After they performed at more than 100 corporate banquets, weddings and other special events, Jared and Shanna Dawson have heard plenty of people urge them to record their music.

Saturday, December 01, 2001

After they performed at more than 100 corporate banquets, weddings and other special events, Jared and Shanna Dawson have heard plenty of people urge them to record their music.

&uot;We thought it was time to try it out,&uot; Jared, the Glenville-Emmons band director, said.

The couple will release their Christmas CD, &uot;Always Christmas,&uot; today, at the third annual Holijazz event at Glenville-Emmons High School. After that, the CD will be on sale at Hy-Vee in Albert Lea, the Short Stop in Glenville, and From the Heart in Emmons. G-E band students will also be selling the CD, which is a fund-raiser for the band program.

There are eight songs on the CD, of which two are original, and the rest Christmas songs which people will find familiar, Jared said.

&uot;Stylistically, we’re kind of like Kenny G, and vocally, I suppose you’d call it contemporary jazz,&uot; Jared said.

Listeners will hear him on the saxophone, and his wife on the vocals. Together they also created the background music which includes piano, bass and drums.

The couple started their recording earlier this fall, and spent 72 hours in Two Fish Studios in Mankato.

And they’re pleased with the results, they said.

&uot;It’s a good representation of what we do,&uot; Jared said, adding they didn’t intend for it to be a &uot;showy&uot; CD, but rather something people can &uot;pop in for background music.&uot;

After Dec. 15, the CD will be available in other stores in Austin, Albert Lea, Mason City and Mankato. The couple has four public appearances scheduled in conjunction with the CD’s release at Northbridge Mall, Southbridge Mall, Oak Park Mall, and River Hills Mall.

Holijazz is a free event, but tickets are needed for it. They are available from G-E band students. For the event, which runs from 2-4 p.m., the students decorate the gym and hold a bake sale. The band boosters serve hors d’ouevres as a gesture of appreciation. The Dawsons will be performing what’s on their CD at 2 and 3 p.m.

&uot;It’s kind of a come-and-go event,&uot; Jared said.

Jared Dawson has been involved in the rebuilding of the G-E band program over the last six years. When he started, there were fewer than 10 students in the band program. Now, there’s a concert band, junior high band, and jazz and pep bands. There are 90 students marching in the summer program. The band participates in area parades and band festivals, and hosts Borderfest in Emmons.

He gives much credit for the program’s success to the band boosters.He said they’ve raised over $100,000 for the program, and they’ve been able to purchase new uniforms.

&uot;The boosters are so efficient, and work so hard, that half the time I don’t know what they’re doing,&uot; Jared said. &uot;All the right people are in the right spots.&uot;

Shanna is also a teacher. She works with kindergartners in Emmons. The couple has one son, Drake, 1 year.