steelcityrabbit Posted January 24, 2004 Share Posted January 24, 2004 Great topic, I enjoyed finding out who some of these guys were, like the Bridgemen's "77 soloist in Spanosh Dreams. I paly the tape all the time, can't get enough. For some strange reason, I knew Tom M. from the Plaid, had the pleasure of meeting him back in the day. He was probally the 1st sop screamer I looked up to. But if I had to vote, it would go to Curt Hawkins, (because he paid me to say that) b**bs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.C. Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 The young man from Racine is Tom Meredith. He last played in '77 with the Plaid, and is currently operating the family moturary business in Racine. I understand he still plays on weekends or occasionally. I CAN elaborate that when the Kilties did their 50th(?) gig in '87 ( I think ), I saw the video from the standstill they did at Horlick field on the 4th of July. Tommy was there, burying every high note liked he never left the corps. THAT was amazing... I wonder if Mike Phillips still has that tape? Pat Tommy gets my vote!! Kenny Norman knew Tommy was a special talent and arranged whole charts around him! Tom runs the Maresh-Meredith & Acklam Funeral Home in Racine. He still plays all the time! You can catch him with "John Bunick's Big Band" at their weekly gig at a club in Kenosha. He's still the top player in the area, and recently played lead trumpet for the Temptations and Four Tops when they were last in Milwaukee. I watched that concert with my wife and some of Tommy's brothers and sisters, and we cheered wildly everytime there was a close up of Tommy wailing on the Jumbotron. Cool beans! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pittman Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 I have to agree with DCM that Craig Biondi (Coats 95 96) is one of the best players. He didn't get solos to scream with at Coats, but he won I&E two years in a row, with a 99 the second year. He was an awesome all around player...... But I can't let this go by without mentioning the 89 BD soloist.... you know the one.... That guy is LEGENDARY.... if for all the wrong reasons ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elphaba01 Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 now, drum corps has no doubt seen hundreds of skilled sop players in its history... who are those that stick in your mind 20 or 30 (or even as recent as five) years later... i'm sure this has been the topic of discussion for years now, but there's no current thread for it, so why not get it out in the open. Being an old time Vet, several excellent sop's besides Art and Art ( Can't remember how to spell their last names) of the 60's Hurricanes come to mind; Tommy Martin - Skyliners, a little known player from the 50' and 60's Ken Adams of the Geneva Apple knockers and Don Angelica of Hawthorne. There are many more from that era who given the three vavle trumpet keyed to a bugle range could surpass a lot of today's sop players. Remember these guys did it with just a valve and rotary. "Art & Art": One of the "Arts" is none other than 'Art' Hylwa the Hurricane's gret soprano soloist throughout the late 1950s and the Championship years of the 1960s. He is currently the horn instructor for the Connecticut Alumni senior corps and the 2004 "Park City Pride" Bridgeprt Ct 'Reunion Corps'. He is still a GREAT hornplayer, as demonstrated at a recent "Pride" rehearsal. A few other great soprano soloists of the 1960s senior era include Tom "Bucky" Swan, Ray Eyler, Harold "Skip" Groff, Jimmy D'Amico, Dave Fite, Frank "Junior" Ferraro, and Riggie Laus. Some of these guys "did it" on a valve/SLIDE GD Getzen. There are no doubt, many more, but these names come to mind. Elphaba Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BennyASU Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 The bearded guy from BD in 86. His solo during Channel One is amazing. And when he screams that note at the begining of Conquistador makes me cry. Yeah! That was, as I'm told (I don't know him), Mike Collins. He gets my vote, especially for his work with the ballad. He threw-off that liptrill like it was nothing. My question is: was he really only 21? I've also heard that he's a band director somewhere in northern Cali. So why isn't he marching with the Renegades? I think he's a member of DCP, also, as I've seen a screen name "MikeCollins86". last i heard he was at Upland HS i believe. he worked with RCC for one of the years that i was there also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle z Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 He's the one who also sticks that (I think) double "C" at the end of Auld Lang Syne. He had to really wail on it to try and drown out the guy who was gacking on the double "A" in that triad. O.K., we've established that Tom Meredith hit the double "C". What I wanna know is who's the poor soul fracking on the double "A"--sounds like the guy is blowing through a paper bag :( AHHHH, drum corps infamy!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeD Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 now, drum corps has no doubt seen hundreds of skilled sop players in its history... who are those that stick in your mind 20 or 30 (or even as recent as five) years later... i'm sure this has been the topic of discussion for years now, but there's no current thread for it, so why not get it out in the open. Being an old time Vet, several excellent sop's besides Art and Art ( Can't remember how to spell their last names) of the 60's Hurricanes come to mind; Tommy Martin - Skyliners, a little known player from the 50' and 60's Ken Adams of the Geneva Apple knockers and Don Angelica of Hawthorne. There are many more from that era who given the three vavle trumpet keyed to a bugle range could surpass a lot of today's sop players. Remember these guys did it with just a valve and rotary. "Art & Art": One of the "Arts" is none other than 'Art' Hylwa the Hurricane's gret soprano soloist throughout the late 1950s and the Championship years of the 1960s. He is currently the horn instructor for the Connecticut Alumni senior corps and the 2004 "Park City Pride" Bridgeprt Ct 'Reunion Corps'. He is still a GREAT hornplayer, as demonstrated at a recent "Pride" rehearsal. A few other great soprano soloists of the 1960s senior era include Tom "Bucky" Swan, Ray Eyler, Harold "Skip" Groff, Jimmy D'Amico, Dave Fite, Frank "Junior" Ferraro, and Riggie Laus. Some of these guys "did it" on a valve/SLIDE GD Getzen. There are no doubt, many more, but these names come to mind. Elphaba Bill Pusey of Blessed Sac...the guy who played the high-note part on their exit, "Free Again" in 69/70. Many Salort of St Lucy's....his 69 opening fanfare to "El Conquistador" was great. Don Polzo of Garfield...played most of the solos from 69-73 or 74. "White Rabbit" in 70 was one. He and I came from the same class 'B' corps from Livingston NJ, where he was taught by Bucky Swan. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimdugan Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 Jim Brady - Bayonne Bridgemen 1977 & 1978 Jim Dugan Bridgemen, snare 78-81 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goalieguy Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 Gotta stick another one in here gang. I may be wrong on the name, but in 82 the Cabs had a black guy named Keith Griffin(?) as their lead solo player..I only saw him play at DCA that year, but he was unreal. Style, tone and range combined. And of course, he wasn't given the Best Soloist award that show. If anyone gets to hear that show, I think you'll agree. Technique not stereotypical Hawthorne, but this cat could really play. Anyone know what happened to him? 2nd Choice - my long time friend Roger Grupp. Listen to the closing solo lines in MBI shows from the late 80's and early 90's. Those long holds are with one breath, not circular breathing. His high chops are still to die for, and Rog is pushing 60. No small mouthpiece either, he uses a Bach 1 or 1C I believe. He used to use a Schilke 19! Talk about huge ! Haven't heard too many players that can match him, but I guess I'm biased. I've only known him for 30 years, and we played Baritone together for a lot of that. Pat :ramd: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BD2Rings Posted May 28, 2004 Share Posted May 28, 2004 (edited) I'll have to go with my personal favorite, Jeff Kievit. If you've got a recording of '74 DCI, listen to the Muchachoes. Some of my fellow Blue Devils may give me some grief here, but I've never been as impressed as by Jeff. The crowd treated this DCI finals as if it were the Muchachoe's home show. Controlled pandemonium. Edited May 28, 2004 by BD2Rings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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