Naden Band gets ‘In the Groove’ for World Health Day

Members of the Naden Band perform the song Hang In There at the Naden Band headquarters.

Peter Mallett
Staff Writer
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A new music video produced by the Naden Band encourages people to stay the course in the fight against COVID-19 with messages of support from the base community.

The song entitled Hang in There was written by band member PO1 Jeff Cooper with PO 2 Stephen MacDonald helping with the harmony. It’s in celebration of World Health Day on April 7. 

“The world has faced some incredible challenges in the last year and I think we all need some encouragement to keep doing the right things,” says PO1 Cooper. “There are so many people out there who are putting themselves on the line to serve the greater good and this is a big thank you to all of them. Living through the pandemic for the past year has made us look at everything through the lens of how it impacts our health and how our actions affect others.” 

The music video is available through the band’s official Facebook account. It features a five member band performing the song as well as footage of base personnel sending shout outs of support.

The song is written in a standard jazz format with S1 Laura Andrew on vocals, and solos performed by PO1 Jeff Cooper on saxophone, PO2 Stephan MacDonald on guitar, PO2 Ross Macdonald on stand-up bass, and S1 Sandra Veilleux holds it all together on drums.

“I enjoyed everyone’s playing, we’ve got a good groove and it feels right,” said PO1 Cooper. “I also really enjoyed the contributions of people around the base, everyone we contacted was happy to participate and it really helped fill out the supportive community vibe we were going for.” 

Video production was completed by an in-house team of technicians who are the “unsung heroes” of all of our productions says PO1 Cooper.  They are Audio Engineer PO2 Robyn Jutras, Audio Editor PO2 Stephen MacDonald, Video Editor S1 Simeon Weststeijn, and Videographer S1 Laura Engsig.

Over the past year, with many of its concerts and engagements cancelled, the Naden Band has produced a multitude of in-house videos. Some of their recent productions are a video celebrating the first day of spring with a performance of Up Jumped Spring by the Jazz Quintet, an International Women’s Day video featuring the women of the Naden Band playing Ash, and A Naden Band Tea Party, an ongoing children’s series developed by band member PO2 Becky Hissen.

World Health Day, organized by the World Health Organization, creates awareness of a specific health theme to highlight areas of concern. This year’s theme is “Let’s build a fairer, healthier world for everyone” with a special call to eliminate health inequities around the globe.

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Hang In There
(32 bar AABA form)

A
Well Hang in there
Support your friends and family
Well Hang in there
We gotta do this right

A
Well hang in there
Support your neighbors and loved ones
Well hang in there
We can see the light

B
Ya its been a challenging time with all the protocols and cleaning
Ya its been a first for most lets hope that it’s the last

A
Well hang in there
We’re doing all the right things
Well hang in there
We’re going to win this fight.

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