6
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday. November 10, 1967
"...ONCE MORE—THIS TIME WITH FEELING..."
Bandsmen march to Mr. B's beat
By Maggie Ogilvie Kansan Staff Director
"Mr. B's" head was bobbing in rhythm with one palm tapping the railing of a tower 22 feet above KU's Marching Band. He was watching from the standpoint of an audience, a "buddy," and a "strict disciplinarian."
That's how 120 students on the field below saw Kenneth Bloomquist as he directed daily rehearsals for the Colorado half-time show this week. A crisp breeze carried his warm voice from the loud speaker:
"C'mon, guys, remember . . . on the beat!"
Beat was off
Despite his count, the beat was off. He growled, called out suggestions to a few by name, and gave a pivoting demonstration.
A bandsman in the formation raised a question.
"Gee whiz, he's great," said a freshman "extra" on the sidelines. "He doesn't sound like it right now, but he is!"
"You guys who know what you're doing—help the guys who don't," he answered. "In a constructive manner—it doesn't do any good to get mad."
An hour later he climbed down, teeth chattering, as he threw an army jacket over his stocky frame, but smiling as he gave another boy's inquiry a "yes, sir!" reply.
"Fly!" he joked as another asked how to get across the center of a revolving pinwheel pattern. "You won't come out with more than two or three broken teeth!"
"Mr. B" is "right down there" at every game, said Doug Maxwell, St. Louis, Mo., junior and head drum major.
"He's not up in the stands drinking coffee. Even if he's not out there playing you know it's his show—we're just interpreting him. You can just see he's beaming if we do a good job."
Lot to beam about
Now he is "looking forward to the tremendous advantage" of a sabbatical leave from February to June, when he will observe teaching and rehearsal methods used by outstanding Big Ten, Southwestern, and Western Conference universities and "relate them to our own situation."
Bloomquist has had a lot to beam about in 10 years as assistant band director at KU. Known across the United States as a leading instructor of wind and percussion, he has enhanced the music department's reputation with 25 Brass Choir concerts off campus each year. Three years ago the Brass Choir made a four-month State Department tour of Southeast Asia — his "dream of a lifetime."
Concerned about University
"He's the type of guy that would first be concerned about what he could do for the University," said long-time friend, William L. Kelley, assistant registrar. "He's extremely imaginative and has really built the department here up
to a very high peak of proficiency and numbers."
Bloomquist was once asked by the Australian government to apply for a Fulbright scholarship to build high school band programs there, as he often does here, traveling to many states as a guest director. He first taught on
See Band director, page 10
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