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Spotlight Members
Sax Section
JIM MOORE (alto sax) - Every group has one - the person
that seems to define everything good and important about that group; its
heart and soul. For the Gateway City Big Band, that person is our business manager, Jim
Moore.
When he isn't on the phone promoting the band, he's busy traveling
the world and playing his saxophone. Jim loves to tell jokes, arrange
get-togethers with other musicians, and promote the Big Band. Music is
his life, he says.
He began playing saxophone in 1939 and played in high school.
Although he was a gunner in a B-17 during the war, afterwards he played with
the 521st Army Air Force Jazz Band. The group performed all over the United States at hospitals and officers clubs.
Then it was off to college at Westminster College and performing with groups around Missouri. A coed at nearby William Woods College caught his eye, and Jim and Pat were married.
After graduating, he started a business, Moore Research, in St. Louis. Four children came along and Jim didn't play
his sax for a few years. He now also has six grandchildren, many of
them musicians too.
In 1971, musician friend Will Dyer found Jim and asked him to join
the Friends of Music, later to be named the Gateway City Big Band. Over thirty years later, Jim finds
himself deeply involved in the band. He is the contact person for the
group, booking dozens of dances and concerts every year. His pay for
all that time? He gets to play the music he loves with the group who
has become like family.
"To me, the Gateway City Big Band is one of the loves of my life, " Jim
says. "How wonderful, what we are doing for charity and our own
satisfaction." And how wonderful what Jim does for our band, too!
DON CLAUSON (tenor sax) - He is a consummate professional with a
resume that rivals anyone playing today. He is the wonderful, mellow
sax on "Skylark" and on many other tunes he is the main
soloist. He is also one of the most modest musicians alive. He is
Don Clauson, jazz tenor sax, and all around nice guy.
Don is a native St. Louisan. He received his first
saxophone when he was 9, and by age 16 he was performing for pay and
helping support his family. After graduating from Cleveland High School, he joined the Army Band and toured with them all over
the United States. After returning home from the Army he played
with Stan Kenton. In 1975, Don was named "Mr. Tenor Sax of Metro St. Louis" by the Jazz All-Stars Unlimited. He
performed with other all-star jazz musicians around the metro area, giving
fundraising performances for the promotion of modern jazz.
Don formed his own group, the Checkmates, and appeared with them
until 1982, when he decided to join the Gateway City Big Band. But that was not the end of his
performing with name bands. Over the years Don has appeared with the
Jimmy Dorsey and Sammy Kaye bands on riverboat and ocean cruises several
times a year. He has also appeared with other St. Louis groups, and is much in demand as a solo tenor
saxophone player.
Don retired from his day job as an accountant with Missouri Pacific Railroad after being there 32
years. These days he can also be seen as a member of the Moolah Band
with the Shriners. He is a Mason and member of Scottish Rite.
Don married his wife, Karen, in 1981. Between them they have 6
children, 11 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. How glad we are,
no matter how busy he is, he plays with us!
JERRY WOOD (alto sax) - He doesn’t like to make a big deal
of it but the rest of the band sure appreciates his experience and dedication
to the band. He’s band treasurer, Jerry Wood.
Jerry grew up in South St. Louis and graduated from Southwest High School. He chose to play the C melody sax when he was nine.
"A C melody saxophone is a rare instrument today. It was pitched in the
key of C [as opposed to an alto which is in E flat] and the size of it was
between an alto and tenor," Jerry explained. After a couple of years he
switched to alto sax, which is his primary instrument today.
Jerry was just one member of a very
musical family. His mother played piano and his father played guitar. He had
uncles who played mandolin, guitar and cornet, and a grandfather who played
violin and tuba. "They were country musicians in southeast Missouri, playing hoedowns, as they used to call them, "
added Jerry. "My mother and I played together a great deal for company
when we would have people over. She had a great ear and could pick up the
melody of any tune right away. She used to play for silent movies in East
Prairie, Missouri as a young girl."
At the age of thirteen he started
playing with dance bands around St. Louis. He learned to play other reed instruments as the need
arose – clarinet, tenor sax, soprano sax, baritone (bari) sax and bass clarinet. Jerry fills in on a number of
these horns with Gateway and his clarinet solo in Am I Blue? is outstanding.
Over the years Jerry has performed with many local band leaders
including Gary Dammer and Russ David, as well as playing engagements with the
5th Dimension, Tommy Dorsey Band, Buddy Morrow Band and Jan Garber Orchestra.
He was a member of the 571st Air Force Band (Air National Guard) for 32
years, retiring in 1998 as the unit’s Superintendent, and playing the
lead alto book for 30 of those 32 years.
Many of Jerry’s Gateway friends
might be surprised to know that Jerry also played string bass with small
groups around town. Between 1969 and 1975 he stopped playing music completely
until one day he realized he missed it and went back into the Guard Band.
Jerry’s non-musical career
included being a Tech Illustrator of maintenance manuals at McDonnell Douglas
in 1958. He went to civilian flight school in 1966 planning to be a
commercial airline pilot. When that didn’t work out he went to Mosby
Publishing where he was Director of Manufacturing when he left after nearly
thirty years. He still enjoys flying, especially with his son who he recently
taught to fly. Jerry and wife, Ann, also have a daughter and one grandchild.
He is a classic car enthusiast, currently driving a 1967 Mustang GT Fastback
that he completely restored.
Jerry had heard about the Gateway band
over the years but didn’t realize a current band member was working
with him at Mosby in the mid-90s. Karen Sharp (trombone/vocals) and Jerry
started swapping stories about their musical backgrounds and Karen passed his
name on to the sax section leader at that time, Jim Knox. In 1996, Jerry
started coming to rehearsals and substituting for full-time members,
eventually joining the band full time when Will Dyer retired.
"I have enjoyed it thoroughly.
It’s something that came along at the perfect time in my life. My
concern was what playing opportunities I would have when I retired from the
Guard Band."
In 1999 as Jim Knox was planning his
retirement from Gateway, he asked Jerry to be the saxophone section leader.
In July of 2002, Jerry became president of the band. At the time, Band
Manager Jim Moore thought Jerry was doing a great job as president and said,
"He’s really on the ball and is great at following through on
things, as well as being a marvelous sax player." In February of 2008 Jerry retired as
President and took over as Treasurer.
"I think the band’s doing
very well," remarked Jerry. "I’ve seen a great improvement in
Gateway in the years that I’ve been associated with it. I think the
band got much better as we all became more experienced and understood what
[then director] Bob Waggoner was trying to get us to do [as a dance band]. We
have room to grow and I think our potential is limitless with the caliber of
musicians that we have."
Jerry would like to see the band work
with younger musicians to give them the opportunity to hear and play with a
"working" band, giving them a different dimension to their
education. He believes the band may also want to explore some different types
of literature and venues to expand the band’s experiences. "I
don’t think that we should ever lose sight of the fact that we are a
dance band. That’s first and foremost."
PHIL VONDER HAAR (tenor sax) - When long time band member Jim Knox
retired in 2000, his position was filled by saxophonist Phil Vonder
Haar. After first hearing about the band by finding one of their
records at a garage sale, Phil started subbing and knew he wanted to be a
regular member.
Phil graduated from Southside Catholic
High, now St. Mary's. He joined the army, attended the Army Band School
and was in the 24th Division Band in occupied Japan. Feeling that his
career was to be in music, he took courses at the Ludwig College of
Music. The urge became great enough that he left school to "go on
the road". One of his first jobs was with Nick Stuart, a 20s era
movie star who was labeled The Man with the Band from Movieland. He was
with this group for about 18 months, during which time they broadcast,
appeared on television and recorded. Leaving the band, he went to work
in data processing and spend most of his working years in that profession.
Phil is a versatile musician. He plays tenor saxophone and
clarinet in GCBB, and has sung in and arranged music for vocal groups.
He's enjoyed backing big name performers like Victor Borge and Liberace in
Las Vegas. He has performed at the Casa Loma Ballroom 110 times in his
career.
One of Phil's fondest memories is playing in a broadcast from the
Chase Hotel on the day he asked his wife Jane to marry him. They
married in October, 1949, and now have four children, nine grandchildren and
one great-grandchild.
As an entertainer, Phil is a natural. He loves to perform and
"would go out of my tree" if he didn't have the opportunity to
play. There's been more bands than he can remember during his teens,
places he wouldn't have gotten to, people and associations he can't
forget. He feels very lucky to have been on the road during the end of
the big band era and fortunate to be with the Gateway City Big Band. |
