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August 8, 2003BRASSGroup recreates music of 19th century bandsByRecord-Eagle staff writer NORTHPORT - If "76 Trombones" is your idea of what small-town bands sounded like in 19th century America, think again. Or better yet, wander up to the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula on Saturday, when the Dodworth Saxhorn Band appears at the Northport Community Arts Center. The band also plays at the Cheboygan Opera House today at 8 p.m. The Ann Arbor-based DSB is probably the best-known and most widely traveled of all the traditional brass bands in the U.S. today. Their programs feature music played on authentic period instruments, costumes and dramatic readings illustrating the music of the Victorian era. Both concerts will include music from the Civil War era as well as dance music from the 19th century ballroom. And unlike the ponderous oom-pah-pah bands of popular legend, the members of the DSB usually play quite softly, always keeping the accompaniment out of the way of the melody, and with the sensitivity of a string quartet. Invented by Adolph Sax (the man who gave us the saxophone), the saxhorn is a valved brass instrument with a conical bore that was the forerunner of today's trumpets, cornets, baritones and other valved horns. Saxhorns came in various ranges, and were the mainstay of concert bands of the 1800s. Those bands were one of the prime sources of community entertainment in the pre-radio age. Almost every town had a brass band of some kind that entertained at various public gatherings, including social events, political rallies and military balls. "We were the video and the video games, the television, the Bose Wave radio and the CDs of the time," said Mike Deren, the band's business manager, who picked up his own saxhorn for $10 at a yard sale. "We sometimes joke with audiences that we're the American Instrument Rescue League; our mission is to get these instruments off the restaurant walls and out of the museums and let them live again." The Dodworth Saxhorn Band, formed in 1985, consists of 15 brass players and three percussionists. It was modeled on the original Dodworth Band of New York City which, along with Claudio Grafulla's 7th Regiment New York State Militia Band, was considered one of the finest brass bands in America during the mid-19th Century. The DSB uses only authentic, antique saxhorns built between 1840 and 1880 - particularly the backward-facing over-the-shoulder instruments created by bandmaster Allen Dodworth. His strange instruments (known as "back'ard blasters") were designed to help soldiers marching behind military bands stay in step with the music. The DSB also uses authentic animal-hide drums from the 1800s, which have to be constantly adjusted because they go out of tune with changes in humidity and temperature. Like its Victorian-era predecessors, the DSB gathers its members from all walks of life, from teachers and farmers to retirees and computer specialists. It has played at venues and festivals from the White House to the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. The band supplied about three innings' worth of music for Ken Burns' PBS special on baseball, and is about to issue a CD of music by 19th century band composer Claudio Grafulla. The DSB doesn't consider itself primarily a concert band, said Deren. In fact, members like to think of themselves "playing with the audience as much as playing for them," maintaining a thread of connection that helps modern audiences understand and appreciate the music that was such a profound part of local community life a century and more ago. Tickets to today's concert in Cheboygan at 8 p.m. are $17, or $10 for students through high school age. For reservations, call 627-5841. Tickets to Saturday's 8 p.m. show in Northport are $15 for adults and $5 for students. For tickets or information, contact the Northport Community Arts Center at 386-5001 or log on to the center Web site at http:/www.northportcac.org.
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