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HBO Family presents "The Leopards Take Manhattan: The Little Band that Roared," the final installment of "The Music in Me" -- three documentaries that profile young musicians ages 7 to 12. The Louisville Leopards Percussionists are a group of 52 young people from various racial and economic backgrounds. Though most have had no musical training, they come together with the shared desire to learn how to play percussion instruments and perform as a group. Under the leadership of founder and teacher Diane Downs, the Leopards show themselves to be a dynamic musical force, dazzling us with their special arrangements of sophisticated jazz songs. This 30-minute film follows the Leopards from Louisville on a once-in-a-lifetime trip to NYC to perform at the International Association of Jazz Educators Annual Conference.

The Leopards don't read music; instead they learn new songs by ear. For Diane, it's all about the kids' talents and their desire to play music. In the film, we see Diane's process of teaching a new song, "Sing, Sing, Sing." (Diane says they learn jazz tunes because, "that's what I like. It's a different kind of music than they're used to listening to.") First, she plays a recording of the song, and the children identify the instruments they hear. Since they are a percussion band, they turn big band instruments -- trombones, saxophones, etc. -- into percussion instruments and each child is assigned a part. To help them get the rhythm of the song, Diane makes up fun and easy-to-remember phrases that the kids repeat as they play, such as "Banana one, two, three. I am a tree," or "David is a meatball. David is a meatball." Then, they work collectively to create their arrangements and diligently teach each other until the entire group learns the song. Of her unconventional techniques, Diane says, "I get into trouble sometimes for teaching them how to play by ear," but makes the point that, "You learn how to talk before you learn how to read words. So, we're learning how to listen before we learn to read music."

Click here for information on "The Music in Me: Children's Recitals"

Click here for information on "The Music in Me: A Family Special"

For more information, visit the Louisville Leopard Percussionists website
http://www.louisvilleleopardpercussionists.com/