FAMU's Scott preaches his sermon

LLOYD, FL — After he'd been on the pulpit at Mount Zion AME Church for about 10 minutes, sweat began to roll down Padric Scott's face.

"Let God step in and show out," he urged the congregation that gathered last Sunday to hear him preach his trial sermon at the small church located about 20 miles east of Tallahassee.

Scott, a defensive tackle on the Florida A&M football team, kept his listeners spell-bound. His father, Edward, a prominent Tallahassee dentist who also is the church's minister, sat at his left and hardly batted an eye. Coach Joe Taylor, sitting at his left, seemed captivated. "We make a big deal out of it, especially when...


Videographer: hhorns2002; Continuing the Legacy: 1996 FAMU Marching 100 - "Knocks Me Off My Feet"

FAMU players set for the spring game

Players hoping to be starters or at least secure a spot on the three-deep depth chart for the Florida A&M football team will get their job interviews today in the annual Orange and Green game at Bragg Stadium.

The questions will come in the form of plays from coach Joe Taylor and his staff. The players will have to respond by executing on the field. "I've told them that all of them will be evaluated and we'd have it on film," Taylor said.

The attraction, of course, will be the quarterback matchup between designated starter Austin Trainor and Memphis transfer Tyler Bass. They will go head-to-head in the first quarter, with Trainor starting for the Green team, while Bass will be the one under center for the Orange team.

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VISIT: FAMUATHLETICS

A throwback page from FAMU Marching 100 history -- the Hundred' greatest hits!

Sixty-five years is a long time to be a dynasty in the music field, and without a doubt, Florida A&M University Marching 100 Band has been more than that and some more.

In the Spring of 1989, the Marching 100 was invited to represent the United States in the French Bicentennial Bastille Day Parade in Paris (Bicentennial of the French Revolution) by Artistic Director Jean Paul Goude.  The FAMU Marching 100 was the sole band from the U.S. invited.

Mr. Goude specifically requested that the Marching 100 play a medley of James Brown music, the Godfather of Soul.  Within this window before the world, Jean Paul Goude wanted the French people and the world to be exposed to Black Music, music based on African rhythms and riffs.  The band had made a lasting impression on Goude ten years earlier, while he lived in New York, and he had seen the Florida A&M band playing at the Super Bowl or some other game at the Orange Bowl. He thought the band was extraordinary and needless to say, it left a lifetime impression on him.

The legendary Dr. William P. Foster stated, "this was a tribute to black music."

The parade was basically about the rights of man, first--representing all countries with a touch of African music. There was an under theme--World Music and world music is based on African music and rhythms.  The Bastille Day Parade would be a global showcase of the impact of African music on the world.

James Brown "influenced pop music like no one had  before and he deserved recognition," said Goude. Folks had made careers off of one riff of James Brown music and he was the "Godfather of Soul" in American music.

Goude, in a documentary explaining why the FAMU Marching 100 was chosen, stated, "Afro-American music is the music that makes the planet dance."  "Florida A&M University Marching 100 does it better than anyone else in the World."












The brilliant music arranger and composer, Mr. Lindsey B. Sarjeant, Assistant Director of Bands, Arranger made the rare transition in 1972 from recent graduate from FAMU (1971) to assistant university music arranger and composer under Mr. Richard Powell, a white guy from Puget Sound, Washington.  Powell was a truly gifted arranger that was a somewhat music pioneer in arranging wonderful black pop music of the day (late 60's -70's era) for the Marching 100. He was also an excellent music composition instructor.

Mr. Sarjeant has been  responsible for the powerful and dynamic, artistic sounds of the internationally famous Florida A&M University Marching 100 for nearly 40 years.  He is an Associate professor at Florida A&M University and serves as Director of Jazz Studies, director of jazz ensembles and arranger for the famous Marching “100” Band, symphonic Band and jazz ensemble. He is a brilliant jazz pianist, composer, jazz lecturer, jazz historian, adjudicator and jazz keyboard clinician.

Video number 9 and 10 are very rare--back in the day with black and white television and video cameras. Studying the Marching 100 performances from 1946 to 2011 is a doctoral thesis in our social, political and economic evolution and black pop music culture.  Like the Godfather of Soul revolutionized pop/soul music to the masses, so did the Marching 100 on the American and World stage.

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Credits:
1. Videographer: BAGHDAD11B, "JAMES BROWN RIFFS" PART 1: FAMU HOMECOMING 08'
2. Videographer: BAGHDAD11B, "JAMES BROWN RIFFS" PART 2: FAMU HOMECOMING 08'
3. Videographer: TAPEMASTER28, FAMU 1989 Band "Spend The Night"
4. Videographer: FAMU 1996 "Knocks Me Off My Feet"
5. Videographer: hhorns2002, "FAMU 2008 Segment on "CBS Evening News"
6. Videographer: ImmaaBeGaga, "FAMU 2007 Super Bowl performance with PRINCE
7. Videographer: TAPEMASTER28,"Never Would Have Made It 2008 (ATL Classic)" with Minister Genleah "Star" Crawford, former FAMU Marching 100 Trombonist.
8. Videographer: bayshawn, "Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral, 2007"
9. Videographer: hhorns2002, FAMU Marching 100, "Tribute to Paris" Halftime Show 1989 -- in Paris, France
10. Videographer: TAPEMASTER28, FAMU Marching 100 "Congratulations" - 1989

FAMU Marching 100's William P. Foster changed bands and lives

When the stern conductor in the movie Drumline told band members ``halftime is game time,'' that was only partly fiction. The film was a loose tribute to Dr. William P. Foster, the man who changed the world of college marching bands when he introduced dance and pop music to the Florida A&M University ``Marching 100.''

Foster died Aug. 28 at age 91.

Now, generations of South Floridians -- those who have marched and played and in some cases followed in Foster's footsteps as college high school band directors -- are sharing precious memories of Foster and the many ways he helped shaped their lives and their careers.

When FAMU, one of the nation's most prestigious historically black universities, descended on South Florida Thursday night for its annual football matchup with the University of Miami, UM officials knew they could expect a packed house at Sun Life Stadium.

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"The Brothers of Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity Inc. at the Homegoing Celebration of The Sir Dr. William Patrick Foster."

FAMU 'Marching 100' creator dies at age 91

Dr. William P. Foster arrived at Florida A&M University a year after World War II ended and spent the next half-century building the school's marching band into a world-famous phenomenon. Under his tutelage and baton, the Rattlers' "Marching 100" wowed crowds during hundreds of halftime shows, marched at President Clinton's inaugural parades and was the only American band invited for the French bicentennial celebration in 1989.

Foster, whose musical talent blossomed early, died Saturday in Tallahassee. He was 91.

"I can attest to the fact that what he created was magical," said FAMU President James H. Ammons. "It was the marching band, at an Orange Blossom Classic in Miami, that sparked my interest in attending FAMU. "The band was dynamic, larger than life and something that I wanted to have access to even though I was not a musician," Ammons said in a statement.

Anthony Foster said his father had his students memorize the music rather than read it off sheet music attached to their instruments. That freed them up to perform precise dance routines while they played or marched in elaborate formations.




The announcer is the late Mr. Charles S. Bing, Associate Director of Bands and my lower brasswinds professor of music at FAMU. I will share some of my experiences with Doc Foster and the Marching 100 next month. Take care Rattlers everywhere...

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FAMU Camp Leads a Drumbeat for a Marching Band’s Style

Excerpt:

In the nation’s historically black colleges, marching bands have long provided far more than “The Star-Spangled Banner” for football crowds, and none, arguably, has grown more famous than Florida A&M’s.

The group’s traditional and official name, the Marching 100, is a rare bit of false modesty: the group now numbers upward of 350 musicians, drum majors and flag-carriers. The unit has built a national, even global, following with appearances at the Super Bowl, both of President Bill Clinton’s inaugural parades, the Grammy Awards and the bicentennial of the French Republic.

The Marching 100 has created a revolution in band style, radically infusing the traditional catalog of songs and formations with the sounds and dances of black popular culture. “It slides, slithers, swivels, rotates, shakes, rocks and rolls,” the band’s founding director, Prof. William P. Foster, wrote in his memoirs. “It leaps to the sky, does triple twists, and drops to earth without a flaw, without missing either a beat or a step.”

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PBS Florida Crossroads: The Making of the Band, The FAMU Marching 100

The Florida A&M University "Marching 100” was featured on PBS’s Florida Crossroads television show on October 30, November 1, and November 4, 2007, which aired on PBS and other public, educational and government channels throughout the State of Florida. The 30-minute documentary, "The Making of the Band: The FAMU "Marching 100," focused on the members of the Marching 100, who spoke candidly about what it takes to be a part of the world renowned tradition.

For your pleasure and enjoyment, the entire program is provided below in a sequence of three parts of the program. Dr. Julian E. White, director of bands and chairman of the Florida A&M University Department of Music, shares impartial insight to the internal workings of this 61 year old institution, which was created by Dr. William P. Foster. You don't want to miss watching this straightforward documentary of the Florida A&M University Marching 100. Enjoy!

Part I: PBS Documentary, "The Making of the Band: The FAMU Marching 100"


Part II: PBS Documentary, "The Making of the Band: The FAMU Marching 100"


Part III: PBS Documentary, "The Making of the Band: The FAMU Marching 100"