Crank Up The Band
The Empire Marching Elite brings the style and swag of HBCU marching bands to the streets of New York.
The Empire Marching Elite’s Carter Pollard and Jahlil Allah during the May 1 march for city council candidate Anthony Beckford. Photography by Michael George.
“The Empire Marching Elite! Soulful sounds that never sleep! Changing the world one groove at a time! Always marching with an empire state of mind! Our sound is strong, our passion stronger! Taking over the concrete jungle with sounds of thunder! WE ARE The Empire Marching Elite!”
The chant rang out, echoing off the surrounding brick walls, and was quickly followed by a tattering of drums, the clash of cymbals, and an explosion of horns. Suddenly, on a clear Saturday morning in early May, Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn was alive with music, movement and joy. The Empire Marching Elite (TEME) is an HBCU-style marching band bringing a vision and a vibe usually seen on football fields in the deep south to the streets of New York City. On this day, 60 musicians, steppers and dancers in matching gray sweats emblazoned with the TEME logo were waking up the Flatbush neighborhood to drum up support for Anthony Beckford, a city council candidate for the 45th District (which includes East Flatbush, Midwood, Marine Park, Flatlands and Kensington). Beckford, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Brooklyn, is all about the kind of grassroots, community-centered advocacy that TEME represents. The marching band, with its electric public performances, and daily practice sessions that took place in local parks during the pandemic, is the most visible—and loudest—component of Big Apple Leadership Academy for the Arts (BALAA). But the far-reaching work the that the 2-year-old non-profit is doing for the youth and families of New York City is as powerful as any drumline.
Jada John is the Executive Director of BALAA. She’s also a 10th-grade math teacher, and like all BALAA staff, keeps the non-profit running in her off hours (and on a completely volunteer basis). She and a group of six others co-founded BALAA exactly two years ago—June 20 is their anniversary—in response to the barriers to participation they saw within other community performing arts programs. John felt that charging any type of tuition would ultimately exclude the most vulnerable residents. She knew from the start that their organization would have to be completely free, forever.
“Our mission is to provide creative outlets for youth across the city. You know, being able to give people who come from historically underrepresented neighborhoods an opportunity to participate in arts programming, and do so in a way that doesn't burden them financially,” says John.
Photography by Michael George.
BALAA now offers 5 different programs: BALAA Beauties for girls aged 5 to 18; BALAA Brawns, for boys aged 9-18; BALAA Legacy, an adult wellness program offering guidance and support in everything from fitness and self care to financial literacy; BALAA Performing Arts, which includes performing arts development outside of the marching band, such as jazz band, step team, and a forthcoming orchestra; and of course, The Empire Marching Elite. Beyond the 60 musicians, aged 12 to 65, who are part of the top level performance marching band (the A group), there are two levels beneath them: The Bs, who are still honing their skills, and the Cs, or “our babies” as John affectionately calls them, who are just coming to band and getting schooled in the basics, from reading music to the fundamentals of marching.
“With The Empire Marching Elite, what you see when you come out to the performance is our advanced members. What you don't see is that we also have a developmental group. So, on Tuesdays, for example, they learn music theory, and on Mondays and Thursdays, they have a percussion developmental class. Then there are our B band horns, who are going to be debuting this week on Saturday for the first time ever. Those are our young people who have never played an instrument before, ever, until they came to us and learned how to read music. Now, not only have they read the music, but now they've learned how to play the music off the books without having to look at the sheet. And, so, you know, the training starts with them.”
Thanks to donated instruments, passionate volunteer staff (many of whom are HBCU marching band alums), and of course, the dedicated kids who show up daily, BALAA has already brought a quality performing arts education to hundreds of NYC kids. But John emphasizes that while the medium may be music, the focus is on nurturing the whole person.
“We knew that our young people needed to be more than just entertainers. They needed more than just, ‘Hey beat this drum’ or ‘Spin to this song,’ so we decided to create an umbrella organization to meet all of those different needs for young people,” says John. “We have so many stories from different people about how their involvement in programs like ours literally saved their lives, right, by keeping them from getting into trouble, or giving them something to do. It's just opening doors for a lot of people in a lot of different ways.”
REP CO sat down with BALAA’s co-founder and executive director, Jada John. Below is an edited version of our conversation.
Danielle Brooks, Justin Vargas, Bantu Bemoam, and Louis Blount of The Empire Marching Elite warming up before their May 1 performance. Photography by Michael George.
First off, tell us what we can expect from The Empire Marching Elite at the FREEFEST Juneteenth Festival this weekend in Domino Park.
“TEME will be opening up the festivities with a march in. The band will also back up a couple independent artists, like krump dancer Brian HallowDreamz Henry and spoken word artist, Shayla Lawson. And then we're going to debut our young people, our B band, that day. So everyone will get to see them for the first time playing. Of course, our full band will have a set as well.”
For those who are unfamiliar, how is an HBCU-style marching band different from other marching bands?
“So, I think the HBCU style is really like show style. You can visibly see the difference: It involves a lot more really high energy, a lot of dance, and a lot of choreography—you know, a lot of crowd pleasing, for lack of a better word.”
Photography by Michael George.
Why was it important to you to launch this type of program in New York?
“I think culturally in New York—New York is not a marching band state. That's something that's not really common to us here. So we are trying to recreate that marching band culture in New York City. It’s something that's sort of like, really absent.”
“And when we say HBCU style, we don't just mean in terms of, you know, how much we might dance while we are performing. We’re talking about actual real tradition. So we teach marching band fundamentals: they have to learn drills, they have to learn, you know, how to be on the fields, they have to learn how to read music. And so the whole idea of what it's like to be in a traditional type of HBCU setting is what we're trying to teach them. More than just the music—but the actual culture, and trying to recreate that here, so it becomes a norm.”
“And I think that because so many of our members, especially the older ones, they're not just aspiring to be in an HBCU band, they are alums—they actually used to play with them. So, we have both members and instructors who have marched with the likes of Miles College, South Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T, Clark Atlanta University, all these different schools.”
“And for them to be able to come back now and be at home and be husbands and wives and fathers and mothers and still be able to pick up a horn or a drum and get back into that feeling, I think, is really great. And then they have the opportunity to instill that same love in the younger people who are now looking forward to going off to college and doing the same.”
Carter Pollard and Jahlil Allah. Photography by Michael George.
The skill level of the band is next level—you are not messing around. What’s the practice schedule like?
“The rehearsal schedule is never ending. There are multiple rehearsals every day except Sunday, when the band is technically ‘off.’ I say technically because usually we'll have other types of programming or live performances, but we don't have band practice on Sundays.”
While there are plenty of other music and dance programs in the city, BALAA offers something different, beyond just the no-fee structure. Can you talk about that?
“I have a daughter that's enrolled in many different dance programs across the city, and these are reputable programs. And when we go there, she will be one of maybe 2 or 3 girls that look like her. And while these opportunities are great and it has opened many doors for her, a lot of the children in the inner city don't have an opportunity to experience it because they can't afford it. One of my sons plays trumpet and he goes to a school where there's a marching band, but it's not the style of band that, you know, we’ve got. And he felt like he wasn't growing there, because we do something that we call cranking, which is when you play like, really strong and really loudly. And other forms of bands don't do that. And so he asked me to send him away for the summer, so that he can train, and you know, become better. And then we formed this band, and now that's what he does, like all the time. So, also it’s a platform for them to become the type of musicians that deserve to get those scholarships.”
Photography by Michael George.
“When you're trying to go to a school that's in the South, where every elementary school and every middle school has a music program, they have a plethora of individuals to choose from within their own state. So, the question always becomes, how are you going to get in? Why should they choose you? Why should they pick somebody who comes from New York and offer them a full ride at out-of-state double tuition?”
Getting kids off to college—and specifically to consider attending HBCUs—seems like one of the main missions behind the music. Is that the case?
“Because we're able to pull in these young people and, you know, teach them from this age —7, 8, 9, 10 years old—by the time they become high schoolers looking to go after these scholarships, there'll be so well versed in their particular crafts that it just significantly improves their odds of acquiring one.”
Lamont Alonzo,
The Empire Marching Elite Percussion Instructor
“There was one practice we had where one of our executive board members, he's the Director of Performing Arts, Wil Hylton, he pulled one of the young men out of practice, came in and got the computer setup from the office and had him sit down and complete his college applications. He's like ‘You're not playing any instrument today.’ And lo and behold, that young man got accepted into Jackson State University and is now auditioning to be in that band.”
“And I've written a number of letters of recommendation for some of our girls who are looking to dance with collegiate lines, and I think that being with us motivates them a whole lot more, because, again, it's very difficult to train if you don't have a program, right?”
Ashlee Johnson,
The Empire Marching ELite
Percussionist
You also offer programming for adults. Can you tell us why you thought including that was important?
“The idea behind it is the thought that healthy adults raise healthy children. So, if we're also able to create opportunities for enrichment for the adults, hopefully it will trickle down, you know, in the home and sort of help them create what I would deem to be a better quality of life.”
Tell us about the TEME Creed, which is at the top of this story and you open every practice and performance with.
“The creed is something that we say that really defines who we are and also creates a sense of unity amongst the band, you know, when we all say it together and we feed off each other's energy.”
“When we were coming up with it, we thought: What do we want to say about ourselves? What do we want people to know? Even in naming the band, we wanted to ensure it had some connection to New York City. Everywhere we go, people need to know we are from New York City. That’s the Empire part of it, that’s where the whole “taking over the concrete jungle with sounds of thunder” comes from. Because everybody knows New York as the concrete jungle. New York City is known as the city that never sleeps, so in our creed we say “soulful sounds that never sleep”--these are the things we wanted to say about us. Even in our call, when the band director says “Yo band!” I don’t know if you ever walked the streets and heard somebody holler out “yurrrr” so we incorporated that into the sound. We wanted to be, like, really authentic New Yorkers that have a traditional southern style musicianship, but infuse our New York flavor into it. And that's really where that creed comes from: wanting everybody to understand, this is who we are, this is where we’re from, and building that sense of pride and unity within the band.”
Photography by Michael George.
Do you consider yourself an activist?
“I wouldn't consider myself an activist. I mean, I think that the term ‘activist’ has a very strong connotation that's often looked at quite negatively. But am I an advocate for ensuring that our community members receive what they are entitled to or are given the rights they should have?”
“Absolutely.”
“Am I willing to hit the ground running and do lots of grassroots work to ensure that it happens?”
“Absolutely.”
“But I wouldn't necessarily say Jada John is an activist.”
Photography by Michael George.
The world at large is waking up to issues that many Black people have been familiar with for a lifetime. How has this response affected you personally?
“Getting involved in BALAA has created a newfound passion for me. I was never one to be very civically engaged, like ever. I want to say that this coming election, the primaries, is actually going to be the first time I’ve ever voted outside a general election. And so, in many ways, it has birthed, and is sort of, flowering and watering a newfound desire to want to be one of those changemakers.”
Is there a limit to how many folks BALAA will take in? Is there a waitlist to join the band?
“We haven't set one. There is no wait list. Anyone who decides to join, can go online, register, and show up. No musical experience necessary. You could have woken up, and never seen an instrument a day in your life, and decided you wanted to do it today. Well, come right along.”
Lamont Alonzo, Legend Parker, Mahli Mathias, Bantu Bemoam, and Kevin Stewart.