Probably the first band in recorded history was the seven piece ensemble that followed Joshua with rams’-horn trumpets around the walled city of Jericho. Since then, the development of band music has undergone a great change and has taken many forms, ranging from the solitary bugle call to arms, to the band concert on the mall. ‘Forward March’ inaugurates a concert band series highlighting the All-American Band, directed by Robert A. Williams. The program features fast-moving rhythms... the stirring strains of martial airs, football marches and favorite concert melodies. A clear, bright trumpet fanfare ushers in the swinging measures of Military Life, a march masterpiece by the renowned bandmaster-composer, Karl L. King. The patriotic fervor continues in The Blue Banner, which was dedicated to the 128th Infantry, Wisconsin National Guard. Those spirit-rousing high school and college bands are honored in the jaunty Westmoreland, and the mainstay of all school athletic teams, the American Boy is also the theme of a triumphal salute. Two other march-time salutes are contributed by composer Ted Mesang; one is a tribute to the American Flag, called Emblem Of Glory, the other, Southern Special, glorifies the old Southland. For music in the classic vein, this album offers two concert marches... Metallo’s Celebre Toreador, and Canzonetta De Salvator Rosa by Franz Liszt, as well as two excerpts from Tschaikowsky’s ballet ‘The Nutcracker’... Marche and Miniature Overture.