For the past six years, Maurice Arrington has been a crowd favorite as Saxophone Santa during Birmingham City Schools’s All City Music Festival. (Amarr Croskey, For The Birmingham Times)
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By Sym Posey | The Birmingham Times
Maurice Arrington is more than the current band director at William J. Christian K-8 School. For the past six years, he has been a crowd favorite as Saxophone Santa during Birmingham City Schools’s All City Music Festival.
About six years ago Dr. Debora Mayes (BCS Education Department Coordinator) asked Arrington to dress up as Santa and play his horn. The director said he was “apprehensive at first,” but said he came around to the idea “for the kids.”
“It was exciting and fulfilling all at the same time,” said Arrington, on that first performance. “I loved it when the children joined in and began singing and clapping along. It’s the loudest part of the concert. The crown really gets me going.”
He also wondered how would receive him. “My first-year teaching in Birmingham (2018) was my first time attending the All-City event,” he said. “I was overwhelmed with the size of the crowd and number of student participants. I was up for the challenge to deliver as a closer for such a production. I’m just grateful I was chosen to be a part of this. It’s such a wonderful event that I think everyone in the city should see at least once in their lifetime.”
Since that evening, Arrington has wowed students, parents, and teachers with a “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” grande finale to close out the festivities.
Before his Santa set he usually performs with the other BCS Band Directors to play the opening song. “This year I had the privilege of conducting the middle school All City Band for one song,” he said. “Also, to get my spirit right before hitting the stage, I walk around taking Santa pictures with the kids backstage,” he said.
Santa Is Coming To Town
Like the real Santa, Arrington does a lot of traveling. “I used to travel the entire southeast with different corporate bands. We played different wedding receptions or corporate functions,” said Arrington, who said he now does a lot of solo work. I do play with a couple of bands, but I’m not out of the road like I used to.”
These days, Arrington a former traveling saxophonist, tries to perform at least two-three times a month, he said.
Born in Montgomery, Alabama, Arrington, 43, spent a majority of his life in Tuskegee, he said.
Arrington says music has always been part of his life. “Music is deeply rooted within my family. My mother played a little bit of piano. Her mother played piano. My father sang. My brother was in the band. I come from a musical family,” he said.
As the youngest of three, Arrington recalls attending band practice with his brother at Tuskegee Institute High School.
“I used to go to band practice a lot with my second oldest brother. They would be on the marching band field. It (band) just gravitated towards me and the band director at the time, Mr. William C. Brassfield, he was the coolest guy on Earth to me. It was his demeanor. I like how he took his approach and how he actually related to the students. I was a youngster then maybe 8 or 9 so by the time I hit sixth grade, and we had to sign up for electives I said, ‘I’m going to go ahead a get in the band’.”
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Arrington says he can play a little bit of everything but the saxophone is his primary instrument. “That’s what I’ve been playing for over 30 years now. That’s what I started out on,” said Arrington adding,” I’m very familiar with all wind, brass, and percussion instruments.”
Although the saxophone was his first instrument he learned to play, it was not his first choice. He shares what happened.
“I went to the music store and said ‘I wanted to get a drum.’ I saw how big that case was, I said ‘I can’t ride the bus with that. That’s not going to work.’ Then I said I wanted to play the trumpet, I tried to buzz my lips, and I spit all in the man face. He said, ‘you know what, you look like a sax player.’ He gave me the mouthpiece. I got the correct sound and he said there you go and a saxophone player was born.”
“Buzzing your lips” means to create a vibrating, buzzing sound by slightly parting your lips and blowing air through them, often used as a practice technique by brass instrument players to develop lip control and embouchure strength; essentially, it’s like making a “raspberry” sound with your lips.
In The Family
Arrington attended Booker T. Washington High School in Tuskegee, Alabama and graduated from Alabama State University (ASU) in 2005 with a Bachelor of Music Education and his Master’s in Instrumental Music Education in 2007.
He is currently working on his second Master’s in Instructional Leadership from the University of West Alabama.
While studying at ASU, Arrington was also a member of Alabama State University Marching Hornets Band participating in jazz band, and wind ensemble and playing the saxophone where he met his wife, Lutricia Arrington. The couple have been married 17 years and have two children.
Arrington continues to keep music in his family with his 17-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son.
“My daughter is in high school, and she plays the clarinet like her mom did and my son plays [the] trombone in the middle school band. They are very involved in HBCU Band culture. Me and my wife met in the band, so we make sure that they are introduce to the HBCU band life. “
Arrington begin teaching in Birmingham in 2015 calling the experience,” wonderful. Birmingham has so many more advantages as far as education. We (W.J. Christian) have a wonderful facility. We have a great school.”
Now in his 20th year as an educator, Arrington says “I love it. My students enjoy it as well. They urge me to play more. I’m setting that example that they can see what they are striving to do.”
He has spent 9 years teaching Birmingham City Schools System, six years at Hayes K-8 and three at W.J. Christian.
“I’ve been a band director for the last 20 years. I love what I do and I enjoy what I do. I love giving back to the community even just to spread a little bit of holiday cheer because I know during this time of year a lot people are grieving over lost love ones. It’s a tough time for a lot of us so anything to put a smile on people’s faces. I with it right now.”
