84BDsop Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 There're always certain people who get mentioned whenever someone compiles a list of famous drum corps soloists... I've always kinda wondered....where were they before they became drum corps household words?? Barbara Maroney "Diamond" Jim Brady Jerry Noonan etc. Where did they march, what did they play (if different), etc... I know Mike "The Bearded Wonder" Collins (86 BD soloist) marched Kingsmen before BD I think I remember reading somewhere that Shaun Owens (82-84 Madison) played contra before sop....don't know how true that is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KeithHall Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Al Chez.....Saints and Garfield, later with Tower of Power and now with The CBS Orchestra. There're always certain people who get mentioned whenever someone compiles a list of famous drum corps soloists...I've always kinda wondered....where were they before they became drum corps household words?? Barbara Maroney "Diamond" Jim Brady Jerry Noonan etc. Where did they march, what did they play (if different), etc... I know Mike "The Bearded Wonder" Collins (86 BD soloist) marched Kingsmen before BD I think I remember reading somewhere that Shaun Owens (82-84 Madison) played contra before sop....don't know how true that is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumno5 Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 I think Brady marched sith the Saints (Edison/Fords, NJ) before moving along to the Bridgemen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
84Cadet Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Barbara Maroney started playing soprano when she was 7 years old. She was in the Sundowners from DuMont New Jersey. After taking some time off, she joined Garfield in 1981. Here is a nice interview with her on The Middle Horn Leader website: http://www.middlehornleader.com/Maroney%20Interview.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnZ Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 I think I remember reading somewhere that Shaun Owens (82-84 Madison) played contra before sop....don't know how true that is... I can't confirm the conta legend, although I vaguely remember seeing him fooling around with one a time or two. But the few years before Madison he played sop with Erie thunderbirds, teamed up with Jeff Gibbons of Erie/Empire fame - man that was an impressive young pair to play behind! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
overthehillDM Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Barbara Maroney started playing soprano when she was 7 years old. She was in the Sundowners from DuMont New Jersey. After taking some time off, she joined Garfield in 1981.Here is a nice interview with her on The Middle Horn Leader website: http://www.middlehornleader.com/Maroney%20Interview.htm WOW! That was a great link! Thanks Dave! And...I never knew that Barbara was in the Sundowners! She is an amazing musician!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puppet Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 (edited) WOW! That was a great link! Thanks Dave!And...I never knew that Barbara was in the Sundowners! She is an amazing musician!!! WoW[/b ]is right! I'd already been out of the activity for ten years when I first heard Barbara and she immediately became my Mello hero of all time. This interview validates things that we (our little four man Mellophone hornline) heard from our instructor for years. Men like Hy Dreitzer and Jim Prime understood that the middle voices (Hy played French horn as did I when I first began marching) were support vehicles and as players we were enabled by counter melodies to the 1st sopranos and if you have a line with a two and half octave range, you can have a lot of fun in your role. When written correctly, the Mellophone parts (Hy sometimes split them into 1st and 2nd for certain phrases) can broaden the sound in an extraordinary way. We never produced a great solo Mellophone but we prided ourselves as Barbara said in the interview as "thinking and more passionate" than other sections. I liken it to being the geeks of the horn line. We were able to discuss execution and phrasing - such as playing laggato while others around us were playing more staccato type lines. The first time we did that was during a rehearsal of the Ride of the Valkeries OTL just before the final push and Hy stopped us right in the middle, walks over to the four of us and said: "What the heck are you doing?" We were like stammering talking about listening to a Chicago Symphony Orchestra recording of the piece and hearing the violas doing a sustained phrase right there and, you know ah (you know how 17 year olds can be a litte unsure even when we're sure?!) and he put out his hand and said: "Oh, I get it, I just didn't know you got it! I like it! Depth, it adds depth! Good work, let's take it again, I want to hear it again without being surprised." I will never forget that moment. We came together as a unit and earned more respect from the rest of the horn line in those few minutes than we'd ever have received in any other way. Sorry about going off on this but the impression that Barbara understood / understands that the sounds we make go far beyond just playing the notes. Thanks for the interview and the memories! Puppet Edited April 2, 2009 by Puppet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randomnoise Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 Larrie Dastrup (BD 79-81) was in the Knight Raiders. Jim McFarland (BD 70s) was a contra player in 1975 and an upper lead soloist in 1976. He is one of the few BD soloists that never marched anywhere else. Bonnie Ott was in the Commodores and a PAL drum corps before stunning the world as a Mello soloist in BD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Pirtle Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 WoW[/b ]is right! I'd already been out of the activity for ten years when I first heard Barbara and she immediately became my Mello hero of all time. This interview validates things that we (our little four man Mellophone hornline) heard from our instructor for years. Men like Hy Dreitzer and Jim Prime understood that the middle voices (Hy played French horn as did I when I first began marching) were support vehicles and as players we were enabled by counter melodies to the 1st sopranos and if you have a line with a two and half octave range, you can have a lot of fun in your role. When written correctly, the Mellophone parts (Hy sometimes split them into 1st and 2nd for certain phrases) can broaden the sound in an extraordinary way. We never produced a great solo Mellophone but we prided ourselves as Barbara said in the interview as "thinking and more passionate" than other sections. I liken it to being the geeks of the horn line. We were able to discuss execution and phrasing - such as playing laggato while others around us were playing more staccato type lines. The first time we did that was during a rehearsal of the Ride of the Valkeries OTL just before the final push and Hy stopped us right in the middle, walks over to the four of us and said: "What the heck are you doing?" We were like stammering talking about listening to a Chicago Symphony Orchestra recording of the piece and hearing the violas doing a sustained phrase right there and, you know ah (you know how 17 year olds can be a litte unsure even when we're sure?!) and he put out his hand and said: "Oh, I get it, I just didn't know you got it! I like it! Depth, it adds depth! Good work, let's take it again, I want to hear it again without being surprised." I will never forget that moment. We came together as a unit and earned more respect from the rest of the horn line in those few minutes than we'd ever have received in any other way. Sorry about going off on this but the impression that Barbara understood / understands that the sounds we make go far beyond just playing the notes. Thanks for the interview and the memories! Puppet That is completely awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornsUp Posted April 3, 2009 Share Posted April 3, 2009 The best ones are home-grown. Tommy Meredith, Kilties 73-77, was a second soprano in the Kiltie Kadets. When he moved up to the A corps, he was put in the lead section. And all the bigger older guys made him play the solos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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