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Sunday, December 18, 2011

Community Bands in America

In 19th century America, the community band was at the center of community life. Here's a documentary about them:
Meet The Band, a Hindsight Media production, is a one-hour documentary tracing the history of community bands n the United States. We profile four very different bands from around the country and takes us through the American Revolution, the Civil War and the 20th century.

2 comments:

  1. There was a similar tradition in Europe, referenced by Rimbaud as I remember. In the Midwest HS bands retained some of this function into the 60s.

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  2. Yes, about Europe. That tradition has become set in amber, as it were, in Britain in the British brass banks (Black Dyke, etc.), where it's become refined and professional- and semi-professionalized. Judging from YouTube it persists in Eastern Europe in a more organic, more folkish, less nostalgic, form.

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