Retired PB band director remembered
Carl Lott loved competition and achieved excellence in high school music, according to those who knew him. That may be evident in the marching band’s trophy collection at Pine Bluff High School.
“We won several things. We did competitions where we received Excellent and Superior ratings, won numerous Battle of the Bands awards, [and were awarded in] percussion and jazz ensembles,” said Tim Scott, who directed the band nicknamed Dark Cloud after Lott’s retirement in the early 2010s. “It’s really too much to name. If you’ve ever been in the band room, you’d see all the awards around the room. It’s always been a lot that’s been in there.”
Lott died Tuesday, according to a death notice from Brown Funeral Home. He was 64.
Scott, a 2004 PBHS graduate, volunteered under Lott while attending the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and was hired full-time in 2009. Lott retired 2013 after a 32-year teaching career, Scott said, and Scott left to teach second grade outside of the district before returning as PBHS band director in 2015, a role he held for three years.
“I always knew I wanted to be a teacher and band director, but one thing I would say, his work ethic and lifelong lessons we all got from him,” said Scott, now assistant principal at Friendship Aspire Academy Pine Bluff elementary. “He would always talk to us about things that were impactful to us as adults. He did those things on a day-to-day basis.”
Those who knew Lott well, including Scott, remember him for instilling discipline in his band and orchestra and serving as a father figure.
“I come from a two-parent household. I had my parents in my life but he was still that person that was there, that father figure that was there, even though
you were away from home,” Scott said. “Like I tell anyone, the majority of time you’re in school, you’re going to spend more time at school than at home. It was good that someone could be that father figure and mentor for you.”
Erika Evans, president of the PBHS parent-teacher organization, said her children played under Lott and saw them progress under his watch from their days at 34th Avenue Elementary to Jack Robey Junior High School to PBHS.
“Seeing the students’ love and respect for him and how they performed, you could hear their discipline and pride in their music,” Evans said. “He was firm but he was a father figure to them. I was glad [my oldest son] was in the band and the orchestra. I was glad he was able to progress and grow as a musician. He graduated and went to Southern [University] to perform with the Human Jukebox.”
Evans said learning about Lott’s death from her husband, an assistant band director at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, was a “gut punch” to her.
“Lovable person, good spirit, kind-hearted” are qualities of Lott that Evans mentioned.
“He made sure you did the music but also the classes.
He was a one-of-a-kind person,” she added.
Retired Dollarway High School band director Vickie Liddell remembered Lott as being a competitor but also a gentleman.
“I remember one Christmas parade — kids don’t have the wisdom that adults have — but the kids wanted to have a Battle of the Bands,” Liddell said. “I told the kids, this is not the setting for that. Mr. Lott came to me and said, ‘I’m sorry, Mrs. Liddell, this is not the setting for it.’”
Two of Liddell’s children performed in a citywide orchestra Lott conducted while they attended Dollarway. Liddell also judged some of Lott’s band tryouts at his request.
When the Pine Bluff and Dollarway bands did battle, it wasn’t always against each other.
“We were not in the same classification, just like the football programs,” Liddell said. “We were in the same room together. When we would go to Memphis, Mr. Lott would have his kids cheer for us in our division and we’d cheer for them in their division, because Memphis [bands] did the same.”
Lott was a big part of Scott’s life since the latter began high school in 2001. Outside of the music realm, Lott participated in Scott’s wedding and was there when Scott’s daughter was born, he recalled.
“When I got started, he took a chance on me and gave me the opportunity, from volunteering all those years to being hired,” Scott said. “Those things like that are priceless. Those are things you can be appreciative of forever.”
Then, there are those simple moments of support and encouragement never to be taken for granted.
“My birthday [was] actually [Thursday],” Scott said. “It was kind of difficult not getting that text message saying, ‘Happy birthday and I’m proud of you.’”