This new release is the latest title in The American Bandmasters Association’s Commemorative Recording Series, and focuses on the legacy of John R. Bourgeois. Colonel John R. Bourgeois, USMC (Ret), was the 25th Director of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. His acclaimed career spanned nine presidential administrations from Presidents Eisenhower to Clinton. A native of Louisiana, Colonel Bourgeois is a graduate of Loyola University in New Orleans. He joined the Marine Corps in 1956 and entered The President’s Own in 1958 as a French Hornist and arranger. Named Director in 1979, Colonel Bourgeois was promoted to his present rank in 1983. He retired from active duty on July 11, 1996. As director of The President’s Own, Bourgeois was Music Adviser to the White House. He selected the musical program and directed the band in its traditional place of honor at the US Capitol for four presidential inaugurations, a Marine Band tradition dating back to 1801. He regularly conducted the Marine Band and the Marine Chamber Orchestra at the White House, appearing there more frequently than any other musician in the nation.

John Philip Sousa personified the comparative innocence and brash energy of America around the turn of the 20th Century. The Charlatan was second only to El Capitan in popularity, while the U.S. Field Artillery March is the official march of the United States Army. A number of the other marches on this album were drawn from Sousa’s musicals, quote from other popular musicals or include various national anthems. ‘Keith Brion, one of the foremost authorities on the music of Sousa, has been building an extensive library of Sousa’s music for Naxos since 1998…Sousa-lovers will want the whole series.’ (Fanfare)

The personification of turn-of-the-century America, John Philip Sousa toured the world and won unprecedented fame. His marches are acknowledged as some of the best in the genre and The Triumph of Time embodies all the nobility of his great parade marches. Sousa the successful operetta composer is encountered in the dashing overture to The Irish Dragoon, in the spirited Circus Galop, and in selections from The Charlatan, one of his most lyrical and successful operettas. Showpieces and solos enhance a program that also features the iconic Sousa/Walter Damrosch arrangement of The Star Spangled Banner.

Sousa, the American master of the march, also enjoyed great prestige in the realm of operetta. The suite from The American Maid, set in a glass factory and culminating in scenes based on the 1898 Spanish-American War, was among the first theatrical shows to employ actual film footage. The beautiful quintet from his early operetta The Smugglers was scored for his eminent brass virtuosi. The medley of drinking songs called A Mingling of the Wets and the Drys was composed during Prohibition, while the unusual and previously unrecorded March of the Pan Americans- Part One celebrates the independent nations of North and South America in 1915 with zest and elan.

In addition to his world-famous marches, John Philip Sousa was a master of the piquant Humoresque, of which there are two examples here. The first, On the 5.15, is a popular song detailing the travails of a commuter, while the second, The Band Came Back, introduces popular tunes in witty fashion. The sonorous Second Fantasia from El Capitan showcases the band’s bravura qualities and The Fighting Race draws on a trombone solo. There are charming detours to explore rural Americana in the form of Sheep and Goat (‘Walkin to the Pasture’) and the evergreen classic, Turkey in the Straw.