Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps
The Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps is a World Class competitive junior drum and bugle corps based in Concord, California, United States. The Blue Devils are members of Drum Corps International. The corps has finished first or second for the past 13 seasons and has placed no lower than fifth since finishing third in 1975. They also hold the record for the highest score in DCI history, winning the 2014 DCI World Championship title with a score of 99.65. The Blue Devils are the current DCI Champions, with an unmatched record of 19 titles to date.
History
In 1957, Tony and Ann Odello and the Concord VFW post assumed control of the Martinettes, a defunct drum corps and drill team. They reorganized the unit as The Blue Devils, taking the name from the V.F.W.'s color and a local landmark, Mt. Diablo. Initially, the group of fewer than 50 young people, performed as an all-boy drum corps with an all-girl drill team. In 1958, the Blue Devils added glockenspiels, becoming a drum and bell corps, while the girls became a separate baton twirling troupe, the Majorettes. The two units continued to perform together with much success, winning numerous state and local competitions between 1957 and 1970. In 1961, the Blue Devils added a flag section to the unit that was then competing in the state's Junior division. Jerry Seawright succeeded Tony Odello as corps manager in 1964. In 1968, the drum and bell corps moved into Senior Division competition, and a new "B" Junior corps was begun. All units of the Blue Devils organization were enjoying such success that the decision was made to transform the "A" drum and bell corps into a drum and bugle corps.In 1970, a group of ten buglers was added to the Blue Devils drums and flags, and the corps entered its first competition as the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps. By 1972, the unit, now with over seventy members, advanced from Class B competition to Class A and traveled on tour outside California for the first time, making appearances in the Pacific Northwest. The summer of 1973 marked the Blue Devils first national tour and its first appearance at the Drum Corps International World Championships in Whitewater, Wisconsin. Finishing 24th of 48 corps, the corps earned Associate membership in DCI. Also in 1973, the Junior drum and bell corps became the Blue Devils B D&B Corps and the younger Blue Devils C D&B Corps was formed. In 1974, the Blue Devils finished in 9th place at the DCI Championships; in 1975 advanced to 3rd place; and in 1976, won the first of the corps' record 19 DCI World Championship titles. After Seawright's retirement in 1984, Mike Moxley became director, and since 1991, the corps has been under the direction of David Gibbs, a former marching member and drum major.
Of special note among the Blue Devils nineteen World Championships are those of 1982, 1994, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2017 when the corps went through the entire season without suffering a defeat. 2009 also marked the first season that one organization won multiple titles, when the Blue Devils won World Class and the Blue Devils B won Open Class having also done it the next year in 2010 and then again in 2014. Over the years, the Devils have often made use of jazz and Latin music repertoires, notably Bill Reddie's Channel One Suite and charts from the music of Chick Corea and Chuck Mangione and that written for Stan Kenton's big band. Because of their musical style choices, the Devils are one of the corps most associated with jazz.
In 2014, the Blue Devils won their sixteenth DCI World Championship and recorded their sixth undefeated season. At the DCI Finals in Indianapolis on August 9, the corps received a record high score of 99.650. In doing so, they beat the second place Bluecoats by a margin of 2.475, bested the previous high of the 2002 Cavaliers and 2005 Cadets by half a point, and earned a perfect score from seven of the eleven judges. The Blue Devils are also the only corps to have crossed the 99-point threshold twice in DCI Championship history achieving a 99.050 in 2009 with 1930, and a 99.650 in 2014 with Felliniesque.
On August 8, 2015, the Blue Devils won their seventeenth DCI Championship. It was the corps' first come-from-behind win, after finishing preliminaries in fourth place because of a penalty, trailing Carolina Crown, Bluecoats, and The Cadets and semifinals in second, behind Carolina Crown.
In the Blue Devils' 2017 program, "Metamorph," voiceovers were used from a newly-discovered audio tape recording of the late former director Jerry Seawright addressing the crowd at the Blue Devils' first appearance as a drum and bugle corps in 1972.
Through the corps' 62nd anniversary in 2019, the Blue Devils continue to be a DCI Finalist, with the streak extending through 45 consecutive Top Twelve finishes, including 19 World Class Championships. They also have a run of thirteen consecutive seasons of either being champion or runners-up, another uncontested record in DCI.
Sponsorship
The Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps is sponsored by BD Performing Arts, a 501 musical organization. As such, it has a Board of Directors, directors, and staff assigned to carry out the organization's mission. The CEO is Shaun Gallant and the Corps Director is Pat Seidling.BD Performing Arts also sponsors the Blue Devils B corps , the Blue Devils C corps, the Blue Devils Open Class and A Class Winter Guards program, the Diablo Wind Symphony, and BD Entertainment.
In 2015, BD Performing Arts added the Blue Devils International Corps, a 97-member unit made up of alumni of the Blue Devils and 8 other DCI World Class corps. The corps spent more than a month traveling and performing in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Switzerland, concluding with 9 days and 15 performances of their 7–minute show at the Basel Tattoo in Switzerland.
Note A- The Blue Devils B won the DCI Open Class World Championships for 2009, '10, '11, '14, & '16.
Note B- The Blue Devils World Class Winter Guard won the Winter Guard International Independent World Class Championships for 1995–98..
Show summary (1971-2020)
Source =Gold background indicates DCI Championship; pale blue background indicates DCI Class Finalist; pale green background indicates DCI semifinalist.
| Year | Theme | Repertoire | Score | Placement |
| 1971 | Theme from Lawrence of Arabia by Maurice Jarre / Ode to Joy by Ludwig van Beethoven / America The Beautiful by Samuel A. Ward and Katharine Lee Bates / Big Spender by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields / Stoney End by Laura Nyro / Shadow of Your Smile by Johnny Mandel and Paul Francis Webster | --- | --- | |
| 1972 | Strike Up the Band by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin / Ave Maria by Franz Schubert / Venus by Robbie van Leeuwen / The Man I Love & I Got Rhythm by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin / Day in the life of a Fool by Luiz Bonfá and Antônio Maria adapted by Carl Sigman | --- | --- | |
| 1973 | Chant and Jubilo by W. Francis McBeth / Jupiter by Gustav Holst / Ave Maria by Franz Schubert / This Could Be the Start of Something Big by Steve Allen / Miserlou adapted by Nicholas Roubanis / Caravan by Juan Tizol / Morning of the Carnival by Luiz Bonfá and Antônio Maria | 66.100 | 24th | |
| 1974 | Chant and Jubilo by W. Francis McBeth / Porgy and Bess by George Gerswin, DuBose Heyward, and Ira Gershwin / Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor, Chase the Clouds Away & Feel of a Vision by Chuck Mangione / One Touch of Venus by Kurt Weill and Ogden Nash / Lady Sings the Blues by Billie Holiday and Herbie Nichols | 79.150 | 9th | |
| 1975 | Space Shuttle by John LaBarbera / Love's Been Gone So Long by Bruce Conte / What Is Hip by Emilio Castillo and Stephen Kupka / Squib Cakes by Chester Thompson / Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor, Feel of a Vision & Chase the Clouds Away by Chuck Mangione | 88.600 | 3rd | |
| 1976 | Channel One Suite by Bill Reddie / Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor & Chase the Clouds Away by Chuck Mangione | 92.700 | 1st | |
| 1977 | Channel One Suite by Bill Reddie / Spanish Fantasy by Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea / Gonna Fly Now by Bill Conti | 92.050 | 1st | |
| 1978 | Chicago III Suite Suite adapted by Stan Kenton / Spanish Fantasy by Chick Corea / Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor by Chuck Mangione | 91.200 | 3rd | |
| 1979 | Chicago III Suite Suite adapted by Stan Kenton / / La Suerte de Los Tontos by Johnny Richards / A Pauper in Paradise by Gino Vannelli / My Heart Belongs to Me by Alan Gordon | 93.550 | 1st | |
| 1980 | New York Fantasy by Wayne Downey / Ya Gotta Try by Sammy Nestico / Pegasus by Hank Levy / Free by Robert Lamm / La Suerte de Los Tontos by Johnny Richards / Pauper in Paradise by Gino Vanelli / Dindi by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Aloysio de Oliveira, adapted by Ray Gilbert | 90.600 | 1st | |
| 1981 | New York Fantasy by Wayne Downey / Ya Gotta Try by Sammy Nestico / La Danse du Bonheur by John McLaughlin and L. Shankar / One More Time Chuck Corea by Gene Puerling / Johnny One Note by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart / Dindi by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Aloysio de Oliveira, adapted by Ray Gilbert | 93.700 | 2nd | |
| 1982 | T.O. by Rob McConnell / Pegasus by Hank Levy / Paradox by Kerry Livgren and Steve Walsh / One More Time Chuck Corea by Gene Puerling / People Alone by Lalo Schifrin and Will Jennings | 95.250 | 1st | |
| 1983 | T.O. by Rob McConnell / Everybody Loves the Blues by Maynard Ferguson and Nick Lane / Paradox by Kerry Livgren and Steve Walsh / One More Time Chuck Corea by Gene Puerling / A New Beginning by Wayne Downey | 93.800 | 2nd | |
| 1984 | Bacchanalia by Steve Spiegl / Latin Implosion by Hank Levy / Karn Evil 9 by Keith Emerson, Greg Lake, and Peter Sinfield / La Fiesta by Chick Corea / Like A Lover by Dori Caymmi, Nelson Motta, Alan Bergman, and Marilyn Bergman | 97.900 | 2nd | |
| 1985 | Liferaft Earth by Marius Nordal / Trilogy by Keith Emerson and Greg Lake / Karn Evil 9 by Keith Emerson, Greg lake, and Peter Sinfield / Piano Concerto No. 1 by Keith Emerson / First Circle by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays | 97.100 | 3rd | |
| 1986 | Channel One Suite by Bill Reddie / Conquistador by Jay Chattaway and Maynard Ferguson / Spanish Fantasy & Chick Corea Suite by Chick Corea | 98.400 | 1st | |
| 1987 | Spanish Dreams | Fanfare For The New by Hugo Montenegro / Harlem Nocturne by Earle Hagen and Dick Rogers / Echidna's Arf by Frank Zappa / Free by James Pankow / Spanish Dreams by Phil Kelly | 94.400 | 4th |
| 1988 | Happy Days Are Here Again by Milton Ager and Jack Yellen / That Old Black Magic by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer / Goodbye Yesterday by Don Piestrup / Since I Fell For You by Buddy Johnson | 96.300 | 3rd | |
| 1989 | Ya Gotta Try by Sammy Nestico / If We Were In Love by John Williams, Alan Bergman, and Marilyn Bergman / Allegre by Claude Bolling / Johnny One Note by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart | 95.900 | 4th | |
| 1990 | Selections from Tommy | Sparks / See Me Feel Me / Tommy Can You Hear Me / Pinball Wizard / Underture / Listening To You / Overture Finale All from Tommy by Pete Townshend | 95.300 | 4th |
| 1991 | Conversations in Jazz | Commencement by Johnny Richards / Bird and Bela in B Flat & by Don Sebesky | 93.800 | 5th |
| 1992 | Big, Bad and Blue | Blue Light, Red Light by Harry Connick, Jr. and Ramsey McLean / El Congo Valiente, Fuego Cubano & La Suerte de Los Tontos by Johnny Richards / When a Man Loves a Woman by Percy Sledge but credited to Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright | 95.400 | 4th |
| 1993 | A Don Ellis Portrait | Open Wide & Great Divide by Don Ellis / Chain Reaction by Hank Levy / Strawberry Soup & Niner-Two by Don Ellis | 95.100 | 4th |
| 1994 | My Spanish Heart | Spanish Fantasy Part I, Night Streets, Day Danse, My Spanish Heart & Spanish Fantasy Part 4 All by Chick Corea | 98.400 | 1st |
| 1995 | Carpe Noctem | Buleria by Vince Mendoza / Conquistador by Jay Chattaway and Maynard Ferguson / Coronation of the Dead Queen, Mvt 4 & Ines, 2nd Mvt. by Jim Sochinski / No Heroes by Rick Tait / Commencement by Johnny Richards / Caribe by Michel Camilo / Day Danse by Chick Corea / Dom Pedro's Revenge, 5th Mvt. by Jim Sochinski | 96.700 | 3rd |
| 1996 | Club Blue: A Gangster Chronicle | The Children's Hour of Dream by Charles Mingus / Desi by Michael Daugherty / Tess' Theme & Trouble by Danny Elfman | 97.400 | 1st |
| 1997 | As Time Goes By... | Casablanca by Max Steiner / One Night In Bangkok by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, and Tim Rice / A Night in Tunisia by John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie and Frank Paparelli / As Time Goes By by Herman Hupfeld | 98.400 | 1st |
| 1998 | One Hand, One Heart... | Romeo and Juliet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky / West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim | 97.700 | 3rd |
| 1999 | Rhythms... At the Edge of Time | ' Estancia Ballet by Alberto Ginastera / ' Powerhouse: Rhumba for Orchestra - Rhumba by Graeme Koehne / ' Powerhouse: Rhumba for Orchestra - Samba by Graeme Koehne / ' Adios Nonino by Astor Piazolla / ' Unchained Melody by Graeme Koehne / ' The Dirty Boogie by Brian Setzer | 98.400 | 1st |
| 2000 | Methods of Madness | Taxi Driver: A Night Piece For Orchestra - Prelude & Blues, Prelude, Prelude, Scene d' Amour & The Wild Ride All by Bernard Hermann | 96.900 | 3rd |
| 2001 | Awayday Blue | Awayday by Adam Gorb / Fantasy Variations by Donald Grantham | 97.600 | 2nd |
| 2002 | Jazz: Music Made in America | Ragtime adapted by Randy Newman / I Got Rhythm & Fascinating Rhythm by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin / House of the Rising Sun / Channel One Suite by Bill Reddie | 97.300 | 2nd |
| 2003 | Phenomenon of Cool | Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquin Rodrigo / Take Five by Paul Desmond / Blue Rondo A La Turk & Unsquare Dance by Dave Brubeck / Cool Fugue and Prologue from West Side Story by Leonard Bernstein | 98.800 | 1st |
| 2004 | The SummerTrain Blues MIX | The Ghost Train Tryptich by Eric Whitacre / Summertime by George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, and Ira Gershwin / Take the 'A' Train by Billy Strayhorn / Calling the Indians Out by Wynton Marsalis | 98.525 | 2nd |
| 2005 | Dance Derby of the Century | Redline Tango by John Mackey / Brother Can You Spare A Dime by Jay Gorney and E.Y. Harburg / Prelude Fugue and Riffs & On the Town by Leonard Bernstein / In Wartime by David Del Tredici | 95.250 | 4th |
| 2006 | The Godfather, Part BLUE | Selections from The Godfather by Nino Rota and Carmine Coppola | 96.550 | 3rd |
| 2007 | Winged Victory | Bird and Bela in B Flat by Don Sebesky / Celebrare Celeberrime by Carl Vine / Introduction to Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky / Pegasus by Hank Levy / Firebird Suite by Igor Stravinsky / The Kiss by Michael Torke | 98.000 | 1st |
| 2008 | Constantly Risking Absurdity | Main Theme from Sweeney Todd by Stephen Sondheim / Phrygian Gates by John Adams / Bach 2 Part Invention in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach; adapted by Gordon Goodwin / Serenada Schizophrana by Danny Elfman / I Will Wait For You by Michel Legrand / The Untouchables by Ennio Morricone | 98.100 | 2nd |
| 2009 | 1930 | Get Happy by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler / Happy Days Are Here Again by Milton Ager and Jack Yellen / Playing Love by Ennio Morricone / Piano Variations by Aaron Copland / Rialto Ripples by George Gershwin / I Got Rhythm by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin / Piano Concerto in F by George Gershwin / Caravan by Juan Tizol / Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin | 99.050 | 1st |
| 2010 | Through a Glass Darkly | City of Glass Suite by Bob Graettinger / Conflict & Mirage by Pete Rugolo / Trajectories by Franklyn Marks / Incident In Jazz by Bob Graettinger / Laura by David Raksin and Johnny Mercer / La Suerte De Los Tontos by Johnny Richards | 98.900 | 1st |
| 2011 | The Beat My Heart Skipped | A House Is Not a Home / Summer of 77 / Walk On By / One Less Bell To Answer / Woman / I Say A Little Prayer / Wives And Lovers / God Give Me Strength All by Burt Bacharach | 97.800 | 2nd |
| 2012 | Cabaret Voltaire | Harmonielehre by John Adams / Morrison Mania by James Horner / The Children's Hour of Dream by Charles Mingus / Symphonies: V by Andre Souris / Bird and Bela in B Flat by Don Sebesky /Gymnopedies by Erik Satie / Ballet Mecanique by George Antheil / Peppy and George by Ludovic Bource / Dr. Bones by Steve Perry / New Arrival by Danny Elfman / Tevot by Thomas Ades / Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin | 98.700 | 1st |
| 2013 | The Re:Rite of Spring | The Rite of Spring by Igor Stravinsky / The Rite of Spring by Don Sebesky / The ReWrite of Spring by Darryl Brenzel | 98.050 | 2nd |
| 2014 | Felliniesque | Act 1 – Fellini's Religion: Old Toys by Danny Elfman / La Strada Theme by Nino Rota Act 2 – Fellini's Circus: The Clowns by Nino Rota / Circo Compagnia by Gordon Goodwin Act 3 – Fellini's Fantasy: Be Italian by Maury Yeston / Movie Studio by Danny Elfman | 99.650† | 1st |
| 2015 | Ink | Dark Forest by Dave Glyde / The Ballad of Sweeney Todd & The Giant Attack by Stephen Sondheim / The Mad Hatter's Tea Party by Gordon Goodwin / I Like You by J.Y. Park / Children Will Listen & Last Midnight by Stephen Sondheim | 97.650 | 1st |
| 2016 | As Dreams Are Made On | Cape Fear by Bernard Herrmann / Stormy Weather by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler / Ariel Attack by Gordon Goodwin / Where Are Ü Now by Sonny Moore, Jason Boyd, Justin Bieber, Jared Evan, and Thomas Pentz/ The Impossible by Fernando Velazquez / Prospero's Magic by Dave Glyde / Mishima by Philip Glass | 97.250 | 2nd |
| 2017 | Metamorph | Birth of Eternity, Dreamscape & Facing Future by Dave Glyde / The Triumph of Time by Peter Graham / Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov / Everything Must Change by Benard Ighner / STAY. by Hans Zimmer / Who Knows One? / Crystal by Simon Dobson | 98.538 | 1st |
| 2018 | Dreams and Nighthawks | Laura by David Raskin and Johnny Mercer / Harlem Nocturne by Earle Hagen and Dick Rogers / Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson / A Natural Woman by Gerry Goffin, Carole King, and Jerry Wexler / Jacob’s Bakery by James Newton Howard / City Noir by John Adams / Blade Hawks by Simon Dobsen / Night Runner by Paul Lovatt-Cooper / Gotham City by Dave Glyde / Konakkol Duet by Vidwan B. R. Somasheker Jois and Kumari V. Shivapriya / Playing Love by Ennio Morricone | 97.350 | 2nd |
| 2019 | Ghostlight | Don't Think by Slamb / Rhythm Song by Paul Smadbeck / Cycle Song by Imogen Heap / A True Passion & Stroke of Genius by Lorne Balfe / Symphony No. 3 by Aram Khachaturian / Ghostlight by Dave Glyde / Circus by Lukasz Sebastian Gottwald, Claude Kelly, and Benjamin Joseph Levin | 98.325 | 1st |
| 2020 | Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic |
† = DCI record high score.
Caption awards
At the annual World Championship Finals, Drum Corps International presents awards to the corps with the high average scores from prelims, semifinals, and finals in five captions. The Blue Devils have won these caption awards:Jim Ott Best Brass Performance Award
- 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014
- 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019
- 2003, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2017
- 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015
- 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
- Currently the only Corps to win this award 8 times in a row.
High General Effect Award
- 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1994, 1996
High Visual Award
- 1980, 1981, 1982, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999
High Brass Award
- 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999
High Percussion Award
- 1976, 1977, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1994, 1996