front: Ben Goren, Kevin Kilzer, Tracy Bond, Ellen McGowan, John Wise, Larry Baedke, Bruce Legge, Paul Green
back: Don Larry, Jeanette Tippetts
(photo by Bald Eric Photography, 2017)
"If music is the universal language, the Territorial Brass Band is surely one of its most gifted translators...
a musical voyage back to the golden era of town bands, with stirring renditions of original arrangements."
Also performing the music of Buffalo Bill's Cowboy Band
who toured Arizona Territory with The Wild West in 1902, 1908 and 1910
(photo by Dennis McGowan, 2013)
For 2016, the 75th Anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack,
Territorial Brass is performing 1941 music of Navy Band No. 22,
USS Arizona's Last Band
Founded 1987
Proclaimed Arizona's Official Historical Brass Band, 1990
Second Annual Great American Brass Band Festival, Danville, Kentucky, 1991
52nd Presidential Inaugural Parade, Washington DC, 1993
Goldwater Lecture Series, KAET/PBS Television, 2000
CultureKeepers Award, Arizona Historical Foundation & Westin Kierland Resort, 2003
Featured band on BrassCast.com international podcast, 2008 (see below to hear it)
Awarded a Legacy Project for the Arizona Centennial by the Arizona Historical Advisory Commission, 2009
TERRITORIAL BRASS was formed in February 1987 and was quickly recognized by museums across Arizona as an entertaining living history resource. Dressed in turn-of-the-century costume (modeled after the Prescott and Bisbee brass bands), TERRITORIAL BRASS recaptures the golden age of the American town band. This twelve member ensemble specializes in 19th century American brass band music, playing authentic arrangements from 1835, through the Civil War, to Arizona's year of statehood. Popular songs of the period are rendered by a soprano vocalist. For indoor concerts, the music program incorporates slides of vintage photographs of Arizona bands and daily life in the territory. Among the instruments often featured is a 1911 double-bell euphonium. To learn more, the Library of Congress has an excellent overview of the American Brass Band Movement .
FEDERICO RONSTADTIt is the goal of TERRITORIAL BRASS to replicate the brass bands that were active in Arizona and New Mexico during the territorial period. Brass bands were organized in the settlements of Prescott, Phoenix, Tucson, Tempe, Mesa, Yuma, Kingman, and many of the mining towns such as Bisbee, Morenci, Jerome and Globe. There are over 300 original 19th century works in the Repertoire of TERRITORIAL BRASS. Music played by Arizona and New Mexico's territorial bands and written by Arizona composers, such as Achille La Guardia (Fiorello's father) and Federico Ronstadt (Linda's Grandfather), are being researched and collected by TERRITORIAL BRASS, and programmed into each concert. Our research of the Arizona's earliest beginnings of the brass band movement in Prescott was published in the DAYS PAST feature of the Prescott Courier, sponsored by Sharlot Hall Museum.
ARIZONA MOSAIC is our new CD, an official Legacy Project for the Arizona Statehood Centennial in 2012.
DISTANT HORNS, VOLUMES 1 & 2, THE BRASS BAND ERA IN THE OLD WEST, is a compact disc recording that documents the band music heritage of Arizona and New Mexico. It features compositions by Achille La Guardia and Federico Ronstadt never before recorded. The Volume 1 portion of the CD was recorded in 1991. In 1995, TERRITORIAL BRASS recorded the soundtrack for the historical documentary, LA MERA FRONTERA. This music is represented on the CD as Volume 2.
Retail outlets for ARIZONA MOSAIC include the The Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) in Phoenix AZ, Sharlot Hall Museum in Prescott AZ, and the Courthouse Museum in Tombstone AZ. For mail order purchase send a check to the order of Territorial Brass in the amount of $15 for each CD with your address to Don Larry, 523 N Macdonald, Mesa AZ 85201. DISTANT HORNS is also available by mail order and can be downloaded from iTunes. ARIZONA MOSAIC in not yet available on iTunes but will be soon.
INSTRUMENTATION & MUSICIANS
photo by Bald Eric Photography
LARRY BAEDKE
Bb cornet
flugelhorn
BRUCE LEGGE
Eb cornet
Bb cornet
flugelhorn
BEN GOREN
Bb cornet
flugelhorn
JEANETTE TIPPETTS
Eb alto horn
TRACY BOND
Eb alto horn
JOHN WISE
trombone
DON LARRY
euphonium
double-bell euphonium
PAUL GREEN
tuba
KEVIN KILZER
drums
ELLEN McGOWAN
piccolo
flute
LARRY VERSTEEG 1939-2016
trombone, euphonium, double-bell euphonium & music arranger
PHOTO GALLERY: The First 20 Years of Territorial Brass, 1987-2007
Listen to BrassCast.com featuring Territorial Brass on a 25 minute podcast with interview and music
Visit KBAQ Hearing the Century podcast site with photos, interviews and music
LINKS to other Living History Brass Bands
Don Larry, 523 North Macdonald, Mesa, AZ 85201, (480) 495-2299, donlarry@hotmail.com
visitors so far today