Klarinet Archive - Posting 000506.txt from 1996/12

From: Nathaniel F Johnson <clarinat@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Military Bands
Date: Wed, 18 Dec 1996 01:09:55 -0500

Yes!
There are a number of excellent military bands out there. They
present a great opportunity for musicians. I myself have played in a
National Guard band for the last 8 years. In addition to just being a
fun group to play with, the band payed almost half of my undergraduate
degree--this for one weekend a month and two weeks a year. This band is
surprisingly good for the small amount of rehearsal time that we get. In
fact we just released our first compact disc this year. Some of the
full-time bands out there are of exceptional quality, especially in the
Air Force (at least the majority of the recordings that I've heard are
from Air Force bands).

Incidentally, if anyone is interested in more information
regarding the Colorado Army National Guard Band, you may E-Mail me
directly at clarinat@-----.

Nathaniel Johnson
Conductor / Clarinettist
All-Around Good Guy
University of Northern Colorado

On Tue, 17 Dec 1996 10:06:38 -0500 Donald Yungkurth <DYungkurth@-----.COM>
writes:
>There has been a lot of discussion about military bands and their
>quality
>recently on Klarinet. I found a used CD for sale (in spite of
>explicit
>statements that it was not intended for sale) which was made by the
>Air
>Mobility Command Band of Mid-America at Scott Air Force Base in
>Illinois.
> Recording date was 1994.
>
>The CD includes the Mozart Grand Partita (with bassett horns and
>contrabassoon), a Toccata by Cassado and "More Old Wine in New
>Bottles", by
>Gordon Jacob. The performance quality is excellent. If this is
>representative of the standards in some of the non-Washington based
>military
>bands, it would seem to be worth considering by a young person looking
>for
>performance experience.
>
>It is indeed a far superior group to the Army post band I played in
>after
>being drafted in the mid-50s.
>
> Don Yungkurth (DYungkurth@-----.com)
>