Staff Bands
The staff bands are the top level of Salvation Army banding. A staff band is sponsored by a territorial headquarters. The staff bands were originally made up of staff members from the headquarters. Although most staff bands still have many Salvation Army officer and employee members, non-staff players are more common in the modern staff band. The staff bands are among the most formal Salvation Army groups. Most have long histories, and travel and record on a regular basis.
There are nine staff bands that are generally recognized as major staff bands. The International Staff Band is considered to be the premier band of the Army:
- Amsterdam (Netherlands)
- Canadian (Canada and Bermuda)
- Chicago (USA Central)
- German (Germany)
- Hong Kong (Hong Kong and Macau)
- International (United Kingdom)
- Japan (Japan)
- Melbourne (Australia South)
- New York (USA East)
- Southern Territorial Band (USA South)
Read more about this topic: Salvation Army Brass Band
Famous quotes containing the words staff and/or bands:
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—George Grosz (1893–1959)
“The thing that struck me forcefully was the feeling of great age about the place. Standing on that old parade ground, which is now a cricket field, I could feel the dead generations crowding me. Here was the oldest settlement of freedmen in the Western world, no doubt. Men who had thrown off the bands of slavery by their own courage and ingenuity. The courage and daring of the Maroons strike like a purple beam across the history of Jamaica.”
—Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960)