2000 Field Show - "Latin Heat"

Portsmouth East's 2000 show, "Latin Heat", continues the band's venture into stylistically challenging shows, choosing the high intensity of Spanish/Latin music. The music was arranged (as was last year's) by Jay Bocook with the exception of the percussion for "The Peanut Vendor", which was done by Will Rapp.

The music is rated as "moderately difficult" (in the numbered scale, this is between 3.5-4.5). The drill, once again, is of highly difficult Drum & Bugle Corps design, exacting many hours of practice from the band in the quest to perfect the visually stunning forms and movements.

The opening piece, the popular Spanish piece "Malagueña", shows just what the band intends to accomplish with their performance: a powerful portrayal of Latin music at its best (and not the watered down Latin Pop that is so prevalent these days)! "Malagueña" has many meter changes (time signature) as well as several stylistic changes (including a jazz/swing section). 

"The Peanut Vendor (El Manicero)" lightens the serious mood set by "Malagueña" by introducing the audience to the Caribbean mambo sound. The piece showcases many soloists and visually immaculate drill. There was even a fun surprise for the audience during one of the trumpet solos; while soloist Jane Morrison played, fellow trumpeter Michael Ervin took control of the valves! ¡Muy caliente!

"Granada" contends with "Malagueña" as quite possibly one of the most popular traditional Latin music pieces of all time; it is definitely just as powerful, if not more so than the opener. Once again, this piece bears many time signature changes with a little tempo variance thrown in for good measure. There is a beautiful cadenza solo played on the trumpet, a mariachi-worthy Latin waltz (3/4 time) section, and the most recognizable section of "Granada": the bull-fighter accelerando. Starting slowly, the piece accelerates to a light speed presto that leads to the finale, which leaves the competition field smoldering in the band's wake!

Even amidst the chaos of a lower member count and a new band director, Portsmouth East continued in excellence, receiving great acclaim on the competition circuit. The 2000 "Latin Heat" show ranks among the most successful of the band's seasons.