What's This Thing Called Mustang Jazz

By Stan Shipman, Frosh '67

Someone asked me recently just how I would define ‘Mustang Jazz’. However, when I tried to write it down, one thing led to another and, as you will see, there just isn’t a short explanation for it. Since the term gets thrown-around a lot out on the Hilltop, maybe it is past time to figure out just what it means. So, if you are up to reading all this, here is my long-winded attempt to answer the musical question: “What is Mustang Jazz?”.

It was the early 60’s (when I was still in junior high) when I first heard Mustang Jazz (MJ), and I was immediately hooked. However, I could never figure out why it hooked me, especially when regular big band music- though very enjoyable- didn’t give me the same kind of charge that the hilltop group provided. SMU's band music is based primarily in the Dixieland and Big Band eras of the 1920s, ‘30s & ‘40s. So, how does MJ compare to the commercial music of that time? What’s the difference? What were the modifications for field performance? What makes Mustang Jazz unique and special?

Musical Lines

With most of the music written in the 1930s & 1940s, the saxes are primarily the lead instruments. The lead alto (or clarinet in Miller style) sits atop the musical pyramid and takes the melody most of the time. However, from the 50 yard line, the saxes don’t provide enough punch to carry the melodic ball. So, as in most marching bands, the trumpet section has to take over. When those old jazz melodic lines are given to the trumpet section in Mustang Jazz, something interesting happens. The melodic part becomes much more powerful and virile.

While all this is happening the trombones usually have the same job as in other organizations, with one notable exception. Instead of just playing the counter melody, in Mustang Jazz the bones have to do more of the heavy lifting, providing support to the melody while at the same time covering their regular counter-line part. This double-duty assignment really gives more punch to the trumpet lead while reinforcing the band on most of the arrangements performed through the years. Now you know why the bones are usually breathing harder; they are doing two jobs at once.

Although in Mustang Jazz  the saxophones take a step back from prominence, when joined with horns and baritones, they can form a very powerful third voice that has a different tonality from trumpets and trombones.  Depending on arrangement requirements they can also be employed to simply reinforce either lead or counter line.... sometimes by splitting the section (altos doubling the trumpets while the tenor saxes double the trombones). Generally, the alto sax parts are scored below the lead trumpet, so as not to challenge Gabriel’s chosen instrument.

Tubas perform the least altered job in the band, taking over for the string bass. On music composed in the latter decades of the century, they did the job of the electric bass, too. I personally like the sound of the upright basses, where you don’t hear the tongue and hence, the sound is closer to that of the string bass or electric bass- smoother in effect.

 Chord Structure

From a chord standpoint, most everything in Mustang Jazz  is stolen right out of the big band era. Instead of just writing three note chords (root, third & fifth), nearly every chord is fattened-up with either the 6th or the 7th added, depending on how the chord is used. Now and then, a 9th is thrown-in just for a little added color, especially on the typical M-Band ending where the next to last chord is based on the flatted 5th note of the five chord (i.e.- key of C, the five chord (G-7) is replaced by a D- flat 7-9… just before the last note (C6 chord); like in the last two notes of the Waring Ending. Just about everything is textbook big band scoring. Dr. Irving Dreibrodt- “Coach” as he was called through his years at S.M.U. referred to this as “full-blocked” sound arrangements.

Incidentally, you might think Dr. Dreibrodt is responsible for first utilizing this arranging technique with the M-Band. He wasn’t. The Mustang Band was playing arrangements with big band scoring long before Coach arrived in Dallas- back into the 1940s & 50s. How do I know, you ask? Well, when I was librarian of the band in 1969 & ‘70, the library was located where the Director’s office is now. There used to be a storage compartment on the ramp side of the wall and inside were many boxes of old arrangements. This was referred to as the “Old Library”; music that was used before Coach came to S.M.U in 1958. The arrangements were written primarily by two men: Bob Farrar and….. you guessed it, Mr. Jack Rohr- longtime assistant director of the band. The charts were complete with clarinet, flute, bass clarinet and other parts. Those that Jack wrote were endorsed with the ever-present, clever titles he was so famous for creating. (One I remember was: Souse of Ze Border -Arkansas Pigs). Sometime during those late 60s years, Jack got a “wild hair” and decided that all those arrangements should be thrown out. Well now, I just couldn’t bear to have them all unceremoniously thrown into the trash; so, I got a freshman to pitch them into the back of my car. I think I still have a couple of them: Liza (ala Al Jolson) and My Blue Heaven.

 Percussion

Just like in the Dixieland bands and the Big Bands, the Trap Set is the most stylistically appropriate element of rhythm for the Mustang Band. However, it’s a bit challenging to march a drum set, and one player has trouble balancing out 100 people on the football field (not really in a concert hall, though). So, the only practical solution for directors going back to the 1930s was to use the traditional marching percussion section: snares, tenor drums, cymbals & a single “scotch” bass drum. Still, the typical drum section- however configured- has one job in Mustang Jazz; to simulate the sound of a drum set. Of course, when the band shifts gears and plays a march or even a march-type jazz piece, like St. Louis Blues March, the role shifts to that of a traditional marching band section.

Several variations have been added over the years, tri-toms, for instance. Which is perfectly OK as long as the section sounds like a set. And, I am still not convinced that a Drum Corps section can’t do the same job- albeit with one exception: I do not see a role for tunable bass drums in the equation. It just doesn’t fit the Trap Set concept from a sound perspective. At least, I haven’t heard it yet.

The Percussion Section may be the most difficult element to get right in the entire concept. Achieving a “set” sound is no easy task. A lot of the music doesn’t require an elaborate drum part, encouraging drummers to fall asleep during performances, at times.  Moreover, the size of the band encouraged the use of the bass drummer as a “time-keeper”, rather than allowing for the performer to provide time reinforcement and accents- which would be more consistent with the style. And, on too many occasions, there was no one playing a ride cymbal, which may well do more than any other element of providing that Trap Set sound. (Too bad nobody ever figured out how to march a Hi-Hat!) In short, this is still a challenging component to construct in Mustang Jazz.

Rhythmic Figures 

In most college bands, anytime elaborate rhythmic phrases were performed on the field, the band directors ran for cover. They figured there was no way to ‘get 100, 200 or 300 people to play them together and in the same way. So, the patterns were simplified- many times drastically simplified. The Ohio State Band was particularly adept at this “quick-step” style, chopping down the rhythms so the band would sound “clean” on the football field. Well, here is where Irving Dreibrodt really shined. Coach would have the arrangers write the exact phrases used by the original artists, then he taught everyone how to make it all “lay” together. Jeez, what a concept! Oh sure, there are times when it’s less than perfect- but who cares? Those original time-figures really SELL the music and Coach would remind us of the “roll” the band gets when everyone starts playing pretty well together; groovin’ some people would call it. In today’s world, so many of those rhythmic statements have simply disappeared, never to be heard again- except when performed by the M-Band. 

Solo Work 

With it’s roots in Dixieland, which was about 70%-80% solo work, and Big Band, which was probably 40%-50% solo performance, this element of ‘Mustang Jazz’ is usually under stated. It would be a mistake not to include improvisation in the model, since traditional jazz depends on it almost entirely.  Historically, this has been diminished in the M-Band somewhat- with one notable exception: Coach would take a traditional solo (i.e., the Trumpet solo on String of Pearls) and give it to the entire section. Here’s another unique aspect of the band- one that usually works very well. But, overall, we need more solo work in Mustang Jazz, not less.

 Variations In Style

One of the great things about this music to me, is that the listener never has a chance to get bored. Just about the time you get the arrangement figured-out, the style changes. You may start off in a Beguine, then end up in Jazz. Or, start in a Mambo, switch to Jazz, then back to some Latin variation at the end. It’s this constant changing of the style that keeps the music fresh. And, who can deny that chill that runs up your spine when a Latin phrase abruptly clicks into a swing version of the melody? Man, that’s Mustang Jazz! In this short-attention span, ADD world we live in, MJ would seem to be a perfect fit.

Musical Presentation 

Coach wanted his arrangements to be timed-out at about a minute and a half, which you will note is about the typical length of a time-out in 1960s era college football. It is also a good length for drill presentations, especially when doing X-O, Step Two or Moffitt drills. Then, he wanted “feature tunes” (i.e., Old Man River) for more elaborate half time stages, when the band could just sit back and blow. Bob Brandenberger, Coach’s successor, carried this a step further by combining the two elements and marching to part- or all- of the feature number (i.e. Midnight Cowboy, Malaguena, On A Clear Day, etc.) in what is, in effect, a “moving stage”. Not all that different than other college bands, I suppose. Then, the other guys don’t have all the other facets. 

It’s no secret that M-Bandsmen of all eras enjoy just “sitting back” and blowing a good chart right at the stands. Everyone seems to agree that watching the crowd run for cover as a wall of sound hits ‘em right in the kisser is quite a treat. Yes, being loud is part of the fun too, but the band has always used dynamics effectively. It’s just that, on the field, loud works when you want to be heard- and the Mustang Band is gonna be heard! 

Capsule Analysis 

OK, Let’s see what we have now: reinforced trumpet lead, countered by one to two additional lines, atop a standard bass line (not unlike most other marching groups), playing ‘blocked’, big band arrangements (that’s very unusual). Reinforced POWER… playing jazz music with the impact of a brick through a plate glass window. Where else could you hear that, except on Saturday afternoons inside whatever football stadium the Mustang Band performed in? 

So, the short definition of the term comes down to this: 

‘Mustang Jazz’ is the presentation of American Jazz & Popular music employing the following elements:

- Reinforced trumpet lead.
- Full Blocked, well-reinforced, Big Band style arrangements.
- Scores utilize original/elaborate jazz rhythmic figures.
- Percussionists seek to emulate a Trap Set.
- Solos & Solis are used liberally.
- When performed outside, it will be easily heard by all. (UNDERSTATEMENT)

All other bands employ trumpets on the lead while playing outside, but that’s where the similarity usually stops. And, even if they perform big band music, none score it in the same way.

However, the most important element isn’t listed above. That would be the amazing spirit of the band; that cocky, strutting, no-holds-barred enthusiasm that always distinguishes the Mustang Band from others. And, that is the most important element of all!

Where Do We Go From Here?

Dr. Irving Dreibrodt had a winning formula, featuring big band music a short twenty years removed from the actual start of that era. Bob Brandenberger carried on that same tradition. It was a sound that most everyone was familiar with, even into the 70s. However, it isn’t so recognizable today. MJ will always work with tunes from the 30s through the 60s, when Big Band style music was used liberally. But, it is not limited to those years. There are treasures lying undiscovered in the music of all decades. Some tunes written from 1970 on up to today can be written in the MJ style and will work just fine (i.e. Chicago’s Old Days). There are also many old tunes from the Ragtime & Dixieland years that would obviously fit in well (i.e. possibly some of Jelly-Roll Morton’s music). And, the early tunes from the Rock & Roll era have possibilities, too (i.e., Barbara Ann, the Beach Boys hit).

The important thing for those of us who played in the Mustang Band to do- is insist that ‘Mustang Jazz’ be preserved for future generations.