Favorite Brass Instructor?

[RobH]

Thankfully a couple fellow "old guys" (Tom P and Ron H) mentioned Ken Norman!

I saw his genius at work first hand, and I was a little 16 year old snare drummer!

[elphaba01]

Add to that Connecticut Royal Lancers, ND-ettes, as well as the Buccaneers feeder corp the Musketters and the St. Raphael's all-girl corps the Marrionettes.  Yes, St. Raphael's had 3 corps going at one time..... Ahh the good old days...

And Joe taught about 5 corps a year, each year.... How did he ever do it.....

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"Joe's Corps":

Yep, "Jumpin Joe" did indeed teach 5 or so different corps per year. And he managed to make all of them sound completly different from each other, something that is sadly lacking in the rareified musical atmosphere of DCI.

Elphaba

[tkelly21]

1. Gail Royer - He had such passion and commitment, we were his creation in Santa Clara. Plus he used to get sooooooo cranky somtimes and the faces he made trying to get us to stop were, as they say, priceless.

2. Jack Meehan - Mr. Cool. He elevated us all and made you think you were the best there was.

3. Don Angelica - When he came to work with us in Santa Clara, in our infancy, 1968 he was THE MAN. His parting words at the end of the weekend were, "I was pleasently surprised by how good you are".

[ffernbus3]

I cast a big old vote for Charlie Groh of Southern California. He turned out to be one of my drum corps heros and drum corps is all the richer for what he has given to it over the last four decades and a bit more.

Were Pete Emmons and Fred Sanford mentioned? They helped set the foundation for Anaheim Kingsmen's climb when they taught us in 1967 and then the next year SCV and the NorCal corps when they moved up there.

I look back on the pictures of Fred and Pete and they looked so young back then......if I could find a picture of me in 67 Kingsmen I'd probably say the same thing.

All respect to Pete and Fred......individually and collectively the greatest boost to California drum corps becoming players on the National stage. (Gail Royer was already here so I didn't include him and Wayne Downey was still marching jr. corps in 67....not to discredit by omission Rocco or Bill Lee, the latter in the earlier 60s in SoCal and the many others from "The East" who migrated to California after the WWII years...but I personally think that when Fred, Pete and Gail hooked up that the biggest gains in California took place.)

RON HOUSLEY

Pics of Pete and Fred and Rocco are on http://www.xkingsmen.com if you look under "pictures" and "1967."

Edited February 10, 2005 by ffernbus3

[felixh]

Great thread.

Jack Mehan- The brass guru whom I learned so much from.  The man taught a mental approach that was very optimistic.  Jack had a very profound influence on me.  While I am at it, his son John worked with the Renegades this year.  I am very impressed with what John is able to accomplish with one or two key phrases that get to the heart of the matter and have instant results.

Wayne Downey.  The pleasure of playing this mans charts should be enough, having him worked the ensemble truly brings out the joy in his music.

Jim MacFarland and Frank Dorritie.  These two are my new brass guru's.  Both have a very unique and interspective way of approaching the music and the activety.  Jim's inner focus on doing what feels good and listening to your body and emotions.  Franks knowledge and history of the activety expanding our knowledge of the family we perform within.  Truly a pleasure to have these guy's on staff this year.

   

Jack Mehan and Wayne Downey were two of the best instructors I ever had the priviledge of working under. Jack's exercises and warm-ups were phenomenal. His relaxation and breathing techniques I still use today in everyday life and have also taught them to my children.

Wayne's arrangements were extremely challenging and fun to play and he was a legendary brass instructor which goes without saying. He was a great motivator at shows and really got into our music on the sidelines as well.

Both Wayne and Jack are class acts!!

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[Lancerlady]

Thankfully a couple fellow "old guys" (Tom P and Ron H) mentioned Ken Norman!

I saw his genius at work first hand, and I was a little 16 year old snare drummer!

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So I guess you and I have something in common, did you know George Lindstrom then too? I would guess so uh? Ken Norman wrote for us in 82-83 when I was in the Memphis Blues. He loved giving the mid voice some great parts. :)

[felixh]

So I guess you and I have something in common, did you know George Lindstrom then too? I would guess so uh? Ken Norman wrote for us in 82-83 when I was in the Memphis Blues. He loved giving the mid voice some great parts.   :)

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Ken wrote the Anaheim Kingsmen's 77 and 78 books while I marched baritone. He was a fabulous arranger, instructor, and conductor...intense eyes and wirey arms in the air...he taught our hornline many great breathing techniques and was a pleasure to work under...he had a love for french horns!

[bd5times]

Wow! Great post Doug (I quoted you below)!

Jack was the king of relaxation and the mental approach to rehearsals and performance. From those killer warm-ups, fun run throughs of tunes, "mini corps" performances, and to just convey to us the realization of what we were experiencing.

Wayne was the same.....you could tell when the horn line and the entire corps was clicking....Wayne was total excitement. He let you know when things weren't right, and with the same intensity, let you know when things were going great.

Jim McFarland - another king of relaxation....but with plenty of volume. After I aged-out, Jim always had a spot ready for me for those F-Tuning warm-ups at the victory concerts. Somebody who was more into getting the kids to have fun than getting that win. Definitely another standout instructor from Team Blue.

Frank Dorritie - I remember him helping out the horn line at a couple of rehearsals. One thing he mentioned at an early rehearsal when I was a rookie....."check out the $.99 bin at Tower......that's where you'll find great jazz albums at rediculous prices". Every time I see the dollar bin at Tower or any other record store...I think of Frank. I also remember him showing up at a BD rehearsal. He ran the rehearsal.......and we did not rehearse a single note!

It was one of the coolest rehearsals I experienced in the Blue Devils. The entire three hours was a jam session.

Contras were doing a walking bass line, baris were "comping"....and anyone in the horn line that wanted to....could step out and just solo to their hearts content. Every person that night got to experience what it's like to solo for the Blue Devils and be backed up by that incredible horn line.....that was a great night!

What a great era to be in drum corps as well as be a member of the Blue Devils.......Wouldn't trade it for the world.

Rob

Marched 5 years in Blue Devils with Duguda......

Great thread.

Jack Mehan- The brass guru whom I learned so much from.  The man taught a mental approach that was very optimistic.  Jack had a very profound influence on me.  While I am at it, his son John worked with the Renegades this year.  I am very impressed with what John is able to accomplish with one or two key phrases that get to the heart of the matter and have instant results.

Wayne Downey.  The pleasure of playing this mans charts should be enough, having him worked the ensemble truly brings out the joy in his music.

Jim MacFarland and Frank Dorritie.  These two are my new brass guru's.  Both have a very unique and interspective way of approaching the music and the activety.  Jim's inner focus on doing what feels good and listening to your body and emotions.  Franks knowledge and history of the activety expanding our knowledge of the family we perform within.  Truly a pleasure to have these guy's on staff this year.

   

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Edited February 12, 2005 by bd5times

[ffernbus3]

Re: the above post about Pete Emmons and Fred Sanford and the 1967 Anaheim Kingsmen. I was informed by Charlie Groh that Pete and Fred wanted to work with the Velvet Knights but their staff thought that they were asking too much money for their services and were turned down.

Anaheim, on the other hand, was willing to pay their wages. History could have gone an entire different way had VK hired them originally. At the very least VK would have been the better M&M execution corps and perhaps would have had the better percussion line as well, talent being equal, that is.

Also props to Jack Meehan and Mike Duffey for giving me some wonderful music to listen to all these years later. I didn't realize how many corps these guys wrote for. Thanks for my favorite Anaheim year, Mike, and you two guys were all over my favorite 70s Troopers books, among so many others, which I didn't know at the time.

And Ken Norman. Sometimes I don't think he gets enough credit for all he's created in drum corps.....it's good to hear others respect him.

RON HOUSLEY

[gmencontra]

Dave Tippet..........

There are sooo many great instructors that have been through DCI. Tons of them that made GREAT hornlines. But Dave has to be my favorite.

Coming from a kid that Dave intially cut, it pains me to not have said this before. I have never met a man like him since. Dave can take you to any lengths your mind and body and spirit will allow, and then take you two steps further. From his lessons on the fundamentals of brass. Or lessons on how to allow your imagination let you place the music better. But the best is the way Dave asks you to be a better human being, and then demands nothing less. I really do owe a lot to him and his family for asking better of me in my early years. Even to do this day I hold those values really close to my heart.