Today we’d like to introduce you to The Dodworth Saxhorn Band.
Hi The Dodworth Saxhorn Band, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
The Dodworth Saxhorn Band, DSB, was formed in 1985 as a research and performance project in living history by Alexander Pollock, an architect for the City of Detroit, Michigan, who collected 19th-Century musical instruments. In 1996 the band bained its 501c3 nonprofit status. DSB is now a professional ensemble that tours on a year round basis. In fact, the Band has performed in over 200 communities throughout its history. Past performances include Ken Burns’ ten part PBS documentary “Baseball” and a subsequent performance for “An Afternoon of Baseball” at the White House at the invitation of President and Mrs. Clinton. The Dodworth Band was also heard in Ken Burns’ series “Jazz and “The Roosevelts”. The Band has appeared on Detroit Public Television’s “Backstage Pass” and NPR’s Weekend Edition. The DSB also performs regularly at The Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan and travels throughout the eastern United States. Go to DSB’s website www.dodworth.org for a listing of this season’s performances.
Headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, DSB is a re-creation of a 19th-Century ensemble based upon the acclaimed Independent Band of New York City, which was founded by the Dodworth family in 1825. This original Dodworth band was the premier brass band in the United States from the 1840s through 1880s. DSB recreates the fun and atmosphere of a brass band concert from this era when live entertainment was the norm and not the exception. Wearing period costume and playing period instruments, DSB serves to entertain and educate its audiences through musical programs framed by scripted scenes that address many of the social and political issues of the 19th Century. These include various aspects of the Civil War, immigration, the suffrage and Temperance movements, and even baseball. Through music and dialogue DSB strives to bring America’s past to life.
All the brass instruments used by DSB are original 19th-Century horns. They come from a family of valved bugles commonly called “saxhorns” in honor of Adolphe Sax, a Belgian instrument maker. Around 1840, Allen Dodworth created a backward facing version of these instruments nicknamed “back’ard blasters”. Built for use by U.S. military bands that traditionally marched ahead of the infantry and cavalry units, the backward facing bells allowed the music to be better heard by the soldiers marching behind. These modified saxhorns were used extensively during the Civil War. Following the war, many musicians returned home with their instruments and formed local ensembles, giving rise to the community band tradition that continues into the 21st Century. These handmade saxhorns are pitched higher than today’s instruments and have a conical bore that gives them their mellow sound. They are also very difficult to play due to the acoustical problems inherent in handmade instruments and the mechanical wear that comes with age. The band and its members own more than 60 of these period instruments.
The drums are also 19th-Century antiques and have their own idiosyncrasies. Their wood frames, rope tensioning systems, and animal hide heads are much more sensitive to changes in temperature and humidity than 21st-Century percussion instruments. In high humidity, the heads become so soft from absorbed moisture that they often sound like “wet paper bags stretched over barrels.”
DSB presents music of the 19th Century in the context of the social and political issues of the time. The Band’s repertoire includes compositions and arrangements from the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, private collections, and university libraries as well as new arrangements written by experts in 19th-Century brass band style and instrumentation. DSB’s library contains nearly 400 arrangements for full band, another 30 for quintets, 4 collection books and 30 Holiday carols. One of the Band’s supporters also has an extensive library of period music from which he generously allows DSB to draw.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The band relies primarily on clients hiring the band to perform at their venues. The great recession in 2008 had a two fold impact on the band. First funds for the performing arts went to almost zero meaning we had very few gigs. Secondly many of our clients relied on state and federal arts funding for their programs. Nearly all of that funding disappeared during the recession and has never returned. it was several years before the recessions effects dissipated and we settled into the new normal for performing arts.
Then in 2020 Covid hit with the same results as the great recession. Not from lack of funding, but because public gatherings were prohibited.
In both cases we made drastic cuts to our operating costs so that we did not go into debt while riding out the recession and Covid.
Pricing:
- For information on hiring the band, contact
- Joe DeMarsh
- [email protected]
- 734-645-5872
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dodworth.org
- Instagram: dodworthsaxhornband
- Facebook: Dodworth Saxhorn Band
- Youtube: The Dodworth Saxhorn Band
- Other: https://www.flickr.com/search?text=dodworthsaxhornband
