By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
“My County Tis of Thee” played by The Galveston Beach Band accompanies marching, flag waving youngsters as they participate in the evening’s concert. As part of a tradition started by former band directors, children are invited to grab a flag and form a parade.
The children’s parade is the grand finale for each Tuesday’s summer concert at The Sealy Pavilion in Galveston. The pavilion is located at 900 24th St. behind Ashton Villa. Concerts last from 7:30 p.m. until 9:00 p.m., and they will continue through August 15.
Since July Fourth falls on a Tuesday, the band will be performing on Monday July 3.
If you want a full line up of patriotic music, come on over to the island on Monday, July 3 for the band’s celebration of Independence Day.
Listening to music is just part of the evening’s fun. Families come with lawn chairs and bags filled with snacks along with water bottles and more bags filled with entertaining little gadgets for youngsters.
Children create chalk art on the pavement while their parents sit back, relax, and take in the sounds of a big band. Bubble blowing is also part of the evening rituals. Intergenerational family groups come from near and far for the Tuesday evening tradition.
Little Miss Shelley drags her grandparents out of their home in Hitchcock to listen to the band. She blows lots of bubbles and enjoys the snacks her grandmother has packed. The three are noted regulars in attendance.
This is the second year Shelley has persuaded her grandma and grandpa to pack snacks, drive along Interstate 45 and have the experience of watching her delight in the music and playfulness of the family-friendly event.
According to her grandma, Shelley has developed a love of big band music. She also has a great love for sitting on her grandpa’s lap and enjoying her lollipop. Her grandparents enjoy the casual spirit of Tuesday night’s concerts.
The Galveston Beach Band has been playing summer concerts since 1928. They were originally located on the beach, and for years the band performed in the bandshell at McGuire-Dent Park on the Seawall. Once upon a time, they were called the Galveston Municipal Band.
Band Director Robert Gray has been with the band since 1978. He joined as a trumpeter. He was the high school band teacher at Alvin High School for several decades. Before teaching high school, he taught junior high. There was a two-year gap in his teaching and trumpeting when he served our nation in Vietnam.
At 80, Gray is the most senior member of the band in age. There is another musician who has been a member of the band for the longest time.
“I started Danny Williams out on trumpet in the early 70s, and he joined the band before me,” Gray explained.
Bringing joy to visitors to and residents of Galveston despite high tides, high humidity and all other forms of island weather is something the musicians love doing.
But it takes more than just a love of music to make it into the band.
“We don’t practice before our shows, so each performer has to know how to read music while playing their instrument,” Gray explained. “It takes a mature musician to be able to read music on the spot.”
Band members begin appearing in the pavilion and setting up their instruments while the sun is still visible. Before long, the director is in front of the band lifting his baton and then the beauty of their harmony, melody and rhythm is given without cost to the multitude of people gathered for the concert.
As an audience member, you don’t really notice they haven’t practiced together.
There are 22 performers in the band. One is a vocalist. She, like the other performers, does not practice with the group, though she does know in advance which songs she will be singing.
At every performance, you will hear “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” and you will hear the audience delight with applause after the piccoloist has had her turn as a soloist.
The pledge of allegiance is part of the tradition, as is “The Star-Spangled Banner.” You can count on a song with a Latin American influence when the children are invited to participate with maracas.
You can also anticipate a smooth jazzy sound when the band plays “Galveston,” made famous by Glen Campbell. Next comes a pause in the music for a story about Galveston and Texas history shared by Leslie Watts in a smooth gentle Southern accent. The stories are another favorite of audience members.
As for the numerous remaining pieces, those are selected by the director, who chooses a theme for each concert. This past Tuesday’s theme was the work of Burt Bacharach, and the audience appreciated hearing an old familiar tune of Bacharach’s, “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head.”
Shining above the pavilion in all her nighttime glory is the moon as the sun sinks deeper into the Western sky. The approach of night brings with it a slight breeze and a much-needed reprieve from the heat of daytime in our humid subtropical climate.
Hand-held fans are folded and stored in bags as Mother Nature provides her own circulation of air. The band continues to entertain while nighttime takes over the entire sky.
Some things have a way of being enjoyed without a lot of fanfare or bling, without a lot of outside distractions, and the Galveston Beach Band summer concerts are one of those things.
Keeping the tradition of the concerts alive and keeping the experience of them simple and family friendly are the overarching goals of the band members, the director and most everyone who finds their way to the performances.
“We love the concerts. We’ve been coming for years,” shared one Galveston couple. “We enjoy the music and watching the children with their faces full of joy.”
