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The Blue Devils Alumni Ensemble


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A group of BD Alumni met this weekend to prepare and record a number of Blue Devils favorites for distribution on a CD showcasing the talent of our former members.

The tunes recorded were:

- Channel One Suite (1976, 1977, 1986)

- When a Man Loves a Woman (1992)

- Dindi (1980, 1981)

- Everybody Loves the Blues (1983)

It was killer.

We started at 10am on Saturday, meeting for rehearsal at Clayton Valley High School. First up was the Renegades minicorps, rehearsing our 2003 Championship show, Channel One Suite. Filling in on drums due to the absence of our very own Murray Gusseck was Andy Marchetti, who I marched with back in the day. We also added BD Alums Travis Gould, Jeff Lynn, Roland Garceau and Rob Brown to the group for this occasion. (10 Sopranos, 4 Mellophones, 1 French Horn, 6 Baris, 3 Contras and drum set)

After a quick tune up of Channel One and a play-through of When a Man Loves a Woman (both tunes to be recorded on G Bugles), it was time for the "Legit" ensemble. I put away my Mellophone and grabbed my French Horn for Everybody Loves the Blues.

Original soloist Eric Schiedin was joined by recent BD ageout Jeff Lynn, trading blistering solos. The rest of us settled into the groove nicely. The ensemble consisted of 7 trumpets, 3 horns, 6 trombones, 3 tubas and drum set, all BLOWIN'. Most of the group are or have been professional players, so it came together fairly quickly under the expert guidance of Dave Carico.

Next up was Dindi, featuring a trumpet duet with Larrie Dastrup and Travis Gould. Sweet playing.

We broke for sectionals, and very quickly determined that mixing mellophones and concert French Horns was not going to make it, so ensemble ace Dave Carico got together with Producer Todd Tanji for a quick rewrite for three French Horns. Much better!

We finished the session with a tech rehearsal. Near the end of the day, Adam Rapa came in, got out his horn and jumped in on Everybody Loves the Blues. Holy Moly, this cat can play!! He just lit the place up - pulling the whole group to another level of playing. After we finished up, we wiped the grins off our faces and headed to Doug Peterson's place for BBQ and lots of old drum corps.

Sunday - Recording Day. We got started at 11am with Dindi. Larrie and Travis nailed the duets out of the gate, and after a few runs, I was able to hit the high C# in the Horn part (Horn players will understand). Then we jumped into Everybody Loves the Blues. Soloists were cranking out some phenomenal licks - it was hard to keep from laughing at times - it was that amazing.

Next up - Channel One. I grabbed my Mellophone and got the group set up. We started with the cadenza, featuring supersop Roland Garceau. We jammed through to the end and it sounded great, so we went back and recorded the beginning. Cool. Rich Duarte played solos with his usual sweet perfection in the slow section, and the group showed that all the hours of rehearsal that we put in for this session were not wasted.

Finally, When a Man Loves a Woman. Chops were still there to blow through this classic a few times and lay it down to tape. Dead lips, but four solid tunes in the can. This recording is going to blow your minds, folks - this was a group of SERIOUS players kicking it in to high gear.

Next up in May - we record French Horn octet versions of La Fiesta, Pegasus, My Spanish Heart and One More Time, Chuck Corea!!!!

The Alumni Collection, which will feature waaaay more tunes than just these ensembles, will be available sometime this summer. I'm sure you'll hear about it. Just make sure you get a copy - Everybody Loves the Blues alone will be worth the cover price.

Many thanks to Frank Dorritie, Todd Tanji, Dave Carico and Jeff DeMello for putting this together and to all the musicians who played their faces off - it was a truly great time.

Let's do it again sometime!!!

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Oh man that sounds sweet. A ton of BD superstars recording awesome tunes. I wish I was a fly on the wall at that rehearsal.

I am trying to imagine what it sounded like. The only thing I can imagine comparing it to is Future Corps.

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Will BD be selling this CD?  (I'll start saving my pennies now...)

Yes, look to BD for the album as it is a fund raising project. We all are curious about "where are they now"? This album is all about here they are and listen to this! I'm so proud to be playing along side these guy's, you won't believe the talent level and soloist work from these guy's!

I can't wait to hear the other groups on this album. Gonna buy five copies for my mother :P

Dugada

Edited by dugada
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I wish I was a fly on the wall at that rehearsal.

I was a fly on the wall at the rehearsal and recording (when I wasn't playing). It was great sitting there taking in the sounds!!

you won't believe the talent level and soloist work from these guy's!

That's for sure. I still laugh thinking about some of the solo work that was happening and the incredible chops that quite a few performers had on display.

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Part II...

We did more recording this past weekend, just a smaller ensemble - much smaller!

1979 - 1981 BD Alum Sandra Clark flew out from Toledo (where she plays first horn with the Toledo Symphony) and joined up with me and another old friend, Scott Hartman for a set of Horn Trios. Scott, Sandra and I all went to music school together at San Jose State.

For those of you who don't know, San Jose State was a hotbed of Horn players in the 80s. Along with Sandra and I, Dave Tuttle (BD 1976-1980), Bob McClure (SCV 81-83) and many others went through the program with our beloved mentor, Dr. William George. Scott Hartman was the best of the group, but his drum corps career was limited to playing standstills with the White Stallions and with the Renegades.

We met up with Frank Dorritie and his ace recording specialists (Scott Gordon and Andrew Lee) on Sunday and put together a suite of Bach pieces and finished it up with a jazz Horn trio by Lowell Shaw. We also took time to assign parts and finesse the arrangements for the next recording session.

That session will record a Horn octet made up of professional Horn players that marched in BD (and a few guests), including Chris Komer (NY), Brad Kincher (LA), along with Sandra Clark (Toledo), Dave Tuttle, Cindy Sanchez (83), Bob McClure, Hartman and me.

Tune list for 8 Horns:

One More Time, Chuck Corea

La Fiesta

My Spanish Heart

Pegasus

Woohoo - this is waaaay too fun!!

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  • 1 month later...

Part III

This was my favorite part of the whole project...

On Sunday evening, eight Horn players (French Horns) got together to rehearse another set of tunes for the BD Alumni Collection. They were:

Chris Komer (BD 81). Chris is a professional player in Manhattan. His most recent gig was playing in the New York Philharmonic. He plays on a gorgeous full Triple horn and improvises jazz like a master.

Brad Kintscher (BD 80). Brad is a studio player from LA. He had just finished recording the soundtrack to Spiderman 2 prior to this gig.

Sandra Clark (BD 79-81). Sandra is principal horn in the Toledo Symphony and a former runner-up in the American Horn competition.

Dave Tuttle (BD 76-80). A four-time DCI champion, Dave lives in San Diego and plays with the La Jolla Symphony.

Cyndie Sanchez (BD 83). Cyn is from Spokane, where she plays in Brass Band and owns an instrument repair business.

Bob McClure (SCV 81, 83). Bob is an old friend that attended San Jose State with me while he was marching in SCV. He also attended USC and has played professionally in So Cal for many years.

Scott Hartman. Scott and I go way back - he and I (along with Sandra, Bob and Dave) all attended San Jose State University together. We also worked int he software industry with me at Apple. Scott is a monster player that plays all over Northern California, including the San Francisco Symphony. His only drum corps experience has been playing with the Renegades at LMS and with the White Stallions.

Chris Nalls (BD 78-80). I do not play horn much anymore, but I can do one thing well - I can play high - very high. I also contributed two arrangements to the project.

Bob Higgins (SCV 84). Bob arranged Pegasus and La Fiesta for the group. An excellent arranger, Bob performs with the Cleveland Symphonic Chorus. A bass trombonist, he played Contra in the Vanguard.

The tunes we played - La Fiesta, Pegasus, One More Time, Chuck Corea and My Spanish Heart.

La Fiesta. Bob created a BURNING arrangement of Chick Corea's classic that is unlike any other arrangement. Starting with a solo ostinato pattern laid down by Cyndie, it grows into a fiendishly difficult dance of interlaced phrases. Chris Komer played lead and Sandra kicked butt on second.

Pegasus. Hank Levy's classic tune featuring improv solos by jazzer Chris Komer. I played second on this tune, and am still blown away by Chris' playing. Sandra Clarke played the low part, and she totally rocked on it.

My Spanish Heart. I had to rearrange this at the last minute for seven horns due to a schedule problem, but it came out nicely. Chris Komer, Sandra and Brad Kintscher are all featured in solos and duets.

One More Time, Chuck Corea. I have always wanted to hear this as a Horn Octet, and was thrilled to arrange it for the group. Komer and I traded solos in the middle of it, and Sandra was honking the bass part. Brad and Bob played the "middlehorn" parts, and I have never heard anything so loud. It was a huge sound overall, and I was working overtime to try and play above those guys. But I hit all the high notes, including a couple of double B's.

Overall, I was blown away by the talent in this group. And by how much fun we had. I have posted some pictures, and I have gotten permission to post some audio. I will do so later and let you all know.

The arrangements will all be on sale in the coming months, if there are any horn choirs out there that are interested. The album will be out this summer.

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