A large audience attended the event in the Great Auditorium including Eddie (left) and Karen from OG, and Ernie and Ronni from Edison. Paul Goldfinger photo. July 3, 2012. Blogfinger.net.
Blogfinger has posted a number of articles about this unique musician: Harry Eichhorn (1927-2019.) The post (below) is from 2012. Note that his wife Mary, mentioned in this article, pre-deceased him.
By Paul Goldfinger, MD. Editor Blogfinger.net
Harry Eichhorn and the Ocean Grove Summer Band performed in the Great Auditorium on July 3, 2012. Harry, who founded the group 60 years ago and who has been its conductor all that time, brought a varied program to the GA on Tuesday night. There was something for everyone including Irving Berlin, Tchaikovsky, The Jersey Boys and John Phillip Sousa.
Harry is a musical multi-tasker. One of the selections featured snippets from at least 30 different songs.
Another consisted of a medley of songs from the Music Man. One of those was “Till There was You,” probably a tribute to Mrs. Eichhorn who plays baritone horn and sits along the edge of the brass section. Intermittently she would jump up from her seat and rush over to the organ or the piano. Harry owes her—she’s like a utility infielder for the band.
The tradition of keeping Sousa’s music alive in Ocean Grove was repeated at this concert. The first act ended with the “Washington Post March,” while the show closed with the “Stars and Stripes Forever.” My favorite part of Stars and Stripes is towards the end when the piccolos get to shine. Wouldn’t it be great if this wonderful march could start with the piccolos? Well that’s what we would do in the Blogfinger version.
In this video, the GA sound quality is sub-optimal recorded with an iPhone, but you can get an idea as to a classic Summer Band concert in the GA playing Sousa. At the point where everyone stands up, the video became tangled due to a collision with the guy in the next seat, a senior veteran who said, “Get that iPhone out my face sonny.”
But the big finish is always a goose bumper with the flag lit up and everyone clapping. A nice conclusion to a gorgeous beach day in the Grove. —Paul Goldfinger