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August 27, 2003
Dear Andy,
When I started to go out to the St. Rocco's Reunion back on June 14, 2003 little did I know that I could never get there; not even after hours of driving and being hopelessly lost. I eventually had to give up; I was lucky to find my way home at all. It's too bad because from all the pictures you sent, it looks like it was a great night.
Thanks so much for the fabulous plaque - just great!
You know that over the years, I taught a great many drum lines, and without a doubt, one of my favorite drum lines was the St. Rocco's drum line. It didn't take me long to realize that here was a group of young boys who were ready to make the difficult change of arm and wrist movement so necessary to product the ultimate sound to effectively describe the music. And they successfully made the change.
Back then, I was very interested in the new directions of "jazz music," particularly the music of "Dave Brubeck." The improvizations of the "Dave Brubeck Quartet." - I felt could be adapted to modern "Drum and Bugle Corps" so I chose one number that we could use in a "concert." Do you remember the "Lover" concert? The music is in 3/4 time, but the drum rythm is in 4/4 time! Two different time signatures playing at the same time. Something like this had never been done before in M & M Drum Corps. Counterpoint and rythms within the drum sections - different time signatures.
The tenors and heavy drums were playing in 3/4 time while the snares were playing against it with a swinging 4/4 beat. To make it work, the sound balance between the two sections had to be perfect, everything blending with the horn music.
This was top notch talent at its "best."
There's no question about it - St. Rocco's was a "CLASS" Drum Corps!!
Thanks for remembering me,
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