May 25, 2002.
Twelve members of the Renegades Brass were flown to Boston's famous Back
Bay to perform for more than 5,000 medical professionals - including a member
of the Atlanta CorpsVets!
The Renegades got the royal treatment - shuttled in style and lodged in
one of Boston's finest hotels.
Paul Olson (who is also Drum Major of the Stewart
Tartan Pipes and Drums) poses with Baritone Powerhouse Kimela Hilleary.
CorpsIMPACT - Percussionists Extraordinaire.
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The Reneagades teamed up with LA-based CorpsIMPACT to open the 30th Annual
conference of the AAPA.
Rookie Sensation™ Dave Richards was interested in the many seminars
offered .
"You folks were
great! I thoughly enjoyed your performance. What a treat to have you here
this morning. "
-- Governor Mario Cuomo |
The Renegades Brass were represented
by: (front row) Joe Wilt, Kimela Hilleary, Greg Gilman, Jeff Demello, (second
row) Mke Bertram, Derek Brodie, Larre Dastrup, Dave Richards, Paul Olson,
(back row) Anne Bragstad, Chris Nalls, Rich Skare.
"You
all were great! I actually had my snare with me in the audience ... I was
soooo tempted to jump up and start playing in the drum war on stage ...
Keep up the great work!!" --Karen
Newell, CorpsVets
What IS the Orb???
Chris' Boston Diary:
After the IBM Gig in February, the producer of CorpsIMPACT told me there
might be a gig in Boston over the Memorial Day weekend for 12 brass,
combined with their LA-based percussionists and guard people.
I pulled together 12 members of our brass section, and we braced ourselves
for what the producer affectionately called, "The Gig From Hell."
Our day started at app. 5am on Friday - the time we had to get to the
airport for our flights. We got into Boston and took a bus to the Sheraton
to check in and maybe catch a shower.
Or so we thought.
The bus took us straight to the Hynes Convention center, where we went
straight into a 4 hour rehearsal, where we put together the production,
which was made up of Mambo, In the Stone and various percussion interludes,
courtesy of the talented drummers of CorpsImpact.
Rehearsal ended at 11pm with announcement of our 5:30am call time. After
a nightcap, we hit the sheets for a few hours shuteye.
At 5:30 am, we finished choreographing the show (after calling the hotel
to round up errant Contra player Rich Skare) and took a break before
the show started at 9am.
The show started with a snare battle. Otis and Vic, throwing down in
a back and forth duel that was climaxed with the electronic percussion
of maestro Scott Vomvolaksis. Scott brought out the Renegades, who delighted
the crowd with a full drill to Mambo, folding in a talented flag trio
of recent Blue Devil ageouts (JJ, Carisse and Ezekiel).
The horns and drums marched from the main ballroom to a satellite room
playing Larry Kerchner's classic arrangement of In the Stone. We finished
the tune and hyped with the crowd, and then right back to the other
room to 'button it up' with a reprise of Mambo.
Four of our soprano players played an original fanfare by Larrie Dastrup
and Dave Richards to annouce the keynote speakers, including Gov Mario
Cuomo. After the Gov's remarks, the group serenaded the departing throngs
with a reprise of In the Stone.
Then we returned to the Hotel for check out and to hit Legal Seafood
for a Lobster lunch.
Back to the airport for the flight home at 3:30pm.
Travel hours: 16-20
Rehearsal Hours: 7
Sleep Hours: 3
Performance time: 7 minutes
It was great.
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