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Why don't drum corps play jazz anymore?


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I agree, we need better arrangers.

I don't think it is the arranger's fault- they only write what the "higher-ups" tell them to. Many of the arrangers are the same, but they are often asked to write shows that, honestly, don't always make musical sense.

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While I don't disagree with you feeling on his later noise, I wonder if you heard any of his younger work ?

So, uhhhh you didn't like Spirit's "Old Man River" ?

Yea, Jim Ott thought he sucked too but at least liked his arrangements.

( rimshot / FRACK )

Yeah, I love the stuff Maynard did with the Kenton band, I've already mentioned this. And Maynard was a good player, but he also influenced a legion of moronic trumpet jocks. Yeah you have fun with your high notes, I'm gonna go make some money.

I don't think it is the arranger's fault- they only write what the "higher-ups" tell them to. Many of the arrangers are the same, but they are often asked to write shows that, honestly, don't always make musical sense.

True

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Yeah, I love the stuff Maynard did with the Kenton band, I've already mentioned this. And Maynard was a good player, but he also influenced a legion of moronic trumpet jocks. Yeah you have fun with your high notes, I'm gonna go make some money.

One of the best, AND worst things I ever did was turn some of my band students to him back in the 70's. One thing I always did like about MF was the fact that he was never afraid to showcase his players that played better then him.

Once he stopped touring with the big band I stopped going to his concerts, afterall, I was going to hear his band, not him.

I'm glad I grew up in an age where I could still catch many of the big bands / jazz standards live.

Buddy Rich - 5 times

MF - 7 or 8 times

Herman - 2 times

Stand Kenton once

Basie with Joe Williams - once

Lionel Hampton - once

Phil woods - twice

Miles - once

Clark Terry - too many times to count ( usually at the Hyatt in New Orleans with Ellis on piano, saw both Branford and Wynton play at different times with Terry, both when they were around 14 or 15)

But living in uptown New Orleans around the corner from Wynton and family (as a young band director with 2 other young band director room mates ) was interesting to say the least. Besides the Sunday night jam sessions for the neighborhood to hear, in the summer when the kids were very young, they would pretend to have jazz funerals for practice and parade around the neighborhood.

God it's been a long time since i got out and listened to music.................

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I miss the old Jazz park and blows. BD, Crossmen, Spirit of Atlanta, North Star....... I don't know why they can't work some of that music into modern drum corps.

Because someone might actually leave the stadium humming the melody.................

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Because someone might actually leave the stadium humming the melody.................

Exactly. I don't remember what year it was - I'm thinking 1978 Crossmen. They played the Buddy Rich band arrangement of "Something" by George Harrison of the Beatles. For my money that was the best park and blow in history. I know - there were lots of them but that was my favorite. I wish I knew the name of the soprano soloist that year. He played that tune as good or better than Bev Bevan of the Buddy Rich Band. If I remember correctly George Hopkins was a member of that awesome snareline that year. I wish He'd look back to his own rich history and do some of those tunes with the Cadets. DCP would be a happy place.

Edited by BigSnareline
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I would think that staff these days want to better control their product (sort of like apple) and so stir away from Jazz (sort of like Open Source Linux) in this modern era of drum corps.

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Not sure we'll see much jazz in the DCI ranks outside of one segment of a World Class Show, perhaps a few Open Class shows. Although just the opposite seems apparant in DCA, where it's jazz more than any other style (most seasons)

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The lack of jazz in today's corps is related to a bigger issue, the lack of any extended rhythmic groove in shows today. I think that over time, corps were encouraged to have more peaks - if something major didn't happen every 20 seconds, that was considered a weakness. But most great music (of any genre) doesn't work that way. Rather, most great music gets its power from musical development; that is, the effective use of repetition, buildup, and rhythmic intensity which by their very nature require repetition over an extended period. This is, in my opinion, the key musical component that is missing in today's corps. It is rare to hear a corps achieve a groove anymore, at least any sort of groove lasting more than 8 bars, and even rarer to see the audience physically moving (dancing) along with corps music, whereas this was common in the most exciting corps shows of years past and for that matter in most great music. And lets face it, without allowing the music time to achieve a rhythmic groove, jazz cannot occur.

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