Good story, Hattie! I hope you have heard the story of Jackson Academy Marching Band from Jackson, MS, and particularly their 1993 show, which featured the music of Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays. In addition to being the Class A champion, they made Grand National Finals....with about 40 members total. Not only did they make GN Finals, but they placed ahead of the Duncanville (TX) Band, a group of right around 400 members. They hung with a band 10 times their size. Jackson Academy was, as the kids say, the "OG" for using a tarp to limit the size of the field, introduce some amplification, and other tactics to use their size as an advantage, rather than an obstacle. The winds all played brass instruments for nearly the entire show......until the interlude of Minuano, where they all switched to woodwind instruments and received a well-deserved standing ovation. Even the color guard picked up flutes and clarinets! After returning to the main theme of Minuano, it was back to brass instruments for the closing statements. Both videos of Jackson Academy and Duncanville from 1993 are available on YT. It's definitely worth checking out if you haven't already done so. Great story- thank you!
Thanks, David! I actually considered mentioning Jackson Academy in my article, but I didn’t want to derail too much from the central story. They’re an absolutely fascinating part of band history! The name comes up quite a bit in GEM staff conversations. It’s nice to see how many people give these tiny but mighty groups the respect they deserve!
Great point about sticking to your central story! The article is fantastic. There's no way you could cover the entire topic of the tiny mighty bands. There is such great history from the "early years" of BOA and MBA. I'm glad you all are working to keep those important stories alive. Lots of terrific content this year- thank you!
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Good story, Hattie! I hope you have heard the story of Jackson Academy Marching Band from Jackson, MS, and particularly their 1993 show, which featured the music of Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays. In addition to being the Class A champion, they made Grand National Finals....with about 40 members total. Not only did they make GN Finals, but they placed ahead of the Duncanville (TX) Band, a group of right around 400 members. They hung with a band 10 times their size. Jackson Academy was, as the kids say, the "OG" for using a tarp to limit the size of the field, introduce some amplification, and other tactics to use their size as an advantage, rather than an obstacle. The winds all played brass instruments for nearly the entire show......until the interlude of Minuano, where they all switched to woodwind instruments and received a well-deserved standing ovation. Even the color guard picked up flutes and clarinets! After returning to the main theme of Minuano, it was back to brass instruments for the closing statements. Both videos of Jackson Academy and Duncanville from 1993 are available on YT. It's definitely worth checking out if you haven't already done so. Great story- thank you!
Thanks, David! I actually considered mentioning Jackson Academy in my article, but I didn’t want to derail too much from the central story. They’re an absolutely fascinating part of band history! The name comes up quite a bit in GEM staff conversations. It’s nice to see how many people give these tiny but mighty groups the respect they deserve!
Great point about sticking to your central story! The article is fantastic. There's no way you could cover the entire topic of the tiny mighty bands. There is such great history from the "early years" of BOA and MBA. I'm glad you all are working to keep those important stories alive. Lots of terrific content this year- thank you!