tis of Thee.” The tune also used for the national anthems of New Zealand, Canada, and many other countries in the British Commonwealth, as well as Liechtenstein. The tune served as the national anthem for the Kingdom of Prussia from 1795 until 1918 and the imperial anthem of the Russian Empire from 1816 to 1833. The tune also serves as the royal anthem of Norway. The version that opens this edition was composed for the Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953.
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This edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion features some adventures in Latin music accompanied by the Xavier Cugat big band with trips to Spain and Cuba. But this edition opens with a sortie composed by Louis James Lefebure-Wely, a French organist and composer who lived from 1817 to 1870. When used to name a musical composition for organ, sortie refers to a piece played at the end of a church service, often as a postlude. In the case of the recording opening this edition, the organ work has been arranged for harmoniemusik.
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John Philip Sousa said he wished he had written the march “Military Escort” by Henry Fillmore. And the sheet music for “Military Escort” even outsold the sheet music for the “Stars and Stripes Forever” for at least 4 years. Today’s edition off Brass, Reeds, and Percussion opens with “Military Escort” composed by the American circus-band composer Henry Fillmore. But you will also hear Darius Milhaud’s most famous composition arranged for wind ensemble, original classical wind-band music by Francois Joseph Gossec, and a wind-band arrangement of a big hit from 1922.
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Aram Khachaturian, the Armenian composer, wrote the score for the 1949 Soviet war film The Battle of Stalingrad, which depicts the World War II battle of the same name. The film score vividly depicts aspects of the battle, which has been described as one of the single biggest and bloodiest battles in military history. The low estimates for the deaths on both sides exceed 1.1 million soldiers. This edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion features a wind-band arrangement of the movie score performed by the Royal Northern College of Music Wind Orchestra.
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This edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion features wind-band music by the Romantic Era composer Louis Théodore Gouvy, a French-German composer who lived from 1819 to 1898. He was born in Sarre region of German, right on the border with France and Luxembourg and began piano lessons at age 8. He moved to Paris to study law and attempted to attend the Paris Conservatory, but he was unsuccessful. Later in life, he moved to Germany, where he felt more appreciated. Although he wrote nine symphonies and numerous other works for orchestra, he was most appreciated for his chamber music. Johannes Brahmes was even a fan.
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This edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion features original classical wind-band music by the Czech composer Vaclav Pichl, a classical composer who was a contemporary of Joseph Haydn. After studying philosophy, theology, and law in Prague, he became a professional violinist and worked for a number of orchestras. He was born in 1741 and died on January 23, 1805, from a stroke he suffered while performing a violin concerto. He wrote over 400 compositions, including 89 symphonies and 20 operas.
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We open today's edition of Brass, Reeds, and Percussion with a popular march from the Broadway musical "The Music Man," which was also made into a movie. "Seventy-Six Trombones" was composed by Meredith Wilson, who also served as the music director for Tallulah Bankhead's radio show. As part of a running joke in the show, Meredith addressed Tallulah as "sir," as in "Yes, sir, Miss Bankhead." As a child, Wilson began playing the bass drum in the Salvation Army Band, but eventually he played the flute and piccolo in both the Sousa Band and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. He not only wrote two very popular Broadway musicals, but also symphonies and film scores.
