My daughter Caryn is a senior at The College of New Jersey, a music major, and she just had the biggest event in her college career, her senior recital, which is a show in front of a decent sized audience, starring her and one other senior.

The other senior, Jenn, used to be Caryn's roommate, and they also played in bands together, because Caryn is always putting together a band and using her friends in it. When they were in the same band, Jenn did half of the lead singing, and she has an amazing voice. But today Jenn played her main instrument, the flute, and Caryn played percussion, which includes a big drum set, a timpani set, a marching band snare drum, and vibraphones. The fact that she's a great guitarist didn't come into it today, though she has played guitar for the percussion ensemble, and what a guitar is doing in a college's percussion ensemble is beyond me, but they wanted her on it.

Jenn showed up in her masculine black suit. I don't know why they put female musicians in masculine black suits and masculine shoes. At least she had her curly hair. Why do girls have to be boys when they get on stage to do classical music? I guess it's in the name of formality, but that's too much formality for me.

Jenn opened the concert with Mozart's Andante in C accompanied by a pianist. Then Caryn did a jazz song called Tangents on the timpani, composed by James Campbell. Jenn did Lookout by Robert Dick. Caryn did Alexander's Ragtime Band on marching band snare drum, composed by Irving Berlin but rearranged by Caryn's drum teacher and herself, and accompanied by her friend Rupe on a horn called a mellophone.

After an intermission, Jenn did Handel's Sonata in G Major. Caryn did Westside Impressions by John Beck on the full drum set, with themes from West Side Story. Jenn did Sonatine by Pierre Sancan. Caryn winded up the concert with Love Song by The Cure, with herself on vibraphones, and her drum teacher and her guitar teacher backing her up.

On one of Jenn's songs there were some really odd sounds coming out of that flute, and I think it was intentional. There was echo and some very un-flutelike sounds, lots of them. I wish I knew more about it. It sounded good. It didn't sound like mistakes. It sounded like some really difficult flute playing that she was pulling off. It wouldn't have been from the Mozart or Handel, so that leaves Lookout and Sonatine. Sometimes she was tapping the flute with her finger, somewhere, and getting sounds out of it that way.

Caryn was less formally dressed than Jenn, and had her pony tail tied in the back. She always looks to me like a lollipop.

The jazz song, Tangents, on timpani, was very different, nothing I am used to. There's nothing to compare it with. If she made a mistake, how would I know? It is a very strange song. The timpani is a set of big drums, and she was banging them all while keeping her eye on her sheet music. Miss One Woman Band.

Alexander's Ragtime Band was her second best song, and got lots of applause. She entered the stage like she was in a marching band at a football game, and her huge buddy Rupe entered behind her with this big horn. He's twice her size or more. The first thing that happened was that a piece of Rupe's horn fell on the floor. Well, that's par for the course. He just picked it up and stuck it back on and played. He did the melody on Alexander's Ragtime Band, and Caryn really banged the shit out of that snare drum, twirled the sticks a bit, put on a great show.

Westside Impressions is another unfamiliar jazz song, to me anyway. Caryn was alone on stage with the big drum set you're used to seeing around a rock or jazz drummer, and Caryn was whacking every one of those drums and high hats. The thing that really struck me was that Caryn wasn't looking where she was hitting. She was looking at her sheet music. Those arms reached back to hit a whole semi-circle of drums, and her foot was going too, knocking another drum, and she never saw what she was hitting. That's what practice is for, huh?

The show ended with Love Song by The Cure. "Whenever I'm alone with you, you make me feel like I am home again .... However far away, I will always love you....", that one. Instead of a lead vocal, which Caryn could have done too, she had two mallets in each hand and played the vibraphones. I've been paying for private lessons with a drum teacher and a guitar teacher for a long time, maybe 8 years or more, and her two teachers were backing her. They let her shine. The guitar wasn't that loud, and the drums didn't take over. They stayed in the background. Caryn's vibe playing was a lot like Robert Smith's vocal on the hit record. But she changed the ending a lot, and it was a very creative and very good ending that left everyone thinking "wow". When I heard them rehearse it before the show, after the song was over I just said aloud "that works". It was the best song of the concert for me.

Then Jenn and Caryn took a bow. Caryn hugged Jenn and lifted her off the floor. That was cute. Caryn is a take-charge kind of kid. Then Caryn announced the reception with the food, in another building, and Jenn followed her off the stage.

After it was over, the girls were getting superlative type compliments from all the people in the music department. The head of the department said that at one senior recital they brought a big cake, and on the cake all it said was "Done". I guess everyone is always glad when that's over.