KyleThompson Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Gordon is one of the most talented individuals in this activity. Very brilliant designer and educator. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bracknbras Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Cant forget Tim Salzman He did some writing in the 80's. 1987 for example Bracknbras Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scvjesse Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 (edited) One of my fondest memories of Gordon when he was working with our hornline was this: "Okay, I want you to play fortissimo." We play what we thought was loud. "Okay, now let's call that mezzo forte. Now play fortissimo." We play louder. "Okay, let's call that forte. Can you play really loud now?" This went on for another 10 minutes lol Edited June 29, 2012 by scvjesse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vanguard87 Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Not to take anything away from Gordon's awesomeness, but my understanding is the SCV magic tricks were the mastermind of the late-great Dave Owens. Myron wrote the drill in 87, and I believe Dave also came up with the pants change idea in 85-86. All of this is accurate as far as I know, although I'm sure there was also a fair amount of collaboration. Gordon's main contribution to the arrangements in those days was to come in with fresh ears in mid-July, hear what wasn't working, and water it. And that's not to denigrate him. It's a thankless job, but necessary if we weren't bringing it by July. Plus he was a surprisingly good basketball player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmathis Posted June 29, 2012 Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 (edited) ... Dean Westman (and I believe Gordon as well) was fired after 2002 from SCV. Rick Valenzuela wanted to go in a "new direction." (Which was down....they came in 5th in 03 after 3 years of 4th.) I still think that that firing was one of the biggest mistakes that Vanguard has ever made. They are still trying to recover. They had a consistent and good brass staff from 96 to 02 and hasn't had one sense. ... I had no idea that happened. That makes me pretty upset. Why would Rick do something like that? Pretty selfish IMO if all he wanted to do was put his own stamp on the organization. SCV didn't need to go in a "new direction"... They were perfectly fine. Now like you said, they're still trying to recover. Edited June 29, 2012 by cmathis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruckner8 Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Anyone can go to SCV's website, click on the Historical Archives, and plow through each year to see when he was involved, and in what capacity. IOW, no one here has gotten it right yet, lol. https://www.scvanguard.org/programs/vanguard/history/index.cfm? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmathis Posted June 29, 2012 Author Share Posted June 29, 2012 Anyone can go to SCV's website, click on the Historical Archives, and plow through each year to see when he was involved, and in what capacity. IOW, no one here has gotten it right yet, lol. https://www.scvanguard.org/programs/vanguard/history/index.cfm? Yeah you can do that, but that doesn't tell the story behind why he left, why other people came on after him, etc., and that's what I was asking. With Gordon being one of Cadets98's mentors, it seems like Cadets98 told the story pretty accurately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsubone Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Yeah you can do that, but that doesn't tell the story behind why he left, why other people came on after him, etc., and that's what I was asking. With Gordon being one of Cadets98's mentors, it seems like Cadets98 told the story pretty accurately. Well, except about Rick being the reason that SCV dropped and "hasn't recovered". They only dropped out of 4th in 2003 because of a rough Finals performance, they were in 4th going into Finals, and got jumped that night. Then in 2004 they went up to 3rd and won the Sanford award. 2005 was a down year, yes, but then Rick V. left, and Jeff Pearson took over, and then had some issues with revolving staff and some poor management. They Jeff Fiedler came in, and things have really been moving in the correct direction. And no one can say that SCV isn't the most financially secure drum corps out there besides BD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jplattSCV Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 All of this is accurate as far as I know, although I'm sure there was also a fair amount of collaboration. Gordon's main contribution to the arrangements in those days was to come in with fresh ears in mid-July, hear what wasn't working, and water it. And that's not to denigrate him. It's a thankless job, but necessary if we weren't bringing it by July. Plus he was a surprisingly good basketball player. That's not surprising to me at all. He was quite tall as I remember. The Round Mound of Rebound and Sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burgerbob Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 In '08 or '09, we were working on a part of the show in a gym. Gordon really wanted it to groove, so we listened to a recording to get an idea for it. Quoting Arrested Development, Gordon said "Dance!" in that big voice of his. We all stood around, wondering if he was serious. "Everybody dance. NOW!" One of those great little moments from Gordon. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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