'Brute 4's' proves good things come in large packages

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Mary Mott | CAMP VICTORY, Iraq -- Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Smith plays tuba with "Brute 4s," a tuba-euphonium quartet from the 4th Infantry Division Band at a gathering at the Golby Troop Medical Clinic on Camp Victory June 18. Smith, from Satellite Beach, Fla., originally came into the band as a singer. Euphonium players are Spc. Michael Mendoza from El Paso, Texas, and Sgt. 1st Class Aulio Marroquin from San Antonio, Texas. Tuba player Sgt. Jeremy Jackson from Houston, Texas, is the group's noncommissioned officer-in-charge. The quartet is one of only about three such ensembles in the entire U.S. Army band system.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

07.18.2006

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Mary Mott 

363rd Public Affairs Detachment

By Sgt. 1st Class Mary Mott
363rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq – Possibly the most misunderstood and least appreciated musical instrument in the world is the tuba. Thought of traditionally as the "oompah-pah" instrument, along with its smaller cousin, the euphonium, it is mostly associated with marching bands or the circus.

It is difficult for most people to imagine the tuba or euphonium taking an active role in playing anything but either an opening blast for the clowns running into the Big Tent or a rousing version of a John Philip Sousa tune.

For tuba artist Sgt. Jeremy Jackson, who originally hails from Houston and serves as the leader of the 4th Infantry Division Band's 'Brute-4's,' tuba-euphonium quartet, his job is to both educate and entertain his fellow Soldiers on the versatility and wide repertoire of these instruments. Jackson, a seven-year Army veteran, played trombone for 15 years before switching to the tuba after joining the 4th Inf. Div. Band.

"It's very rare to have a (tuba-euphonium quartet) in a division's band," said Jackson.

Such quartets are, in fact, rare anywhere, although some preeminent music figures in the civilian world have gained a measure of fame with the instruments, such as The Modern Jazz Tuba Project, a 10-piece group based in Nashville, Tenn., that builds upon more than 50 years of tradition utilizing the euphonium and tuba as lead instruments in jazz music.

Although the "web-bulb" reading was 126 degrees Fahrenheit Sunday, causing the instrument's sensitive valves to dry out and occasionally stick, Brute 4's gave Soldiers at the Golby Troop Medical Clinic on Camp Victory a rousing and surprising variety of songs. They ranged from the traditional "Bohemian Tuba Rhapsody," and "William Tell Overture" (usually called the "Lone Ranger theme"), to the "Budweiser Theme," "Welcome to the Jungle," and campy tunes like movie Beetlejuice's' "Dance, Senora, Dance," and the cult classic Rocky Horror Picture Show's "Time Warp."

Sgt. 1st Class Aulio Marroquin, senior euphonium player with the group and a former brass instruments instructor for the Army Band, said "the troops always have a surprised look on their faces when we start playing. They say 'how do they do that? A tuba can't do that!'"

"We play those tunes that people then will go around humming and whistling for days. You can't get us out of your mind!" chuckled tuba player Staff Sgt. Jeffrey Smith, from Satellite Beach, Fla.

One of eight specialty bands within the 41-Soldier 4th Inf. Div. Band, the four members are currently on their second deployment to Iraq with the band.

Euphonium player Spc. Michael Mendosa from El Paso, Texas, a junior member of the band, said he counts himself privileged to be in the quartet. A 2001 graduate of Del Valle High School in El Paso, Texas, he said he tried college for one semester but then decided the Army band was the way to go if he was going to perfect his musical talent.

Marroquin, a 27-year band veteran, is also a respected music arranger and puts together all of the songs played by the quartet.

"We are trying to change the typical Army band concept; we want troops to come and have fun listening to us," he said.

"I thought I was back in Boston listening to the symphony of the 4th of July," said Lt. Col. Ron Parsons, from Middleborough, Mass., a nurse with the 883rd Medical Company at Golby TMC, after hearing the quartet's rendition of "Stars and Stripes."

Although the event at the TMC in June was merely a "unit celebration," the group is happy to perform anywhere, any time for any group.

"We're here for the morale of our fellow Soldiers," said Jackson.

• Date Taken: 07.18.2006
• Date Posted: 10.25.2006 15:45
• Story ID: 8150
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ