Jim Beckerman

Sure. No problem. A quick 10-minute conducting lesson from maestro Chris Wilhjelm — and then I'll be ready to take the baton and lead the 60-piece New Jersey Wind Symphony in a stirring rendition of my "USA TODAY March."

Some instruments sing. Others whisper, boom, shout, sigh, bellow, crash, or plink. There is, in short, every conceivable sound in a 60-piece band.

In honor of the USA's 250th birthday, consider two specimens of Americana. One: the newsboy. The kid in knee pants and cloth cap — calling "Extry! Extry!" — did exist,

In honor of the USA's 250th birthday, consider two specimens of Americana. One: the newsboy. The kid in knee pants and cloth cap — calling "Extry! Extry!" — did exist,

Somebody, somewhere, may have written an Embezzler's March. Or a Crooked Landlord March. More typically, marches are written on noble themes.

It was a cold winter. Remember? The snow was piled high when I first went to the house of Rick Summers.

Jambalaya is a classic one-pot meal. Not, however, when Michael Arnone makes it.

Think of a march, and you probably think of a parade. Banners, braided uniforms, baton twirlers, and the impossibility of crossing the street to the mailbox for the next 45 minutes.

Montclair's Pride festival, kneecapped by a $100,000 loss of corporate funds, has had to be postponed from June 13 to Aug. 1, organizers have announced.

We remember lots of Civil War songs. But the American Revolution produced only one enduring hit: 'Yankee Doodle.' How come?