In a town, far from a city, there is a local marching and concert band, established in 1864. Standard brass, woodwinds and percussion lineup. All volunteer. The musicianship is not professional orchestra grade, but on their good nights, they are pretty darned good. And they have some featured soloists who are quite good. I often think that it's somewhat miraculous that a small town band like this can manage to survive in modern McAmerica. At this point in time, a lot of these bands are down to a rather geriatric membership, with no younger musicians to replace them, but this particular organization seems to be pretty healthy. Along with the old geezers, there's a good helping of middle-agers who seem to be in it for the long haul, and even some high school and college-age youngsters.
In the summer, they play monthly concerts in the park bandshell. Depending on the program (previewed in the local fishwrapper), I catch the show. They're very active as far as keeping the repertoire fresh, with few repeats from concert to concert or year to year. There are always several marches, naturally, which is what they do best -- along with some light classics, some space age pop standards and some more obscure items from the concert band literature. Their last set of this season (back in the hot days of August) was a better than average one, with the exception of the dreaded Cats medley, which was mercifully brief, at least. To my ears, the highlights included:
Unitus March, a corporate anthem originally written in 1913 for The Unitus Coffee Company of Bethlehem, PA. This band arrangement was derived from an old piano sheet music edition by the director.
Serenade For Solo Alto Saxophone and Band by Frank Bencriscutto was a bit more modernistic and frisky than their usual fare. If you squinted your mind, you might be able to imagine it was one of Anthony Braxton's post-whatever pieces.
Bugler's Holiday by Leroy Anderson, arranged for tuba trio. Yes, that tune. Yes, tubas. Three tubas harmonizing... what a great, superfat sound. You could take a bath in it. More tuba music, please.
Too Fat Polka -- nice to hear that standard done up as a chunky march.
The Sixties medley was a blast. Arranged by a J.Higgins, it crushed Born Free, Breakin' Up Is Hard To Do, Tijuana Taxi, I Left My Heart In San Francisco, Classical Gas, The Twist, Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport, Cherish, Windy, Satisfaction, You Lost That Lovin' Feeling, Dominique, Good Vibrations, Alfie, For Once In My Life and Yesterday all into 3 or 4 minutes. Now that's entertainment.
Support your local band, if you've got one. A live concert band, with no PA system getting in the way, is a tasty sound. Yeah, you might find it a little square, depending on your mindset, but it can be like a thrift store record come to life. Or better yet, just plain fun listening.
Or if you're really ambitious, grab the know-how you need to run your own band.