It's More Than Do-re-mi

For the non-musician, Do-Re-Mi are the first three notes of a major key. No matter what the key or the tonality is, the first three notes are always Do-Re-Mi. Nothing as complicated as half steps, mind you, but just the simple three whole steps. Friends, associates and employers all told composer/conductor and arranger John Cacavas that the life of a musician was more that Do-Re-Mi. Simply put, it meant that you had to deal with politics and all the other complexities that come from trying to make a living in the music business and not just the create the music. This advice was well given, and Cacavas tells us the stories that led to understanding Do-Re-Mi. Cacavas started off as a teen-age bandleader in his home town of Aberdeen, South Dakota, and this led to a career which took him to Washington, D.C, and the United States Army Band. With his wife, Bonnie, also from Aberdeen, and their three children, their life spanned the years from New York, London and finally to Hollywood. He experiencedintrigue, rejections, humor, confusion, a modicum of success and a lot of happiness.Luck or being at the right place at the right time was an important part of his career. A chance meeting with an old classmate led him to the United States Army Band in Washington, another chance encounter lead to his working with Morton Gould as an orchestrator and finally an unlikely encounter with Telly Savalas led to his career as a film composer. Cacavas writes with a wry sense of humor and observation of the foibles in all of us-his orchestra when he was fourteen, shenanigans with the U. S. Army Band, chastising novelist Howard Fast for being a communist, supporting his family by playing roulette in Londonand travelling to exotic locates with Telly Savalas while pursing his new career as a film composer. This book details his experiences with some of the most famous names in the music and entertainment business, both professionally and socially. His storiesCacavas, John is the author of 'It's More Than Do-re-mi ', published 2001 under ISBN 9781413416985 and ISBN 1413416985.