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Random Cadets question...


JKT90

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3. Glad to hear that Greg is now better.

2. Perhaps in the 80 years of the corps the term was not used in your few years with them. Definitely the term is used back in Zingali's days and now by the current membership, particularly since 2009, the 75th anniversary year when a lot of old traditions were rediscovered deliberately by some of the membership. The tapping of the buckles is an example.

1. Yup, Sully it is ......Mark Sylvester for those who don't know his a/k/a.

Term "Prayer Block" was not used in 83-85, so that only leaves 82 (unlikely) or 87 as Zingali years when it might have been.

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85, actually....due to all the meter changes in "Jeremiah Symphony."

OK, I'm jumping in. I did an exhaustive paper on "Jeremiah" years ago (II-the Profanation, which they performed *entirely* without the repeats), and this show is still my DCI standard. The score alone is a nightmare of notes, rhythms, time signatures.

The best way to describe the composition is "multi-layered." At times, there is no constant beat due to the 3/8, 4/4, 7/8, etal of the writing. And Garfield f- - - ing PLAYED it. And MARCHED it. At times, it was evident that they were marching on the beat rather than in the traditional "dut dut dut dut' rhythmic pulse. In the Bernstein score, the four string voices echo each other OFF the beat so much, and M. Klesch wove it so beautifully throughout the four brass voices (not to mention T. Hannum's wizardry with giving the battery elements of melody, too!). Combine this with the nearly impossible field coverage assigned to the marchers, and it's still a wonder that it didn't all fall apart. Seriously. Nobody comes close to trying that now.

The ending of Candide was pretty remarkable from the feet standpoint, as well. Although the half note was constant (all breve, I think), the "downbeat" went from 4 to 3 to 2 to 4. At certain hits, they landed on their left ("wrong") foot; not until the mellophones started zipping backward into the S (why a reverse Z pull this time?) were they going R L R L. Again, I know there were MANY vets from '84, but it was still the sickest concept in terms of difficulty. The Program Coordinator even said as late as 2005 that "that's as hard as anything we've seen."

Speaking of Klesch (who writes Crown's book now), "Jeremiah" was his very first assignment as a show writer. What the heck did he ever do to them?? :tongue:

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The Cadets will have their 80th anniversary in 2014. In view of the fact that no Cadet Alumnus marched in every single decade, it's quite conceivable that certain traditions and terms such as "prayer block" would have been used by Cadets in some years and not in others. It follows, therefore, that the term might be familiar to some Cadets, but not necessarily to all. It was not used when I marched, but I have heard it used many, many times over the years. It has in fact been used for a sufficient number of years for it to have become used quite often by The Cadets of the "modern" era. As Mike Davis noted, in the early years The Cadets, like most other corps, entered the field in one long single file. That was to facilitate entry in the days when you began your show on a starting line. When the Cadets began emerging onto the field in a block following elimination of the "starting line, the single file entry pretty much faded away. Since that time I have often heard the newer entry formation referred to as the prayer block. They do not always enter the field in the block formation depending pretty much on program design, so the term may or may not apply in any given year. I am, quite honestly, a little bemused that any of this is of any importance whatsoever.

The OP opened this discussion with a question regarding the reason behind The Cadets' right foot step-off. How the discussion veered off course into a discussion of who is and who is not familiar with the term "prayer block," seems pretty far from the intent of the OP.

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The OP opened this discussion with a question regarding the reason behind The Cadets' right foot step-off. How the discussion veered off course into a discussion of who is and who is not familiar with the term "prayer block," seems pretty far from the intent of the OP.

This, after your gigantic discussion on the prayer block (which started in 1986...as that is how the corps started in opening formation [minus 1] ). :tongue:

Oh yeah. 80th year. PLEASE no more West Side Story. For the love of GOD! (I still want to see a more talented group do "On the Waterfront." hint hint)

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The Cadets will have their 80th anniversary in 2014. In view of the fact that no Cadet Alumnus marched in every single decade, it's quite conceivable that certain traditions and terms such as "prayer block" would have been used by Cadets in some years and not in others. It follows, therefore, that the term might be familiar to some Cadets, but not necessarily to all. It was not used when I marched, but I have heard it used many, many times over the years. It has in fact been used for a sufficient number of years for it to have become used quite often by The Cadets of the "modern" era. As Mike Davis noted, in the early years The Cadets, like most other corps, entered the field in one long single file. That was to facilitate entry in the days when you began your show on a starting line. When the Cadets began emerging onto the field in a block following elimination of the "starting line, the single file entry pretty much faded away. Since that time I have often heard the newer entry formation referred to as the prayer block. They do not always enter the field in the block formation depending pretty much on program design, so the term may or may not apply in any given year. I am, quite honestly, a little bemused that any of this is of any importance whatsoever.

The OP opened this discussion with a question regarding the reason behind The Cadets' right foot step-off. How the discussion veered off course into a discussion of who is and who is not familiar with the term "prayer block," seems pretty far from the intent of the OP.

Well said. You get a plus.

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80th year. PLEASE no more West Side Story. For the love of GOD!

Yes! I LOVE 1984 and love 1994 (I can listen to that drum book alone forever), but I'm OK not hearing Cadets do WSS for a long time. Kiwanis Kavaliers did a great job doing the Kenton & Buddy Rich arrangements in 96, and Devs did a really cool mash-up in 1998 of West Side Story & Tchaik's Romeo and Juliet. If I don't hear WSS done on the field, I'm good.

(I still want to see a more talented group do "On the Waterfront." hint hint)

YES YES YES YES YES!!!! Contrary to what I said above, I would not appose Cadets doing what they originally planned a few years back for their 75th doing WSS + On the Waterfront mash-up. That could be REALLY cool! I would also love to hear On the Waterfront by itself as well.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, from what was sent to the alumni today, it seems Cadets 2014 show announcement (and Cadets 2 show announcement) might be more public two weeks from now:

Subject: Alumni Meeting, Friday, October 25, 7-9 pm
Mr. Rich Hammond, Director of Performing Ensembles for YEA! and Director of Cadets2 will be our special guest at our North Jersey Chapter Cadets Alumni Meeting. Rich will be talking about show material for both corps, where they are right now, what the office has been up to over the fall, staff additions, etc. He will also be open to a Q&A section if you have anything you would like to inquire about. Let's all welcome Rich to our Cadet family on October 25th. Please try to attend.
Question, where is Hopkins? Usually he has announced the show plans by now, sometimes ('09, '12) as early as late August. Oft times corps do this as an audition enticer; come march with us because we will be playing... In fact, none of the corps have announced yet like SCV did last season with Les Miz. Licensing issues? Still trying to figure out BD/Crown recipe? Imitating Crown's stelth announcements in late May? In years where the announcement has been made early, things have changed many times even within one winter. Maybe George is composing his own...or decomposing...
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There's actually a status update call for donors tonight, discussing:

  • An overview of program discussions to date
  • Staff announcements for The Cadets & Cadets2
  • An unofficial review of the summer schedule
  • If time allows, some highlights of the 2013 staff, member & volunteer evaluations of both corps
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