From the British Bandsman issue October 15, 2007

In an essentially amateur movement, the existence of a professional brass band excites as much interest here as the professional Kosei Wind Orchestra of Tokyo does among the college and university-based wind bands of America. The astonishing Brass Band of Battle Creek (BBBC), with its starry line-up of leading brass players from the USA and the UK, has caused jaws to drop on both sides of the Atlantic and it was natural to wonder how such a thing came about.

As explained in the introduction to my analysis of Philip Sparke’s Music for Battle Creek (on pages 16 and 17 of this issue) the enterprise was the brainchild of two podiatrist brothers, Jim and Bill Gray. Jim explained in more detail, “My elder brother Bill and I are of English lineage and, between 1988 and ‘89, I was playing euphonium in Marshall Community Band (my local band). One weekend, a group of us decided to hear the Scottish Regimental Band of the Black Watch while it was visiting East Lansing, Michigan. After hearing the performance, Bill and I, together with some others, decided to present a ‘Tribute To Great Britain’ concert with the Community Band. What fun it would be to play the music of our heritage and also celebrate the goodwill between our nations! So, we needed to get a better idea of what music to perform. We decided it would be a good idea to call Dr. Paul Droste who, at that time, was director of the Brass Band of Columbus (Ohio) and the director of The Ohio State University Marching Band. Since both of these bands use British instrumentation, I thought he would give us a good idea on programming. At the end of our phone conversation about the Community Band concert, Paul mentioned that he was a Yamaha instrument clinician and wondered if we would be interested in putting on a Yamaha- sponsored brass band clinic in Battle Creek. Paul told us he would supply the music and instruments and we should find the musicians. We agreed to do this in 1989. Paul came up and conducted the seminar and from there, with many twists of fate, the BBBC has evolved. By the way, the ‘Tribute to Great Britain’ was a huge success;we contacted Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace and received a letter of friendship between our two countries. We even unveiled a portrait of her at the performance!

“The original idea to start the band was to give Bill and myself a brass ensemble to perform in. The British brass band supplied the power and versatility that we desired. There is not an instrumental musical organisation on earth as versatile as a strategically- built British brass band. We knew from the beginning there were many fine musicians in the area that could make the band very good; we are close to several universities with very fine music programmes and felt we could convince several music professors to perform with the band. Originally, we thought of Phil Sinder, Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at Michigan State University, Luis Maldonado, Professor of Tuba and Euphonium at Central Michigan University, Scott Thornburg, Professor of Yrumpet at Western Michigan University, Rich Illman, Professor of Trumpet at Michigan State University and Curtis Olson, Professor of Trombone at Michigan State University. With the help of these musicians, we were able to reach out to other musicians of high quality in the area.

At this time, Bill and I were also involved in the Leonard Falcone International Euphonium Competition. Through our work with that festival we came to know Steven Mead. He was an adjudicator and soloist at the competition and we all became friends. Steve's help has been irreplaceable throughout the entire process, and he has certainly made his way in the euphonium world. We also met Marty Erickson at the festival. He has been the band's principal Eb bass ever since and his contributions as a player and advisor have been invaluable. Marty met his wife, timpanist and principal percussionist, Alison Shaw, in the BBBC. “In order to attract the top players, we found that we had to do very little persuading, since most of this was done by the musicians themselves or our conductors. Many times a musician will make a player referral to me or my brother, and then make a call to the musician to tell them that he or I will be calling. Although Bill and I did recruit the original members, the musicians became our best ambassadors after that (although we did recruit the trombonist, Wycliffe Gordon). We try to treat the musicians as well as we possibly can and the band then takes on a family atmosphere. When the band feels that way, it comes across as such to the audience and really helps to draw the audience into the concert. One comment we frequently hear from the audience is how much fun the performers seem to be having on-stage.

“We also have certain special musical needs that have to be filled by certain musicians. This has lead to what I call a ‘hybrid’ musician. This is one that can expertly fill a chair which has expanded musical responsibilities. An example is Wycliffe;he is a world famous jazz artist, but he can also more than hold his own on any classical piece. Another is cornet player, Chris Jaudes;Chris is famous for lead playing that can add an octave to any solo cornet part, yet he can also play a test-piece with equal talent. A final example would be our kit drummer, David Ratajczak. David can play any style on the kit, but he is also invaluable as a section percussionist. A great kit player is of utmost importance for our group to function in the jazz, swing or Afro-Cuban modes.

“The band has certain musical needs that must be filled for it to ‘do its thing’. This would include a lead trumpet player, a jazz trumpet player, one or two trumpet/cornet players that are very comfortable with all styles of music, one or two trumpet/cornet players that are superior classical or ‘legit’ performers, a trumpet/cornet player that can play clarinet figures on piccolo trumpet during Dixieland pieces, a flugel horn performer that can double as a jazz performer, a New Orleans-sounding jazz trombone performer, a bass player who can improvise bass lines and a kit drummer who is comfortable with any style. It is also necessary to have bass players that can make pizzicato string bass sounds during ‘walking’ jazz lines. We also give priority to any player that can improvise, or to those that have stylistic ubiquity. So, when we put a band together we recruit members through the other musicians who fill these needs. There are no auditions, membership is by reference only. The rest of the band is filled with the finest musicians we can find for that particular chair.

“We always try to get the music to the musicians at least six weeks before the concert. Most of our membership is stable, so they know what is expected of them. Other than that, we try to set schedules as far ahead as possible, then it just becomes a matter or purchasing plane tickets and picking the players up at the airport. Once we set the roster and the musical programme, the rest is fairly routine. There are always problems to solve, but nothing that the 35 or so of us can't lick. Everyone seems to enjoy playing together, so the fun for Bill and me is when everyone shows up. ” In the course of the band’s history, there have been one or two tricky moments, and a string of the most memorable concerned a visit to this country, as Jim Gray recalled:“I'll never forget some of the situations we found ourselves in when we toured the UK;first, when we arrived at Regent Hall in London, someone had forgotten to save a parking place for our equipment truck. So, we had this large truck and nowhere close to the hall to park and unload. The folks at the hall seemed a bit too preoccupied to help, so we had to walk down the street and bribe a local bank. The folks at the bank were more than glad to allow us secure parking about 30 metres from the hall, all for £40! Coming out of the concert, we accidentally broke the key off in the loading door of the truck.

Our concert the next day was at the Royal Albert Hall, but one of the great British bands had also performed at Regent Hall that night and the guys in that band saw our difficulties and tried for two hours to open the truck, all to no avail. We ended up calling a locksmith the next morning who came and fixed the lock and got us to RAH just in time. Then, for our concert in a local London church, we found out that we needed a referee's whistle. We looked and looked but could not find one. Finally, we ran to Harrods and found a silver-plated replica of the White Line Titanic whistle for £25 - oh well, we needed that whistle! “The Kellogg Company provided us with a truck to use during the tour, but we had no idea where anything in London was. We quickly found that all we had to do was have a person grab a cab, give the cab driver the address and then tell him the truck needed to follow. Those cab drivers were great! They were very courteous and helped us in many ways. I'll never forget, on the one night off we had in London, we all decided to see a play and called a cab that took us to the theatre. We tried to pay him, but be would not take the money. He said he would pick us up after the show and we could pay him then. Sure enough, he was there when the play ended, he took us back to the hotel where we paid him. Try that in New York!”

The BBBC has grown to cult status and concerts in Battle Creek are regularly sold out, with waiting lists created weeks in advance. Though rooted in the British brass band tradition, the BBBC also weaves in American elements, such as jazz improvisation, pop and swing, resulting in a hybrid style that makes the BBBC truly unique among brass bands. Trumpet legend, Doc Severinsen, who has twice appeared with the band, summed up the BBBC, saying:"This band represents the beginnings of a new music movement in America. It's one of the most accomplished groups I've ever worked with in my entire career.