cello21c

There is a famous German dance hall outside of Austin, Texas – well, really outside of Pflugerville, TX to be more precise — that dates back to 1876. For decades Dessau Hall hosted about every major traveling music act … from polka bands to the dance orchestras of Glenn Miller, Woody Herman, Guy Lombardo, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw and Stan Kenton, to country artists like Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams, Ernest Tubb, and Willie Nelson. Even Elvis Presley played there several times. Programs were often broadcast over KTBC which was owned by then-Senator Lyndon Johnson and his wife Lady Bird. I recall performing at Dessau Hall with different territory bands … and remember that there was a big oak tree growing out of the dance floor and up through the roof.

I thought that it would be fun to abstract rhythms from three popular dances that we were always asked to play at Dessau Hall — a schottische, a waltz and a polka. The evenings also featured promenades — little marches that would stop abruptly providing a kind of musical chairs to identify the next dance partner. So I decided that Dessau Dances needed a promenade theme to open the set and tie each of the movements together.
Gordon (Dick) Goodwin

composerbiography: GordonGoodwin

Gordon L. Goodwin is an American pianist, saxophonist, composer, arranger, and conductor. He is the leader of Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band, and on faculty at the Los Angeles College of Music. He has won Grammy Awards and Daytime Emmy Awards and has received over twenty Grammy nominations for his compositions and arrangements.

Gordon Goodwin was born in Wichita, Kansas. He wrote his first big band chart, called "Hang Loose", when he was in the 7th grade. He continued his musical education at Cal State Northridgewith Joel Leach and Bill Calkins. Following graduation from college, Goodwin was employed as a musician at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California. Subsequently, Disney approached him to write a musical show featuring past and present Mouseketeers, including Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Goodwin was later recruited by Louie Bellson's big band, where he played with Pete Christlieb and Don Menza. He went on to play under Les Hooper and Grant Geissman.