The best hornline so far of the 00's

[raphael18]

I'll go with:

PR 06

BD 01

Cadets 00

[BlooooContra]

I'm gonna go with Cavaliers 2002 as the best. I think it's tough to argue with that one from a technical standpoint.

As for my favorite? I'd probably take 2003 Blue Devils, esp. during the hits in Take Five.

And though I didn't want to play this card, I just want to point out that 06 Bluecoats beat 06 Devs in brass. Why not give the little guy a chance in the poll? ^0^

Never thought I'd get the opportunity to say that with any truth behind it! Whew!

[justanopinion]

I suppose that, as with most topics, the definition of "best" is somewhat debatable. I would definitely choose The Cavaliers 2002.

A lot of great hornlines on that list. I wonder if Phantom 06 will stand the test of time in terms of one of "the best" hornlines. A fan favorite show to be sure, but I'm not sure that it is in the same league with some of the "great" hornlines of the 00's.

Then again, what does "same league" mean? :P

[PJS53]

First of all I'll freely admit to being a Cavalier homer so take this with as many grains of salt as you wish. I went to the Memorial Day camp in 02 and came home and told my wife "I'm not sure if the corps will win DCI this year but I don't think anyone is capable of coming close to that hornline." The brass at that early point had incredible balance between all the voices, intonation was excellent, and the overall sound had maturity that I had never heard from a corps and certainly not from any previous Cavalier hornlines. From that point on they just got better. There are some terrific hornlines on that list but I'll have to stand by my assesment that the 02 Cavaliers had the entire package in place.

Waiting to see if Rich Gortowski has my back on this one. He was there.

Edited September 3, 2006 by PJS53

[BrassMachine05]

BD 04- could play the snot of any lick and had power.

Cadets 01- like BD 04, could play with tons of finese and the typical power of a Gino hornline.

[jake_the_hydra]

First of all, it should be known that the Cavaliers brass staff considers the 2003 hornline to be significantly better than the 2002 hornline. Just something interesting to consider.

I will say that I think that early decade Cadets is much more listenable than 2005 Cadets. They were clean, I guess, but I find the tone quality/balance/ensemble clarity pretty lacking. Not trying to offend anyone, that's just how I hear it. You could get away with that a lot more in the 90's when most everyone sounded like that, but I personally feel that the Cavaliers have changed the way hornlines are expected to sound, from an ensemble standpoint. But they got the brass score they got, so whatever. I'm not a judge.

Secondly, listening to BD 04 never fails to impress me. There's some trash and stick outs in there, but it's pretty spectacular for what I expect from the Blue Devils.

And finally, I think Phantom's brass program is much stronger now than it was in 03. I don't know why 03 would even be considered for this poll. They certainly weren't the best hornline in 03 and they don't hold a candle to 05 or 06 Phantom, mostly because of balance, blend, tone control issues. Not to say that Phantom is doing it to a level that I find satisfying now, but they are much better at it than they were 4 years ago. In the first minute, listen to that third trumpet blend (lack thereof). Check out the tuba being way sharp at the first impact. It's almost unbearable.

Sorry, I'm not trying to sound like I'm bashing on Phantom in 03, even though I sort of am. It's just that I find that hornline to be over-rated, and I think Phantom is much better now.

I voted for Cavaliers 02, which shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

happy listening!

[FrankA]

BD- 04. Very clean. I would probably put Cavies 06 in second.

[Musical_Spinner]

In order:

BD 2004

PR 2003

Cadets 2005

[Musical_Spinner]

First of all, it should be known that the Cavaliers brass staff considers the 2003 hornline to be significantly better than the 2002 hornline. Just something interesting to consider.

I know I just posted buuuuuut: 2003 Cavies is so underrated, by far one of the best playing years for them and did they get recognition? NO! Why? I dunno....tons better than cavies 2002 in my opinion.

[jake_the_hydra]

I know I just posted buuuuuut: 2003 Cavies is so underrated, by far one of the best playing years for them and did they get recognition? NO! Why? I dunno....tons better than cavies 2002 in my opinion.

I think a lot of it had to do with the show design. Apparently (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong), 2002 was significantly less difficult than 2003, therefore allowing them to "sound" better? Though I'm not sure that they did. I was pretty amazed by the 2003 hornline.

Whatever. Like I said, I'm no judge . . .