Musings

By Jack Kopstein

United States Navy Band Celebrate 84 years 1925-2009

Lt Charles Benter, Founder

L t Charles Benter certainly must take his place as one of the pioneers of military music in the United States. Whereas many military band leaders succeeded to the leadership of well-known military musical ensembles steeped in tradition, he founded his own organization, brought it to a state of perfection and remained as the leader of the Navy band from 1919 to his retirement in 1942. He was Born in New York, New York in 1887 and died in Washington, D.C in 1964

In addition to founding the US Navy band, he was the organizer of the U.S. Navy School of Music, and the first U.S. Navy bandmaster to attain officer rank. He was commissioned a lieutenant by an act of Congress in 1925. When he retired from the Navy in 1942, after thirty-seven years of service, he conducted the Metropolitan Police Band in Washington, D.C., for another twenty years, and then worked for a public relations firm until his death two years later.

Benter was educated in the public schools of New York City. He received an honorary doctorate from Columbia University in 1929. He joined the Navy as an apprentice musician in 1905, playing saxophone and bassoon, and he became a bandmaster at the age of nineteen. He even directed bands on a number of navy ships, including the gunboat Paducah, battleship Rhode Island, flagship Connecticut, and the USS Henderson. He was aboard the latter ship with a band of thirty-five musicians who accompanied President Harding on a voyage to Alaska in 1923, a short time before the President’s death. Knowledgeable in political matters, Benter was successful in having the band’s authorized membership increased to seventy-five men in 1924. Under his direction, the Navy Band became famous through its tours and many radio broadcasts (beginning in 1927). Benter organized the Navy School of Music in 1935 and later formed the Navy Band Orchestra. He received several military awards for service in Cuba and Vera Cruz during World War I, was a charter member of the American Bandmasters Association, and was also an active member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.

Benter is credited with a number of compositions. Many are associated with the Navy including All Hands March and Our Navy March. Although Benter had a reputation for severity with his subordinates, his accomplishment in bettering the conditions for military musicians is widely acknowledged. He brought the US Navy band into the main stream of military music in the United States with broadcasts both on the Columbia and National Broadcasting systems. He instituted coast wide tours through the U.S.  in 1925. Lieutenant Benter was a great friend, admirer, and disciple of John Philip Sousa. The two men had much in common. During World War 1 Sousa had been the director of the Great Lakes Navy band in Chicago. This large and very effective band had an impact on Benter being assigned the job of forming a similar size band in Washington in 1919. The task for Benter was to create a full time band worthy of upholding the traditions of the Navy and would rank second to none in the world. His legacy in developing the Navy band into a first class military music ensemble capable of playing in several different mediums has withstood the test of time.

Highlights during LT Benter’s tenure: 1925-1942
—–    leads 75-member Navy Band to become a presidential favorite
—–    frequently featured on NBC’s “Hour of Memories” broadcast
1925    (Mar. 4) President Calvin Coolidge signs bill establishing the United States Navy Band and approving national tours
1927    welcomes home Col. Charles Lindbergh following his historic transatlantic flight
1929    performs for Rear Adm. Richard Byrd’s homecoming after his South Pole flight
1932    (Feb.) John Philip Sousa makes his last appearance with a major band when he guest conducts the Navy Band for the bicentennial
of George Washington’s birth
1940    American Bandmasters Association recognizes the Navy Band as “The World’s Finest”

One of the most fascinating stories to emerge from the Black American experience in World War I was the history of James Reese Europe and the illustrious 369th Infantry Regiment band.

When the United States entered World War I, Violinist Noble Sissle and Europe enlisted in the army together and organized a regimental band. The group accompanied the acclaimed 369th Infantry Regiment, the first American unit to arrive in France. The brave black unit, including the band, earned the nickname “Hellfighters” for its participation in several vital military campaigns.

1918 Hellfighters in France

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The Hellfighters in France, 1918

The band appeared in a special triumphal concert at Chalons-Sur Marne France on July 4, 1919, under the direction of assistant conductor Eugene Markell (Reese had been gassed and was unable to appear). The concert was arranged by French war hero General Henri Gourand and over 500 soldiers and civilians packed the  temporary outdoor concert location near the railway station. The concert featured Nobel Sissle on vocals in his last wartime performance. Sissle later reported,  “and my how they did enjoy those good old American tunes and syncopated melodies, the quartets singing and the boys dancing.”

By the end of the war, the 369th Infantry Jazz Band ranked among the greatest bands in the world. Its personnel, as identified by Brian Rust’s Jazz Records 1887 – 1942, included Noble Sissle on violin and vocals, Herb Flemming on trombone and Russell Smith on trumpet. Flemming, only nineteen at the time, went on to have a long distinguished career, performing with Earl Hines, Fats Waller, Benny Carter, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Tommy Dorsey. Russell Smith became one of the outstanding lead trumpet players in the big-band era two decades later. Reese also recruited the best drum major he could find: the Harlem dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson.

After the war, Europe proudly led his Hellfighters band in the nation’s first parade of returning World War heroes. More than a million fans, watching the victorious march up New York’s Fifth Avenue in mid-February 1919, gathered along the parade route to salute the heroes of the famed 369th Infantry as they strutted from Madison Square to Harlem.

Europe and Sissle had written “On Patrol In No Man’s Land” during their tenure overseas, and it quickly became a favourite among U.S. veterans. Pathé leaped at the opportunity to capitalize on its popularity as the doughboys returned to the United States. It was easily the most successful of the eleven recordings the 369th Infantry Jazz Band made for Pathé in March 1919. Based on the success of “On Patrol In No Man’s Land,” James Europe’s band scheduled an extensive tour of the country. Advertisements proclaimed” “65 BATTLING MUSICIANS DIRECT FROM THE FIGHTING FRONTS IN FRANCE – THE BAND THAT SET ALL FRANCE JAZZ MAD!”

Ironically, after surviving the deadliest war in world history to that point and under going gas poisoning, Europe failed to live through the Hellfighter’s national tour. A member of the drum section, irate at Europe for what he considered poor treatment, murdered him on May 10, 1919. The funeral march took place in New York, the first public memorial service held for a black person in the city’s history. The sombre procession followed part of the same route the 369th had marched in its victory parade just three months earlier. Lieutenant Europe was buried with full military honours at Arlington Cemetery in Washington D.C.

Noble Sissle, assisted by Eubie Blake, assumed leadership of the 369th Infantry Jazz Band, which completed its scheduled bookings. The tour culminated with a very successful engagement at the prestigious Palace Theatre in New York City. Later, the two leaders took a smaller group on the road for a lengthy vaudeville junket, launching their productive partnership.

At the time of his death, James Reese Europe was only thirty-nine years old and at the forefront of the emerging jazz movement. We can only speculate about what further contributions he might have made had he lived another few decades. He was on the threshold of a brilliant career and might have become one of the most important figures in the world of popular music. His death came less than two months after the Hellfighter’s historic recordings for Pathé. In its promotional catalog, the record company proclaimed that Europe was “the world’s greatest exponent of syncopation. You hear every moan of the trombones, and every roar of the saxophones, every shrill note of the clarinets. The swing, the rhythm and the fascination of the Jazzing makes you want to dance! You can’t sit still!”

The Hellfighters band no doubt was the defining moment in the history of Jazz in America and the advent into the main stream of the Black American musician.  The fact that James Reese  Europe and  Noble Sissle volunteered their services  to organize and train musicians under wartime conditions  and their ability to attract talented players, dancers, and singers speaks volumes about  patriotism among the
black population of America.

For further information on James Reese Europe read the 1992 Biography of Thomas L Morgan.

The Band Plays On

*Article submitted by Connie Furtney
Forest, Ontario, Canada is located about 30 miles east of the US border City of Port Huron, Michigan. It is in the heart of a farming community near Lake Huron. As with a number of community bands during WWI and WWII some of the musicians made their way into Canadian Military bands. The Excelsior band is probably the longest continuing operational band in Canada, because the Allentown Community concert band is the oldest in North America.

Forest is a great town in which to live for many reasons. One of these is the fact that we are one of the few small towns left which has its own band. The Forest Excelsior Band has been around since 1884! That means that this year, 2009, is the 125th anniversary (“quasquicentennial” – try saying that three times fast!) of the band. One of our band’s claims to fame is that it is the oldest civilian band that has been in continuous operation in North America. The Forest Excelsior Band has even received recognition in “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not.”

Great Beginnings
In this day and age of Internet, video games, Wii and television, it is hard to imagine a time when a town band was a vibrant force in the day-to-day activities of a community, and indeed a main source of entertainment. Yet, this was exactly the purpose that the Excelsior Band once fulfilled. In 1884, a group of 25 musicians, all male, formed a civilian precision marching band. Their very name set high standards for the band— “Excelsior” , meaning “excellence”, was the inscription found on a Crimean War trumpet, and was taken by the band’s moniker. Smartly clad in gray braided uniforms, the band certainly lived up to its name in those early years with its achievement of high honours in many national competitions in Toronto.

A Time of Changes
During WWI, the band went through many changes. Members left to serve their country, remaining members provided music for the local soldiers. Once peacetime returned, several bandmasters, many of whom were local residents, led the band. Each summer the band would board a special Canadian National Exhibition (C.N.E.) train at the Forest train station. They would travel to Toronto and return home with happy news of awards and trophies. In 1930, the band achieved First Class Honours in the C.N.E. national competition. This was one of many awards that the band achieved during this era. During the Great Depression, the band’s many concerts and marching engagements became much anticipated local traditions. Examples of such engagements were the annual Christmas Carol Sing held around the Christmas tree near the old Town Hall, a New Year’s Eve concert, Forest Fair performances, and numerous ceremonial functions.

Centennial Celebrations
In 1984, the Forest Excelsior Band turned 100 years. Band Centennial pins were created and worn proudly by the forty-plus members as they played a Canada Day concert on Parliament Hill in Ottawa. Later that summer, the band also played at Queen’s Park to mark Ontario’s bicentennial.

The Past Quarter-Century
In the past twenty-five years, the band has transformed from a concert band to a “big band” format, specializing in swing, jazz, and current popular music. Several talented vocalists have performed with the band. The 2007 purchase of new uniforms, funded fifty percent by a grant from the Forest Community Foundation, have kept the band looking as sharp as ever. Recent engagements under the direction of current bandmaster Dan Dumais have included some of the traditional performances at local Christmas parades, community concerts and ceremonial events, but have also included such varied experiences as dance competitions and playing three consecutive years at a Sarnia high school prom!

More Sweet Music to Come
The band’s future looks promising. Many enthusiastic members, including many young and talented musicians, a fresh look with new uniforms, a dedicated bandmaster and a growing body of loyal fans, have positioned the band well for its next quarter-century and beyond. The band is truly grateful to the support it has received in the Lambton Shores area, and is looking forward to celebrating many more anniversaries!

*The writer is a contributor to the Lambeth County Shores newsletter, published quarterly in Forest. Our thanks to her for permission to publish!

We here at Altissimo love our Fans! Recently a very dedicated fan named Jack Cottone sent us some pictures of his Military collectibles display. He was gracious enough to include Altissimo CDs in his display so we of course want to display these to all of you!

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