About the Band

Twenty-two (22) years ago, something special happened – a musical trajectory was engineered in Huntsville, Alabama, when the Brass Band of Huntsville launched its inaugural rehearsal on April 30, 2001.  It started with the vision and determination of Paul F. Zubrod (1927 - 2014) to bring about the revival of the grass-roots tradition of the American brass band to Huntsville and the surrounding area.

Founded in 2001, Alabama’s original British-style brass band, the Brass Band of Huntsville, is a registered 501(c)3 Non-Profit organization.  BBoH is a diverse, 30-piece, all-volunteer ensemble of top-tier musicians that seeks to lead a musical renaissance in the arts community as the original, traditional British-style brass band in the State of Alabama.

Alabama’s top brass deliver powerful and unique performances that social media has referred to as a “Musical Star” from the Rocket City.

From all parts of the Tennessee Valley Region, the Brass Band of Huntsville has delighted audiences with its signature power and style in at least four concert and two “Hops and Pops” performances each season.  Every performance features both superb soloists and lighthearted fun!  The band’s extensive repertoire includes American tunes, Big Band swing and jazz, music from Broadway and Hollywood, classical and contemporary brass band masterworks and -- of course -- traditional marches.

What is a British-Style Brass Band?

“Brass Bands are one of the world’s most wide spread forms of amateur music performance”

The brass band dates back to the early nineteenth century and England’s Industrial Revolution as an outgrowth of the medieval Waits groups. With increasing urbanization, employers began to finance work bands to decrease the political activity with which the working classes seemed preoccupied during their leisure time. Thus, the brass band tradition was founded.

What makes the brass band unique? All the brass music (with the exception of the bass trombone) is scored in treble clef, a characteristic that over the years has allowed for remarkable freedom among certain bands, making the transition from one instrument to another somewhat easier. The number of members (instrumentation) is rigid, usually limited to between twenty-eight and thirty players, but the repertoire is unusually flexible, with concert programs consisting of anything from original works, orchestral transcriptions and featured soloists to novelty items, marches, medleys, and hymn tune arrangements.

With the exception of the trombones, all instruments are conical in design, producing a more mellow, richer sound, yet one that has wide dynamic and coloristic variety. The term “brass band” is not entirely accurate, since brass bands also normally include up to three percussion players who are called upon to play as many as twenty different instruments depending on the demands of the music. Standard acceptance of more than one percussionist in the brass band is really a phenomenon of the last forty years, but one that has added immense challenge, interest and variety to the sound.

Although brass bands were an important part of life in nineteenth-century America, they were superseded by larger concert and marching bands. However, many fine historic brass bands are still actively performing today. During the course of this century the Salvation Army was predominantly responsible for maintaining the brass band tradition in America through their music ministry. Only in the last fifteen years has a brass band resurgence begun in North America. The formation of the North American Brass Band Association (NABBA) has been crucial and influential in the renaissance.

Original works from Holst and Elgar to modern-day composers such as Philip Sparke, Edward Gregson and Joseph Horovitz have resulted in a growing and dynamic repertoire. American composers such as James Curnow, Williams Himes, Stephen Bulla and Bruce Broughton all got their start writing for brass bands of the Salvation Army and are currently writing brass band music in addition to their other compositions for band, orchestra and film scores.

There are presently several hundred brass bands in North America, many affiliated with NABBA, and it is not only exciting to see the tradition making a return, but also such a valuable and unique contribution to the rich musical heritage of this country. A Brass Band as the term is used on the NABBA Home Page refers to a British style Brass Band which uses instrumentation that was standardized in the later part of the last century. The Standard instrumentation for a British Brass Band is

• 1 Eb Soprano Cornet

• 9 Bb Cornets

• 1 Bb Flugelhorn

• 3 Eb Tenor Horns

• 2 Bb Baritones (Small Bore)

• 2 Euphoniums

• 2 Bb Tenor Trombones (Small Bore)

• 1 Bass Trombone (Big Bore)

• 2 EEb Basses

• 2 BBb Basses

• 3 Percussionists

Credit: “What is a British-style brass band” NABBA.org

Paul Zubrod

The Brass Band of Huntsville began with the vision of Paul F. Zubrod, a trombone-playing WWII veteran who saw combat in Germany and Czechoslovakia as a member of Patton’s 3rd Army. Paul embarked on a successful career in the defense industry while playing his trombone and leading numerous dance bands in the Columbus, Ohio area.

While on business in England, Paul heard a BBC broadcast of a brass band competition and he was hooked. The powerful and proficient brass band sound of that broadcast sparked Paul’s dream of starting a brass band when he returned to the United States. Following retirement, Paul and his wife Marilyn moved to Huntsville, where he put his dream of starting a brass band into motion. Through many phone calls and countless hours of hard work and perseverance, the Brass Band of Huntsville (BBoH) conducted its first rehearsal on April 30, 2001. Paul passed peacefully on March 19, 2014, and we still miss him very much. Paul’s legacy lives on through the Brass Band of Huntsville.