For once, Wayne Downey has a second to breathe. He is finally home, where he can arrange music for the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle corps and "Shockwave!," the follow-up musical to the Broadway hit "Blast!"
Downey is a man in perpetual motion, writing, arranging and instructing for three major drum corps, three American high school marching bands, a college marching band and five more groups in Japan.
"I’m a workaholic," Downey says, laughing. "I really enjoy what I do and that makes it a lot easier. It’s difficult balancing my time and it is tiring. But I enjoy the fruits of my labor. I love teaching and writing."
Downey took time out of arranging the Blue Devils book for this exclusive interview with Drum Corps World.
2002 Blue Devils to play Channel One Suite
"We’re playing jazz – imagine that!" Downey jokes, "The show is called ‘Jazz – Music Made in America.’ The opener is Ragtime by Stephen Flaherty, based on the movie. It’s a honky-tonk tune that features the horn line, front line and battery."
The next tune is a blend of Rob McConnell’s version of I Got Rhythm and Fascinating Rhythm. Next, Downey says, is tentatively House of the Rising Sun. "It’s going to be bluesy and lyrical," he says.
"We’re closing with Channel One Suite," Downey says, referring to powerhouse chart that helped to make the corps famous. "The last two tunes are tentative, and the only reason I say tentative is I haven’t written them yet.
"The show shouldn’t be anything but crowd involvement and fun."
Blue Devils
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Shockwave!
Downey says "Shockwave!" should be crowd-pleasing, too. In addition to the usual compliment of brass instruments, there will be a large saxophone and rhythm section.
"I’m writing for a big band," Downey says.
There will be some original work, but 70 percent will involve arranging tunes most customers will recognize.
"There will be a full version of Channel One Suite. We’re doing God Bless the Child, and a Chuck Mangione tune called Lullaby to Nancy Carroll."
There will be less marching battery in Shockwave! than in Blast!, he says.
"There will be some moments for marching percussion, but we’re going to make the rhythm section part of the stage." Downey says that percussionists will play a drum set and other instruments inside spherical objects that will hang from the ceiling.
Downey, though, doesn’t have an infinite amount of time to work on Shockwave! with all of the other groups he has to attend to.
Keeping busy
Downey’s first full camp with the Devils is this weekend after two auditions sessions and a mini-camp. Downey can already tell what his horn line will be like... (subscribe to get a full update from Downey on the Blue Devils Horn Line!)
Syracuse Brigadiers
Another strong program with Downey’s stamp is the Syracuse Brigadiers, the three-time defending DCA champions. He hasn’t made it out to a camp yet – he’ll return to his native state in March – but he has a good feeling about his senior corps, too.
"(Brigadiers Director) Dennis Capello called me during the last camp," Downey says. "He’s a great guy, I love working for him. He holds out the phone and says, ‘Wayne, listen to this! We’re fabulous. I don’t know what to do. We have 94 brass players!’"
Downey has already arranged Day Danse, Arturo Sandoval’s Guaguanco and All or Nothing at All for the Brigs. He says the music will have Spanish fire, and the visual program will tie the title, "Picasso Sketchbook" and the songs together.
Magic of Orlando
Downey has adopted a third corps, the re-born Orlando Magic. He arranged music from the movie "Wind and the Lion," based on Jerry Goldsmith’s original score. He hasn’t attended a Magic camp, yet, either, but will soon.
"Gino Cipriani doesn’t need me to tell him what to do," Downey says, referring to the former Cadets caption head and Blue Devils instructor who now works for Magic. "That’s the beauty of that situation."
He admits he is a bit disappointed that the corps will compete in division II in 2002, but he is confident the corps will only benefit from it in the long run from a competitive standpoint... (subscribe to Drum Corps World to get Downey's impressions on Magic and rebuilding that program.)
Marching Bands
In addition to the Northmont High School Marching Band (Dayton, OH area) and Mona Shores High School Marching Band (Muskegon, MI), Downey is going to teach Lassiter High School again this year.
"(Lassiter is) going back to Bands of America this year, and bringing back the entire staff that won the championship in ’96," he says.
Downey also works with fellow Blue Devils percussion staffers at Riverside Community College in southern California. And oh, by the way, he flies to Japan frequently to work with five groups, including brass bands, marching bands and drum corps, too.
Dynasty USA
The Japanese connection works well for his corporate sponsorships with Dynasty USA, a major brass and percussion manufacturer that has clients spread out from the Blue Devils in America to various groups in the Far East.
Downey has his own "signature series" line of trumpets, plus a complete line of marching brass instruments that he helped to design. Bands, corps and individuals can also purchase his "Silk" line of mouthpieces, already available.
"We wanted to design a mouthpiece that has never been seen before," he says. Engineers at Dynasty USA have figured out a way to add color to the shank of the mouthpiece and even include a colored stone on the outside. The Blue Devils entire brass line will use mouthpieces with a blue cup and a black stone in 2002. These mouthpieces should be available before the summer.
Downey even has his own line of valve oil and slide grease. "It’s a high-viscosity oil, which can withstand the summer heat," he says.
The Wayne Downey Signature Trumpet is available now, as are the oil and grease.
"Things are going really well," Downey says. "Jeff Kievit did the preliminary testing on the trumpet. He plays on the Monday Night Football opening music. He says, ‘I gotta get one – these are great!’" The final testing for the instrument will happen in two weeks, with worldwide distribution to follow.
"It’s an incredible instrument. We’ve taken the ‘tune any note’ slide from the bugle and applied it to the trumpet. That was no easy feat..."
(Subscribe to read how Downey got his start in marching music, and his advice to young brass players!)
