Juke
September 3, 2019 1:52 PM   Subscribe

Southern University’s Human Jukebox is your favorite marching band’s favorite marching band. The sight of the sound of the Human Jukebox [YT Channel] is something else. It is home, something visible even in the dark of a buggy Louisiana night that doesn’t want to let the moon shine.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln (5 comments total) 18 users marked this as a favorite
 
I'm not a huge fan of college football, but there are a bunch of great folks over at Banner Society, and I hope they succeed. This was a great article, thanks for posting.
posted by Rock Steady at 4:34 PM on September 3, 2019 [1 favorite]


Great article! Fascinating to learn some of what goes into producing a performance like that--and what it means at an HBCU like Southern. And then a real treat to a do a Youtube dive into the HJ channel. Goes some way to explaining what for me has been the enduring mystery of the USA's extraordinary marching band culture ever since coming to here. (Admittedly I haven't gone out of my way to seek answers to that mystery.)
posted by col_pogo at 8:20 PM on September 3, 2019 [1 favorite]


More particularly, I should say that when I first encountered the precision and dedication and amount of resources poured into both school and college sports and the bands that went with them I was inclined to be sniffy and cynical about it: "Oh it's something to with the Americans' crazy obsession with athletics over learning mixed with a deep militarism." I'm very happy to correct that impression and to gain a better appreciation for where some of these bands come from.
posted by col_pogo at 8:25 PM on September 3, 2019 [2 favorites]


Spencer Hall strikes again. He’s such a ridiculously good writer. He knows treasure when he sees it, even when it’s not obvious to others. And if you haven’t seen one of the legendary HBCU bands live... hoo boy, it is truly a treat. Grambling came to town for a game in 2016, and whether on the field or playing in the stands during the game, their band was bringing it all night.
posted by azpenguin at 9:11 PM on September 3, 2019 [4 favorites]


My high school band director went on to lead the Southern Band for decades. When my mom was crowned the queen of our small town Mardi Gras parade, Mr. Jackson brought the entire Southern Band to town to march in her parade. My brother cooked a gumbo and fed the entire band.
posted by ColdChef at 8:11 AM on September 4, 2019 [10 favorites]


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