The U.S. Navy Band and the Naval Academy Band had a tremendous allure for fleet bandsmen, who spent their off-duty hours locked in practice rooms in hopes of, one day, being accepted into one of the "special bands."
Others looked down on these groups. "Special rules" and "special privaleges" held little attraction for hardcore fleet MUs.
Well, there's certainly something special about the Naval Academy Brass Quintet. Have a quick listen to some of their live performance in this video.
Did you notice the broad, full sound, richer and more robust than the sound of most brass quintets.
Did you also notice the group has six players, slightly more than the number found in most brass quintets?
I always thought it was superior musicianship that made the special bands superior. Now I see that it's really special math. Imagine the bold, brassy sound of a seven-man Naval Academy jazz quartet. I'll bet they have to build special extensions on stages to hold an entire Naval Academy sextet.
I wonder how many MUs they schedule for a solo piano gig.
Frank Mullen's very unofficial source of poop, skinny and bitching for present and former U.S. Navy Musicians.
1 comment:
Most people that know the standard literature realize the Dahl is a sextet. The group is the brass quintet--we added MU1 Hollister to complete the instrumentation as dictated by the score.
Your bitterness is thinly disguised as sarcasm.
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