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Minnesota Brass


Other Names:Cecil Kyle American Legion, Laidlaw Toreadors, Grain Belt Diamonds, Minnesota Brass Inc.

St. Paul, MN United States
Founded: 1946

Inactive Senior
YearPositionScoreTheme/Songs
1956 Dear One * The World is Waiting for the Sunrise  
1959 España Cañí * Thanks for the Memories  
1960 Granada * Donkey Serenade * April in Portugal * Brazil (from The Gang's All Here) * South American * Malaguena * El Relicario * The Breeze and I * Vaya Con Dios  
1961 In the Still of the Night * Granada * Donkey Serenade * Brazil (from The Gang's All Here) * April in Portugal * Malaguena * Perfidia * September in the Rain * Begin the Beguine * The Breeze and I  
1962 Battle Hymn of the Republic * Green Eyes * Lady of Spain * Peanut Vendor * Begin the Beguine * Donkey Serenade * September in the Rain  
1963 (Repertoire not available)  
1964 (Repertoire not available)  
1965 (Repertoire not available)  
1966 (Repertoire not available)  
1967 (Repertoire not available)  
1968 (Repertoire not available)  
1969 (Repertoire not available)  
1970 Latina * Hogan's Heroes * Civil War Medley * Ballet in Brass * Ghost Riders in the Sky * By the Time I Get to Phoenix  
1971 Birth of the Blues (from Painting the Clouds with Sunshine) * Hogan's Heroes * Battle Hymn of the Republic * Ballet in Brass * What the World Needs Now * Beer Barrel Polka  
1972 Latina * Battle Hymn of the Republic * I Feel the Earth Move * Ringmaster * Hi-De-Ho (That Old Sweet Roll) * The Moon Was Yellow (And the Night Was Young) * When Johnny Comes Marching Home  
1973 16 60.950 Latina * Zipper De Doo Dad * Eli's Coming * Make Me Smile * American Salute  
1974 Third Man Theme * Lullaby of Birdland * MacArthur Park * American Salute * Make Me Smile  
1975 Horrible Howard (from Monday Night Football) * Third Man Theme * Lullaby of Birdland * MacArthur Park * Rhapsody in Blue * Corazone  
1976 Jesus Christ Superstar * American Patrol * Cool (from West Side Story) * Mambo (from West Side Story) * Climb Ev'ry Mountain (from The Sound of Music)  
1977 12 70.700 This Could Be the Start of Something Big * Walk on the Wild Side * Give It Another One * A Man, A Horse and A Gun * Rocky  
1978 12 60.500 SuperWiz (from The Wiz) * Malaga * Rocky * Send in the Clowns (from A Little Night Music)  
1979 11 56.400 SuperWiz (from The Wiz) * La Fiesta * Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood * What I Did For Love (from A Chorus Line)  
1980 1980 * 1941 * Tonight (from West Side Story) * Mambo (from West Side Story)  
1981 Raisins * Send in the Clowns (from A Little Night Music) * 1941 * El Gato Triste  
1982 What the World Needs Now * Broadway * Basin Street Blues * Longer  
1983 Raisins * Raiders of the Lost Ark * Trumpet Blues * Longer  
1984 Chelsea Morning * Eight to Five * Night Streets * Trumpet Blues * Home (from The Wiz)  
1985 14 62.700 Chelsea Morning * All of Me (from Meet Danny Wilson) * Up the Ladder to the Roof * Peninsula * Home (from The Wiz)  
1986 9 72.350 Street Scene * In Like a Lion * Sesame Street * Come In from the Rain * S.O.S.  
1987 11 81.800 In Like a Lion * Jazz Funeral in New Orleans * Ricochet * Come In from the Rain * S.O.S.  
1988 The Natural * In Like a Lion * Blues in the Night * Ricochet * Not While I'm Around (from Sweeney Todd)  
1989 9 83.600 Jackie (from The Honeymooners) * Uncle Joe Shannon * Blues in the Night * Be Ye Glad * S.O.S.  
1990 11 85.400 Jackie (from The Honeymooners) * Uncle Joe Shannon * Suite for Jazz Orchestra  
1991 9 80.600 Bye Bye Blues * Suite for Jazz Orchestra  
1992 10 84.500 The Date (from Dick Tracy) * Pagan Flight (from Dragnet) * Tess' Theme (from Dick Tracy) * The Chase (from Brigadoon) * The Untouchables  
1993 10 85.900 Perry Mason Theme * Pagan Flight (from Dragnet) * Pink Panther * Alfred Hitchcock Theme (Funeral March of The Marionette) * Batman Theme (from Batman) * Singin' in the Rain (from Singin' in the Rain) * The Sound of Music * Big Spender (from Sweet Charity) * The Untouchables * To Protect and Serve Donuts  
1994 8 86.700 "Memphis Belle" - The Final Mission (from Memphis Belle) * Vicki and Mr. Valves (from Memphis Belle) * Prepare for Takeoff (from Memphis Belle) * Crippled Belle: The Bomb Run (from Memphis Belle) * The Landing (from Memphis Belle)  
1995 10 81.200 "Caribbean Holiday" - I Can't Get Started * El Cumbanchero * St. Thomas * New York State of Mind * S.O.S.  
1996 7 87.600 "Minnesota Jazz - Past and Present" - Jackie (from The Honeymooners) * Blackbird * Caravan * Thanks for the Memories  
1997 8 86.900 "Minnesota Classical - Maybe Not" - Light Cavalry Overture * Poet and Peasant Overture * Caravan  
1998 5 92.800 "Tower of Power" - You're Still a Young Man * Squib Cakes * Mr. Toad's Wild Ride * Soul of a Child * What is Hip  
1999 4 95.000 "Earth, Wind and Fire" - In the Stone * Got To Get You Into My Life * Fantasy * After the Love is Gone * In the Stone  
2000 5 91.700 "Chicago" - Make Me Smile * Saturday In The Park * 25 or 6 to 4 * (I’ve Been) Searchin’ So Long * (Drum Solo) * Free * Make Me Smile (reprise)  
2001 6 92.050 "Shaken...Not Stirred: Music From James Bond" - Dr. No * You Only Live Twice * Tomorrow Never Dies * Live And Let Die * From Russia With Love * Dr. No (Reprise)  
2002 4 93.900 "Black To Blue" - Opening Fanfare * A Night in Tunisia * 'Round Midnight * I'm Beginning To See the Light * Blue Skies (from Alexander's Ragtime Band)  
2003 4 92.500 "Dreams and Fantasies" - Celebration Suite * Drume Negrita * Adios Nonino * Time To Say Goodbye (Con Te Parto) * Spanish Fantasy IV * Conquistador  
2004 5 91.438 "Moon Dancing" - Moon Over Bourbon Street * Moondance * Moonlight Sonata * Fly Me To The Moon  
2005 6 93.038 "Line and Shape - The Music of Pat Metheny" - Third Wind * Letter From Home * The First Circle  
2006 5 92.325 "Fantasy: A Drum Corps Dream" - Open Up Wide * Get It On * Fantasy * The Soul of a Child * Up Tight * Fantasy  
2007 6 92.963 "Who Are You?" - Baba O'Riley * Behind Blue Eyes * Magic Bus * Love Reign O'er Me * Who Are You?  
2008 2 96.513 "Connection" - Nutville * Oblivion * Wrapped Around Your Finger * Night Streets  
2009 2 97.588 “Nocturne: Song for the Night” - Harlem Nocturne * Commencement * Zero Hour * My Immortal * Aspect * A Night in Tunisia  
2010 2 97.225 Caravan - One Night in Bangkok (from Chess) * Bacchanale (from Samson and Delilah) * Nefud Mirage (from Lawrence of Arabia) * Kashmir * Sheherazade * Caravan  
2011 1 98.350 Valhalla - Immigrant Song * Children's Hour of Dream * Imagine * Ride of the Valkyries  
2012 2 96.230 Bonnie and Clyde - Summertime (from Porgy and Bess) * It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing * Money * Speechless * Dance of Vengence (from Medea)  
2013 3 96.650 PRIMAL - Ritual Fire Dance (from El Amor Brujo) * Dansa Barbara * Danza Final (From Estancia Ballet)  
2014 2 96.530 Supernova - Knights of Cydonia * Subterranean Homesick Alien * Planets * Lux Aurumque * Supernova  
2015 3 95.400 Mad Circus - Karn Evil 9 * The Breakfast Machine from Big Top Pee Wee * Complainte Della Butte * Roustabout * Night on Bald Mountain * The Show Must Go On  
2016 3 96.950 Now Boarding - To Tame the Perilous Skies * Speed of Heat * Come Fly with Me * Married Life (from UP) * Girl From Ipanema  
2017 9 88.980 Pins and Needles - Hall of the Mountain King (from Peer Gynt Suite #1) * March of the Trolls * Dance of Vengeance (from Medea) * Coraline * Hurt  
2018 Between The Lines - Green * Mural (from Pleasantville) * Paint it Black * Pure Imagination (from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)  
Position 200+ indicates Division II, Position 300+ indicates Division III, Position 400+ indicates Mini Corps.
Today’s Minnesota Brass Senior Drum and Bugle Corps has operated under a number of names through the years. It began life as the Cecil Kyle American Legion Corps in 1946 when a few Minneapolis World War II vets who had played instruments in the armed services created it and became its first members. The group first performed in 1947.

In 1948 members moved the corps to the Laidlaw American Legion Post in Minneapolis, starting an association with the Legion that would last a quarter century. The group was called the Laidlaw Drum & Bugles Corps until 1955.

In 1956, the corps decided to focus on a Spanish musical style and visual theme, choosing the name Laidlaw Toreadors. This corps became very successful, winning many state and regional Legion championships. The Toreadors name lasted until 1964.

For one season, 1965, the Minneapolis’ Grain Belt Brewery sponsored the corps, renamed the Grain Belt Diamonds. The “diamond-clear, smoother beer” had a diamond-shaped logo. Can you guess what shapes were used in their drill? The Diamonds were dressed in tuxedos; audiences said they looked like funeral directors.

When Grain Belt dropped its sponsorship, the corps went back to its Minneapolis American Legion home and was called the Men of Laidlaw. An association with Laidlaw continued well into the 1970s. The corps dressed itself in the blue windbreakers they would wear through 1975.

In 1969 the corps modernized its image and musical style. Going into its first performance of 1969, the corps still hadn't decided on a name. On a whim, they decided on “Twin Cities’ Amalgamated Brassworks, Inc.” They eventually streamlined the name (just a bit) to Brass, Inc. That same year, they began recruiting women into the corps, and many St. Paul Scouts and Hamm’s Indians alumni joined. And about this time, the corps began its tradition of jazz-oriented entertainment.

As an audition for the Red Carpet Association in 1972, the corps submitted a tape of a pro football halftime performance at which the temperature was so cold (minus 15 degrees) that actual playing was impossible. The corps had to march to a recording of the previous season's show broadcast over the stadium PA broadcast. The Red Carpet Association was so impressed with the sound of the corps under such adverse conditions that they promptly accepted the Brassmen into their ranks.

In 1978, the corps had the distinction of appearing in the movie "A Christmas to Remember."

In 1980 the corps finally answered its most frequently asked question - “Where are you from?” - by adding the “Minnesota” to its name. The new name also reflected the diversity of locations from which the corps drew its membership. It was no longer just a Twin Cities organization. The name came in handy as the corps began regular senior world championship competition.

In addition to parade revenues and members dues, corps funding moved from sponsorships to raising money through charitable gambling: bingo at first, and then pull-tabs. The corps also gets a significant portion of its revenue through corporate matching gifts and foundation grants. In the 1990s, musical repertoires became theme oriented, and MBI earned membership in the top ranks of senior drum corps. In 2002 and 2003, the Brass finished fourth in DCA Championship competition. Brent Turner was appointed corps director in late 2003.

The 2004 show was called 'Moon Dancing,' featuring tunes with the word "moon" in the title. It carried the corps to a fifth-place finish in DCA Championships.

The corps’ theme song is “For All We Know.”

Minnesota Brass Inc. boasts members with more than fifty years of drum corps experience such as Frank Lazar and Larry Wogensen.

[http://mnbrassinc.org/mbihistoryplus.html; DCW, 10/03, p.14; DCW, 1/04, p.3; DCW, 2/04, p.3]

Members (47)

Member Name Section Years Involved
Albert-Gorr, Joy Color Guard 1976 to 1979
Anderson, David Baritone 1998
Ashton, Justin Tenors 2000
Babay, Joey visual design 2001
Baretich, Steve baritone 1994
Bold, Fritz contra 1982; 1988; 1998 to 2000
Bonfig, Mike Soprano 2000
Byrnes, Patrick Drum Major 1994 to 2001
Compton-Allen, Rebecca front line 2002 to 2004
Davies, Brad soprano 1973 to 1977
Duesterbeck, Wayne Drum Instructor 1970
Flash, Anoka Horn 1978 to 2002
Garrett (Warren), Becky Mello 2007 to 2008; 2010 to 2012
Glewwe, Judy color guard 1989 to 1997
Helland, Scott Baritone 1996 to 1999
Helland, Scott Visual Staff 2000 to 2002
Holmen, Julie color guard, asst. drum major 1996 to 2002
Huberty/Jakubowski/Dooley, Rhonda Color Guard 1992 to 1994
Jakubowski (Johnson), Brenda guard 1992
Jensen, Terry Drum 1973 to 1978
Kaszas, Cameron Mellophone 1997 to 1999
Kilanowski, Matthew Mellophone 2012
Meyer, Nick Soprano 1998 to 2002
Novak, Heather Frontline 2002 to 2003
O'Connell, Edward Percussion 1986
O'Connell, Matt Baritone 1995
Oldemeyer, Michael Baritone/Euphonium 2000 to 2002
Patterson, Jim Contra 2002
Reed, Lea Hornline 2003
Reed, Lea Trumpet 2006
Reed, Michael Drum Major 2002
Santori, Katie Contra 2001 to 2004
Saunders, Von Drum Major 2003
Schunk, Carter Trumpet 2016
Smith, Linda Color Guard 1986 to 1994
Smith, Linda Color Guard 1986 to 1994
Steffen, Zachary Drumline 2015
Stout, Jeff Colorguard 1999; 2002
Traczyk, Rachel Color Guard 2003
Vasquez, Ramon Trumpet/Brass Staff 2004 to 2007
Wilde, Catherine French Horn 1987
Zabler, Robert Colorguard 1986 to 1989
Zabler, Robert (Bobby) colorguard (rifle) 1986 to 1987; 1989
diarrea, terrence soprano 1976 to 1987
swenson, fred snare line 1979
von Behren, David Euphonium 2008
von Behren, David Cymbal instructor 2009 to 2011

CORPS 18 items

Minnesota Brass

Minnesota Brass from the Bill Ives Collection
Minnesota Brass

Minnesota Brass from the Bill Ives Collection
Minnesota Brass

MinnesotaBrass StPaul MN-1 from the Bill Ives Collection
Minnesota Brass

MinnesotaBrass StPaul MN-3 from the Bill Ives Collection
Minnesota Brass

MinnesotaBrass,St.Paul,MN,LP1-Legacy(DST-1.0)AA_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection Contributed by Donn Stroh
Minnesota Brass

MinnesotaBrass,St.Paul,MN,LP2-Waves(DST-1.0)AA_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection Contributed by Donn Stroh
Minnesota Brass

MinnesotaBrass,St.Paul,MN,LP3-MB(DST-1.25x0.875)AA_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection Contributed by Donn Stroh
Minnesota Brass

MinnesotaBrass,St.Paul,MN,LP4-Inc(DST-1.0x0.375)AA_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection Contributed by Donn Stroh
Minnesota Brass

MinnesotaBrass,St.Paul,MN,Patch1-Waves(RPE-3.0)J_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Minnesota Brass

MinnesotaBrass,St.Paul,MN,Patch2-TwinCities(RE-4.0x2.0)AA_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Minnesota Brass

MinnesotaBrass,St.Paul,MN,Patch3-1996-50thAnn(RE-3.5x3.5)AA_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Minnesota Brass

MinnesotaBrass,St.Paul,MN,Patch4-AndThat(RE-3.0x3.0)AA_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Minnesota Brass

MinnesotaBrass,St.Paul,MN,Pin1-Inc(BJA)AA_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Minnesota Brass

MinnesotaBrass,St.Paul,MN,Pin2-RedInc(FHE)AA_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Minnesota Brass

MinnesotaBrass,St.Paul,MN,Pin3-RedLettersOnBlack(RCR)AA_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Minnesota Brass

MinnesotaBrass,St.Paul,MN,Pin4-BlackLettersOnYellow(RCR)AA_U_S from the Richard Elmquist Collection
Minnesota Brass
PDF Document

292-293, Minnesota Brass from the Steve Vickers Collection
Minnesota Brass

Rochester Crusaders 2 from the Wayne Hiller Collection

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