Ralph and the Deep North

The Seward Community Band started in 1978 as a resource for the community. I went to listen to a concert in 1988 at Powderhorn Park that was toted as "Proud Heritage: A Celebration of Anniversaries" marking their 10th year, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Irving Berlin, and other anniversaries. I noticed that Ralph from the Deep North Dixieland Band, that I heard play at the Lake Harriet Bandshell and featured at a private wedding reception for one of my cousins, was in the first trumpet chair. They sounded exceptionally well, being a representation of people from the entire 10 years of the band's history, who had come to take part in the celebration, and even play in a few numbers with the then current band. There were lots of children making noises, etc. A very nice concert setting, and I taped the entire goings on with my boombox that had a cassette recorder. The actual band music turned out to be of fairly good quality on the tape, as I must have been at the right distance, but the speakers were a little out of range to get a clear rendering of what they were saying without being connected up to the mikes and sound system which would render a much better likeness. They performed numbers by Berlin, Ives, Copeland, Gerschwin, Sousa, and some international composers (Bristish march, French can can, Irish melody). Most of this material was pretty complex, and not something the ordinary concert band would attempt. It was near professional quality.

I noticed on the net that the group has since changed their name to the Seward Concert Band and moved to South High as their base of operations for rehearsals on Thursday nights and an occasional concert there to fine tune their numbers for other concerts. I think they perform about once a week in the summer at various locations. If in the Twin Cities area, check them out. They are on the web with details.