HBCU BANDS

BY ERICKA BLOUNT DANOIS

In Beyonce’s Netflix special, “Homecoming” she performed a concert at Coachella in tribute to HBCU’s. An HCBU-styled marching band was prominently featured with all the bells and whistles that bring audiences to the games who prioritize seeing the band over the football team. As Beyonce dazzled the crowd, saxophonists and trombonists waved their instruments and performed choreographed dances as they played. Step teams and dancers moved in rhythm with the band.

Growing up in Houston, Beyonce said, she would attend battleof-the-bands at Prairie View A&M University - a band that started out as an all-female ensemble.

“There is something incredibly important about the HBCU experience that must be celebrated and protected,” she told reporters.

Marching bands are a legacy that is central to the black college experience. But HBCU marching bands aren’t like high school bands with majorettes who twirl flags. HBCU bands get down and dirty with paegentry and showmanship. There’s high kicking drum majors and intricate formations as band members perform the latest dances, moving in unison with other band members as they play the latest songs with their instruments.

Black marching bands ushered in an era of marching bands for college of all persuasions. Historians connect the showmanship to Egun masqueraders of the Yoruba tribe who play instruments and dance during funeral processions. Black drill sergeants and military bands are also noted by historians as the derivation of the style of HBCU marching bands. Many of the musicians from military bands went on to join the faculty of HBCU’s.

Tuskegee University originated the first black college marching band which began as a military band for Tuskegee Industrial Institute. Tuskegee was the first HBCU marching band with high-knee stepping drum majors and showmanship. Following Tuskegee, black collegiate bands were established at other Southern HBCUs like Alabama State and Florida A&M. Adrian Carter is a trombonist for Tuskegee’s band, now called the Marching Crimson Pipers. Carter saw the culture of the band – how people loved the band and their presence on campus – and wanted to be a part of it.

“We make the games entertaining for the crowd and the football team, it’s more like a school-wide hype crew,” said Carter.

Although Tuskegee’s band, the Marching Crimson Pipers, isn’t as big as some of the other southern bands, they are known for their fanfare and playing cleanly, says Carter.

Carter notes that there is a rivalry that exists between the southern bands and the northern bands, like the one his identical twin brother, Donovan plays for at Howard University.

Donovan played the saxophone for 10 years before joining Howard University’s band. Howard’s band, “Showtime,” has performed in Las Vegas, and at Redskins and Cleveland Cavalier games. Even with Howard’s high profile, Donovan acknowledges that the band culture is not as intense as it is with bands at HBCU’s in the South.

“At a school like Jackson State or A&T the band culture is different. The bands are like a spectacle,” he says. “At Jackson state they don’t go to the game to see the football team, they go to see the band.”

“Even though Showtime is one of the smallest HBCU bands, people love Showtime,” says Daneen Whitlow-Dixson who also plays for Howard’s band. “They love the energy we bring.”

Whitlow-Dixson says being in an HBCU band compared to her high school band requires more energy physically and more skills musically.

“It was a bit of a culture shock when I first started,” said WhitlowDixson, “Everything was organized, a lot more unified, a lot more intense than the high school band. In high school the only music we had to memorize was show music. We get new music throughout the season now, it’s a workout for the mind.”

HBCU bands are important to the legacy and identity of HBCU’s as Beyonce broadcast their importance and style and flavor to millions through her Netflix special (Netflix has 149 million subscribers around the world).

“I think it’s important not only for their entertainment value, but what they bring to the student body and what they bring to campus life, they bring a soul and spirit,” said Donovan.

“Bands are one of the most consistent parts of the HBCU experience,” said Whitlow-Dixson. “They are one of the institutions that almost every school has. I meet people from other schools and they’re like, ‘oh you’re in band,’ and immediately you understand the work ethic. There’s this connection.”

Photo by Frank Micelotta PictureGroup/Sipa USA

Ericka Blount Danois, an award-winning journalist, writer, editor, and professor began her career as a stringer at the Philadelphia Tribune with a cover story on the king of Philadelphia International Records, Kenny Gamble.

Ericka graduated from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and has worked as a staff writer, editor, freelancer, and stringer for a number of publications including: Spin, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, ESPN The Magazine, Sports Illustrated, The Root and Playboy, among others.