Spotlight of the Week: 1994 Bluecoats

 1994 Bluecoats | "Blues"

9th Place, 84.300

Calling on jazz standards by the likes of Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington and Clifford Brown, Bluecoats’ 1994 production represented what corps designers called a “renewed commitment to American composers and the unique American art form of jazz.”

The Canton, Ohio corps’ production, “Blues” took its name and visual inspiration from a 1929 Archibald J. Motley Jr. painting. Motley is one of the first black artists to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and is lauded as “one of the great visual chroniclers of 20th-century American life.” His “Blues” painting depicts a nightclub scene where jazz musicians blend seamlessly into a crowded dance floor.

Setting the theme, color guard performers wore tank tops with wide-legged pinstriped trousers in shades of yellow, maroon or brown. Black fedoras with a band of color matching their pants as well as dance shoes that gave the look of two-tone wingtips completed the look.

An updated uniform for the 1994 season, Bluecoats brass players wore dark blue-colored tops and pants, white gauntlets and gloves, dark shoes, and a wide tri-colored sash with sequined details that draped over the right shoulder. The corps’ familiar white helmet headgear featured long flowing plumage with a tail that fell below each performer’s shoulder blades.

The corps kicked things off in a casual nature with Mercer Ellington’s jazz standard, “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be.” A set drummer provided the lead-in as a trumpet soloist beckoned the horn line in from strolling scatter-drill formations into a hard-swinging outburst of the main melodic line. Color guard members visually accented the formations by spinning pool cues, a departure from typical flags, rifles or sabers.

Keeping things rolling, Bluecoats next featured Charlie Parker’s “Blues for Alice.” Though prohibited to be played by the DCI rulebook, a select section of color guard members were able to utilize saxophones as props that served as a visual cue that “Bird” was in the house. With a nod to the improvised nature of the 1951 Parker original, the horn line and drum line at points “traded eights” during the piece.

Slowing things down, the corps’ arrangement of Duke Ellington’s “In a Sentimental Mood" took on an underlying bossa nova feel, before a payoff at the end where color guard members took out yet another piece of unique equipment, this time glittering diamond-shaped objects that they spun between their hands as the reflective material sparkled under the stadium lights.

 

Keeping things on the laid-back end, an interlude of Clifford Brown’s “Sandu” made its way into the Bluecoats' repertoire. “Sandu” is one of the most well-known pieces the trumpeter penned in the all-too-short 25 years he was alive.

A quick drum break let the percussion section bring the tempo back up with a transition into the corps' closing tune, Duke Ellington’s “C Jam Blues.” Noted for its simple composition and ease of play, “C Jam Blues” is a piece that is tackled regularly by professionals and budding jazz musicians alike as it allows ample opportunities for the musicians to show off their improvisation skills.

Powering things to the end, the Ellington standard allowed the corps to remove their helmets and let loose. Color guard members made a quick costume change that added color to the field as several percussionists removed their jackets, slipped on sunglasses, and laid down the beat on floor toms.

 

Battle of the Ohio Corps

 

Bluecoats’ most heated competition in 1994 perhaps came from a fellow Ohio corps, the Glassmen. Throughout July the two corps traded victories, often by as little as two tenths of a point. Glassmen appeared to be pulling away as the calendar turned to August, passing the ‘Coats by as many as three points in the lead-up events to the DCI World Championships.

Spotlight of the Week: 1994 Glassmen

But as the two corps took the field in Foxboro, that Glassmen lead was cut to just seven tenths of a point in the Quarterfinals and a half a point in Semifinals, before the Bluecoats managed to pull ahead by fourth tenths of a point on Finals night.

Bluecoats ended 1994 with the corps’ second-straight ninth-place finish and eighth-straight finalist appearance.

1994 DCI World Championship Finals Awards Ceremony