An ex-slave trader. Oh wait, guess that doesn't matter to some groups. You know, those people who have lived perfect lives.
I was wondering when/if someone would bring up John Newton and Amazing Grace. I wish I had a $1 for every time I heard the tale in church about how John Newton had a spiritual awakening while captaining a slave ship during a great storm; renounced slavery, and wrote Amazing Grace. Of course they left a few details out. Such as .. John Newton wrote the poem around 1772. It wasn't put to music until around 1732 (about 42 years after he died). It was in 1748 when he had his spiritual conversion during a storm a sea while aboard the slave ship Greyhound. Newton returned in 1748 to Liverpool, a major port for the Triangle Trade. Partly due to the influence of his father's friend Joseph Manesty, he obtained a position as first mate aboard the slave ship Brownlow, bound for the West Indies via the coast of Guinea. After his return to England in 1750, he made three voyages as captain of the slave ships Duke of Argyle (1750) and African (1752–53 and 1753–54). After suffering a severe stroke in 1754, he gave up seafaring, while continuing to invest in Manesty's slaving operations. It wasn't until 1788 (4 decades after his spiritual conversion) that he went full-blown abolitionist, writing the pamphlet Thoughts Upon the Slave Trade. Kind of late to the party, but better late than never.
Huge news. Dr Hanna is retiring and his replacement is a former classmate of mine at UT, Cliff Croomes..... who just so happens to be Black. Cliff is a great guy and a great director and I support him 100% but I do wonder what the calculus behind the hire is. UT alumnus Cliff Croomes named next director of Longhorn Band | Butler School of Music - The University of Texas at Austin
The dates here jump all over the place, so to simplify (and with a small addition of my own Googling): 1748: Spiritual conversion after near-fatal storm at sea 1748-50: First mate on slave ship 1750-54: Captains various slave ships 1754: Suffers stroke, gives up seafaring 1772: Writes the poem "Amazing Grace" 1788: Publicly becomes abolitionist and writes pamphlet 1807: Slave trade is outlawed in the United Kingdom 1807: Dies 1835: "Amazing Grace" is set to music
Well back then I don't recall him, or anyone else for that matter, complaining about The Eyes. I'm hoping for Cliffs sake that they hired him simply because he's outstanding and not because of the color of his skin. They could have hired any number of qualified alums currently teaching at other universities....
No, I mean I hope he wants the band to play the songs LOUD/loudly. There was a time (late 80s), when our band was out-volumed by much smaller visiting bands.
LHABSOB, Thank you. Not knowing squat about what happens over there, I value your opinion, so I shall keep my blood pressure intact for the time being.
March Grandioso wouldn't sound the same without the piccolos, though. (You can sure hear them, an octave or two above everyone else)
And since Croomes is coming over from LSU, I assuming that he's steeped in the "play loud" tradition.
Anf that dear heart, is what confounds me about the whole ta do. Thanks for clearing up the dates Ajo, it puzzles me how he kept the slave ship trading going for so long ‘after’ his conversion. Don’t follow that part.
I'm playing in a Longhorn alumni band golf tournament on Monday at UT Golf Club. Going to get a picture there with Croomes for you guys. I don't view this as a token hire. He is family and he's coming home. Here's the link for any golfers that are interested. Event home page - Horns Up Golf Classic 2021
His spiritual awakening had nothing to do with slavery; he had a near-death experience and became a born-again Christian. We could get into a long discussion about whether religion has anything to do with morality, but that's way into West Mall territory, so let's not. Much later, he further saw the error of his ways and became an abolitionist, largely based on what he'd seen aboard slave ships. He wasn't so much a slave trader; he was a ship captain, and the cargo happened to be slaves. Yes, that makes him complicit, but evidently he didn't like what he saw. One could argue that it was hypocritical of him to be an abolitionist after many years in the slave trade, but you could also argue he was genuinely repentant. Hypocrisy and admitting fault are very different things; almost polar opposites. Based on a few things he said later in life, I get the idea he sincerely regretted his past: "It will always be a subject of humiliating reflection to me, that I was once an active instrument in a business at which my heart now shudders."
I think Cliff will do a great job. Hopefully he can talk some sense into the woke students. Keep LHB about the music and school spirit and NOT about politics.
The media already can't help itself. Yes Cliff is Black. Yes the band will play The Eyes. Get over it. UT names its first-ever Black band director amid ‘Eyes of Texas’ controversy | KXAN Austin
I wasn't kidding about those piccolos. Skip to the 2:20 mark in this video and you can hear them before you see them. (And note that some of the woodwind players are just carrying their instruments in this (Alumni Band) rehearsal, probably for the reason that 2003TexasGrad stated.)
Thanks for that Giovanni - I've always preferred watching the Alumni Band over the student band even before all the current issues and politics. They're reuniting to play the music they love with the people they enjoy playing it with, for no other reason than the goosebumps they get when doing so. You can see it on their faces in this video.
Look closely in the early part of the video, there's a horn player marching with a prosthetic right leg (at far right in the video). That's love & dedication right there.
Vino Bevo, As a LHB alum (graduated in 2000) I feel you summed up the feeling of playing in the alumni band very well with this statement. I last attended alumni band in 2018 after not participating in it for nearly 10 years (life and kids happened.) I say this with no shame.. when we were on the field at halftime I got overwhelmed and cried tears of joy as I played. It reminded me how much I enjoyed playing for the university I love and doing it with some of my best friends....
