[Dixielandjazz] The Best Damn Band

[David Richoux]

On Saturday, January 4, 2003, at 10:51 PM, Bill Gunter wrote:

> Speaking of college bands, Jim Beebe writ:
>
>>    University of Southern California.  He is talking about the 
>> University band
>> that plays for the football games.  This is a ghastly phenomenon
>> peculiar to the the U.S.   200 college musicians who can't play 
>> anything
>> blasting away in silly tributes and formations.
>
> I don't know if it's still going on, but the Stanford band at one time 
> back in the late 60s and early 70s decided they wanted no more of 
> military style precision, drill and formations. They still played the 
> traditional college songs but they wore casual garb and sort of 
> strolled around the field in haphazard formation. Many individuals 
> behaved as "individuals" and did silly and "far out" antics just to 
> show they were rebels, above traditional lock step marching. I didn't 
> particularly dig that stuff - too traditionally hidebound, I suppose.

I guess I may be the only person on this list who actually played in 
the Stanford Band many times (even though I never went to that 
university) and I have to correct Bill just a bit. The songs that the 
LSJUMB play are actually very good arrangements of rock and pop 
classics with very few  "traditional college songs" in their book. The 
band performs in what has become known as "Scatter Formations" - 
forming words or pictures on the field for each song but not marching 
or moving in traditional columns and rows. There are uniforms but 
individual freedom of expression is encouraged. A few other colleges 
and universities also do this but they are certainly in the minority. I 
won't get into the more notorious side of the band's history here - I 
never personally saw or participated in any of those more "colorful" 
stunts... ;-)

I have enjoyed my experiences with that band and it led me to join 
another group called the California Repercussions - we play each year 
at the Sacramento Jazz fest as well as many other performances all over 
Northern California and the world.

check them out at http://www.stanford.edu/group/lsjumb/  and 
http://www.repercussions.com/

As for USC - my closest experience with that band was having to endure 
a 3 hour field rehearsal by them right outside my window (starting at 
about 7AM!) not a pleasant experience - and I really LIKE marching 
bands.  (I also enjoyed seeing the Edinburgh Tattoo in 1993 when the 
Repercussions toured Scotland and England.)

Dave Richoux

> But I do thoroughly enjoy traditional drum and bugle presentations and 
> among my favorite forms of entertainment are the English Tattoos such 
> as the Annual Edinburgh Tattoo on the Castle Esplanade. Military pipe 
> band from all over the realm congregate to strut their stuff.
>>
> Respectfully submitted,
>
> Bill "Hut - two - three - four" Gunter
>