Musicians Ready to Show Their Patriotism

The City of Glen Cove is going all out this year for its Independence Day Celebration on Sunday. As part of the festivities, two bands will perform at Morgan Park. 

From 3 to 6 p.m., Ian Petillo and the Legacy Jazz Band will show the crowd their musical skills. The band is a traditional jazz band that plays the music from the 1920s including Louis Armstrong and King Oliver. The group, which has been together for about 10 years, plays New Orleans traditional style jazz.

"It's a medium where there's a lot of creativity and spirit," said Petillo, the band's leader. "The music is organic. There's a lot of room for improvisation, more so than any other kind of music."

Petillo, a city resident, added that the band will also perform music in honor of the national occasion on Sunday. 

"There's a connection between the music we're playing and the holiday," he said. "Of course, we'll play some patriotic songs."

Since jazz often has a upbeat tempo, Petillo noted that the music appeals to every generation. That is partly why he is looking forward to playing at Morgan Park. 

"It's cool to play in front of a mixed audience like that," he said. 

The second band slated to show its musical talents is the Northwinds Band, which is led by the city's own, Helen Bauer. The band will take center stage at 7:30 p.m.

Bauer simply described music as her passion. 

"It's my life," she said. "As soon as I started playing my first instrument, I knew where my life was going to take me."

The former French horn player was the band director at Baldwin High School for 20 years and she previously taught at the junior high and elementary school level. 

It's that love of music that has led Bauer to become the leader of the band, a community based not-for-profit organization that started under the auspices of adult and continuing education in the North Shore Central School District.

The organization began with 23 people and has grown to about 80 members, with a long waiting list of music professionals who want to join.

"Many of the members are musicians and music teachers," Bauer explained. "The members come from all different occupations, different walks of life and all ages and talents."

To illustrate her point, Bauer noted that the youngest member is 14 and the oldest is 86.

The band plays traditional concert classics such as marches, movie soundtracks and theater music. It also performs orchestral transcriptions, which are orchestra music selections that were rearranged for a band.

The celebration's music show is the prelude to its fireworks display, which is scheduled to begin at 9:15 p.m. City officials encourage attendees to bring a blanket, chairs and enjoy the music.

In case of rain, the concert will be held indoors at St. Patrick's Church on Glen Street and the fireworks will be postponed until July 9.