GramUntilDeath
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Gramblings Band Sounds off with New C.D.
It has been more than 30 years since Grambling State University's Tiger Marching Band recorded an album - far too long for Larry Pannell's taste.
So GSU's director of bands and chairman of the music department decided to craft a unique homecoming contribution to help in "Reclaiming the Legacy, Renewing the Spirit" of the university. The band has worked on the compact disc since August.
"These kids have worked so hard," an enthusiastic Pannell said, sitting at the computer of his music-strewn office. After three hours of regular marching band practice, his musicians came back to practice for the recording.
The compact disc, Pannell said, pays tribute to the musical giants of Motown. Pannell clicks on the first track and the first strains of "Get Ready," burst from the speakers.
Pannell and his department took pains to research the music, combing through arrangements and picking out - in some cases - vintage instruments.
Recreating the Motown sound he remembers from his younger days "was not as easy as you'd think," Pannell said. It was the music that accompanied political and social turmoil, yet transcended race and politics in its audiences.
That was a big responsibility, and he made sure his students knew it before they attempted the project. Members of the vocal music department also participated
The director clicks through to "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and "Dancing in the Street," the second and third tracks. "They went though a grueling hour and a half of Motown boot camp before we started," Pannell said. Students learned the details of the music and of the times.
The final track, a military march overdubbed with Gen. Douglas MacArthur's May 12, 1962, farewell speech to the corps of Cadets graduating at West Point Military Academy, is a tribute to the military men and women currently deployed and to Pannell's father, who served in the Marine Corp in Korea.
http://www.thenewsstar.com/gramblingstateuniversity/html/0B9 B8B61-FEF9-43E5-B394-E1542D9D4C1B.shtml
THIS INFORMATION CAME FROM THE GRAMBLING FAN WEBSITE.... PLEASE GO OUT AND SUPPORT US WHEN THE CD COMES OUT.
It has been more than 30 years since Grambling State University's Tiger Marching Band recorded an album - far too long for Larry Pannell's taste.
So GSU's director of bands and chairman of the music department decided to craft a unique homecoming contribution to help in "Reclaiming the Legacy, Renewing the Spirit" of the university. The band has worked on the compact disc since August.
"These kids have worked so hard," an enthusiastic Pannell said, sitting at the computer of his music-strewn office. After three hours of regular marching band practice, his musicians came back to practice for the recording.
The compact disc, Pannell said, pays tribute to the musical giants of Motown. Pannell clicks on the first track and the first strains of "Get Ready," burst from the speakers.
Pannell and his department took pains to research the music, combing through arrangements and picking out - in some cases - vintage instruments.
Recreating the Motown sound he remembers from his younger days "was not as easy as you'd think," Pannell said. It was the music that accompanied political and social turmoil, yet transcended race and politics in its audiences.
That was a big responsibility, and he made sure his students knew it before they attempted the project. Members of the vocal music department also participated
The director clicks through to "The Way You Do the Things You Do" and "Dancing in the Street," the second and third tracks. "They went though a grueling hour and a half of Motown boot camp before we started," Pannell said. Students learned the details of the music and of the times.
The final track, a military march overdubbed with Gen. Douglas MacArthur's May 12, 1962, farewell speech to the corps of Cadets graduating at West Point Military Academy, is a tribute to the military men and women currently deployed and to Pannell's father, who served in the Marine Corp in Korea.
http://www.thenewsstar.com/gramblingstateuniversity/html/0B9 B8B61-FEF9-43E5-B394-E1542D9D4C1B.shtml
THIS INFORMATION CAME FROM THE GRAMBLING FAN WEBSITE.... PLEASE GO OUT AND SUPPORT US WHEN THE CD COMES OUT.