Last Saturday I felt extremely fortunate to attend my first University of Minnesota Gophers Football game in their beautiful new stadium against arch rival Wisconsin, that is, until halftime. The public address announcer as well as the scoreboard closed caption service announced that the Minnesota Marching Band would perform a tribute to Stevie Wonder.
During the retrospective of Mr. Wonder's musical career, the "Pride of Minnesota" performed a song from Stevie's album "Innerversions" (sp) and subsequently a tribute to the legendary jazz singer, "Sir Duke" Ellington.
Hmm...is it too much to ask that an institution of higher learning get its facts straight, especially when doing a "tribute"? I believe the album was "Innervisions" and I think any member of the U's Jazz Band could tell their Marching compatriots that Duke Ellington was this country's greatest composer, band leader and piano player, not a jazz singer. Who will the Marching Band's next tribute to a legendary jazz singer be, Neil Diamond?
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