[Dixielandjazz] Marching bands....

[Jim Kashishian]

Russ wrote:
Marching bands are excellent training groups as they require the kids to be
highly involved in team work, discipline, time schedule control, uniform
care, etc. and etc.  The best marching bands attend festivals and
competitions and  are rewarded with honors that are taken very seriously.
The kids work very hard in a well run marching band program.  A marching
band program takes a tremendous amount of work and is, frankly, exhausting.


And, I comment:
I attribute all of my current position to my marching band days.  I will go
as far as to say that joining the Long Beach (Calif.) Junior Concert Band
when I was 9 yrs old (a member until I was 17) was one of the best things
that ever happened to me.

This band, run by Marvin Marker, is still thriving today, helping young kids
(as it did for me) in the Long Beach area.  Recently, the City of Long Beach
has removed itself from the tiny bit of financial help it ever gave to the
band.  What a pity!

The LBJCB was "my gang".  If it hadn't been for the band, I would have been
perfect material for any gang out there.  It became my family, as I was
basically on my own with a working mother as my only family.  My sister
joined another "gang", which was her church...which worked out very well for
her, also.  Home meant sitting alone in front of the tv.  The band was much
more fun.

Russ speaks of the hard work...we did 360 gigs one year (performing 2 or 3
jobs in a given day), and all the spit & polish required set me up perfect
for my eight years as an Air Force Bandsman later.  Talk about discipline!

I learned to play hard, loud, continuous (5 hrs of marching in the Paadena
Rose Parade will do that for you).  I have great memories of all the Sousa
marches, and can still honk my way through many from memory.  (The original
director of the band was a trumpeter who actually played with Sousa...Jimmy
Son.)

My family will attest to the fact that I demand everyone to be "on time",
even if it means leaving to go out to dinner.  That all comes from the band
training.  And, it flows over into how the Canal Street Jazz Band is run,
and how I run my business.  (Stands out somewhat in a country where being on
time has no particular meaning!)  Many of our long (read 7 to 10 night) gigs
are due to club owners/managers knowing that they can hire us & leave us on
our own.  They don't even have to appear, knowing that we will do the gig
every night, on time, properly, and not drink the bar dry!  

We had the choice in school of joining the band or the orchestra...not both.
It was an easy choice as the band had pom-pom girls!  Great memories.  Great
times, and a great opportunity.

What a life music has given me.

Jim