Academy band: Annapolis' own Music: The Naval Academy Band belongs to all taxpayers, but its concerts on the City Dock have become a local institution.

An article Aug. 7 in the entertainment section misidentified the director of the Naval Academy's band.

Lt. Cmdr. Ralph M. Gambone is director of the concert band. Senior Chief Musician Randy L. Martell is director of the jazz band.

The Sun regrets the errors.

On a recent muggy summer evening on the City Dock in Annapolis, hundreds of lawn chairs lined the dock for the U.S. Naval Academy Band's weekly free concert.

Some of the spectators are new, having just recently stumbled upon this musical bargain. Others have been coming every week for 12 or 13 years.

What new visitors quickly learn is that the whole scene is intrinsically Annapolis: concert listeners floating by on sailboats sipping Chablis; locals bringing out their dogs, their children and refreshments to listen to the academy's band belt out everything from jazz to Top 40s music.

Though the band technically belongs to every taxpaying citizen in the country, people in Annapolis have come to see it as almost a city service. Even local politicians have caught on, showing up weekly to work the crowd.

'Same old town'

"This certainly captures the spirit of Annapolis in the summer," said Dick Fahey, who has been coming to the concerts with his wife for four years. "I love the fact this is the same old town it was 100 years ago. We've got a lot of real talent."

The band leader, Senior Chief Musician Randy L. Martell, laughs at the proprietary nature of high regard.

"The city of Annapolis and the Naval Academy Band have a very special relationship," Martell said. "There are a lot of ties. In fact, many of the retired band alumni decide to stay in the area because they feel so close to it."

The band, made up of 64 musicians on active duty in the Navy, serves as a college band for the Naval Academy during football and basketball seasons and as the city's unofficial band for just about every parade that rolls through town and almost every summertime city event.

The origins of the "hometown band" go back 144 years, when 13 men formed an ad hoc music group intended to support the Brigade of Midshipmen. They were talented enough from the start that the school and Navy came to depend on them for official military events. Now the band is second only to the Navy's official 150-instrument band based at the Washington Navy Yard.

The band isn't as well known outside Annapolis, however.

'Surprise' for outsiders

"We were really surprised to find this here," said Chad Askew, 23, who was avoiding traffic with two friends on their way to Washington. "We overheard someone at a restaurant talking about it and came down. They're really good."

Martell said the musicians try not to be monopolized by Annapolis events.

"Any place that calls, if we are free, we will go play," he said. Indeed, he and the band have played at presidential events in Washington and national events in on the southern coast of Chile.

Groups within the group

In addition to the main concert group, the band breaks up into almost a dozen smaller groups, including the wind ensemble, chamber ensemble, the Electric Brigade, which plays Top 40s hits, and the Next Wave, which is the Navy's jazz ensemble. There is also the Commandant's Combo, the Woodwind Quintet, the Brass Quintet, the Tuba/Euphonium Quartet and the Saxophone Quartet.

On any given Tuesday or Thursday night, spectators can find any number of these groups playing on the dock.

Kathy and Bill Daly from Arnold have watched the crowd swell over the past decade from a couple of dozen to a couple of hundred.

'Really happy atmosphere'

"It's a really happy atmosphere here," Kathy Daly said. "It's sort of neighborhood-y."

The academy band will wind up this summer's concert series Aug. 12, at 7 p.m. on the City Dock. It will also be the finale concert for Martell, who is retiring after 26 years with the band.

"This City Dock is as fun as it gets," he says. "The crowd is wonderful and it's a great place to play. I wouldn't have done anything else with the past 26 years."

Like most before him, he is also planning to stay in Annapolis.

Pub Date: 8/07/97