Essays on the history of bands in America from ca. 1820 to 1930, offering new insights on a major sphere of music making that brought diverse repertories to wide audiences. The essays in this volume, written by leading scholars in the field of American band history, examine a broad spectrum of issues, including biography, performance, repertoire, and marketing. Detailed studies of key turning points in the evolution of bands examine P. S. Gilmore's 1864 New Orleans concerts, the Kaiser-Cornet-Quartett's 1872 tour, the 1892 transition from Gilmore's Band to Sousa's Band, C. G. Conn's lavish artist-endorsement posters, and the demise of the Sousa Band in the late 1920s.

Additional essays seek to rectify oversights and add insights to the lives of key figures in band history. African American keyed bugler Frank Johnson's earliest works receive close scrutiny, as does the life of neglected cornet superstar Alice Raymond.

A complete reevaluation of Francesco Fanciulli, the US Marine Band leader whose reputation suffered greatly from an 1897 scandal, shows his importance in the realm of conducting and composition. An essay on the repertoire of a town band in antebellum New Hampshire and a documentary study of Civil War bandsmen seek to better understand social aspects of bands in the 1850s and 1860s. Edited by Bryan Proksch and George Foreman. Contributors: Patricia Backhaus, Margaret Downie Banks, Steve Bornemann, Jim A. Davis, Dave Detwiler, Michael B. O'Connor, Eric Roefs, and Colin Roust.