The Scotsmen make a reunion effort

In 1965, John Skinner was the student leader of the Scotsmen Orchestra, a musical group at Utah State University, and Larry Smith was a new faculty member who had just been named faculty director. Pep rallies and dances ruled, and the Scotsmen Orchestra seemed to be performing everywhere. Times and tastes changed and by the 1970s the group was gone, members moving on to careers both in and out of music.

Now, thanks to Skinner’s efforts, a concert is planned, and various members of the group will reunite for a celebration a celebration of music and of those great music days of the 1960s.

“I played in the band as a student in the 1950s and then came back to lead it in the 60s,” said Larry Smith. “It was one of my first faculty assignments and John was one of the first student leaders I worked with. He was great then and he is great now.”

Smith, Skinner and a collection of other musicians bring the Scotsmen Orchestra back to the Utah State campus for a concert Monday, June 18. Concert time is 7 p.m. in the Kent Concert Hall of the Chase Fine Arts Center, a facility that didn’t exist when many of the musicians studied music at their alma mater. The reunion concert is free and open to everyone.

The concert is presented in conjunction with the annual Summer Music Clinic provided by the Department of Music at Utah State. The clinic is a week-long music camp and the reunion concert provides an ideal opportunity for young musicians to see how music can provide life- long enjoyment, said clinic director Nicholas Morrison.

According to a story in a recent issue of “Utah State University Magazine,” Skinner and his colleagues will present selections popular in the 1960s, including works from Santana and others, including “Jump, Jive ‘n Wail” by Louis Prima. Skinner says there is a resurgence of interest in band swing music.

Skinner is a California resident and a recently retired pilot. He remained active in music throughout his life and has a popular big band of his own in Sacramento. Others returning for the concert include three trumpeters contractor Paul Hansen, Denver computer businessman Rick Mason (’70) and Dan Rich (’66) a public school music teacher in Salt Lake City. The saxophone section includes Smith, who still teaches at Utah State, Richard Bush (’64) an Ogden music teacher and Wally Johnson (’67) a New York contractor and band member.