Sioux City Municipal Band's longest-tenured member brings experience, sense of history

"When I was like 5 years old, I was following my parents down the sidewalk in Sioux City on Fourth and Jones or something like that and there was a Max’s Accordion Shop there. My parents looked back and I wasn’t around. They checked back and there I was at that accordion shop."

Two years later, he was playing accordion around the house. 

In fifth grade, he started up with the oboe, not entirely out of choice. 

"When they tested the fifth-graders for band, I scored the highest for aptitude and the band director told my mom: 'He’s going to play the oboe because that’s the hardest instrument to play.' I wanted to play the trumpet but the band director won out and I’m glad he did," Gross recalled. 

History and range

At the time Gross started, the Sioux City Municipal Band was still led by Leo Kucinski, who had directed it since 1929 and was a key figure in the construction of the bandshell in the 1930s. 

"You don’t forget the goosebumps that you get when something touches you and stays with you. There were many of those experiences under Leo Kucinski. I learned a lot from him and so did everyone else under him. This community was blessed to have him be a part of this musical family and community," Gross reflected.

A Journal connection

The band's history actually stretches back more than 100 years and the earliest members were part of The Journal's "Newsboy band," which formed in 1912. Some of those newsboys went off to fight in World War I, and, after they returned, formed the American Legion-affiliated Monahan Post Band. The band was renamed the Sioux City Municipal Band in 1948. 

Since he began, as a University of South Dakota freshman, the 79-year-old Gross has expanded to include more than just oboe and accordion. First he was on tenor saxophone and then picked up English horn. The latter he's played in the Sioux City Symphony, which he's been a member of for 50 years.

Over time, Gross migrated to alto saxophone which he now plays most frequently with the Sioux City Municipal Band. During the band's show at the Grandview Park Bandshell on Sunday, July 14, Gross got to take a solo with composer Sammy Nestico's "Persuasion" which has been described as a "lush, lyrical" piece.

"I like 'Persuasion' because it’s not glitz and glamor, it’s a jazz piece ballad that’s fairly slow but gives the performer a chance to express a true jazz style, which is part of our American heritage. So that’s a solo I like to play a lot just because of that," Gross said. 

Wide range of music

Sioux City Municipal Band Director Michael Prichard said he's tried to offer a range of musical styles since he took the reins from Larry Mitchell in 2015. Just this season, Prichard said the band has performed a "Star Wars" medley, music from an Iowa composer named Travis Cross and takes on pieces from episodes of "Looney Tunes" as well as staples such as suites from English composer Gustav Holst and "Variations on America" by Charles Ives. Gross said he appreciates the eclecticism of Prichard's programming.

"I think he has broadened the type of music we play. We have more pieces that appeal to a younger crowd. And also different nationalities of music," Gross said.

In turn, Prichard appreciates Gross because the former music teacher brings a stability to the band's proceedings which is important given they only rehearse the day of the Sunday concert from about 3 p.m. to 5:15 p.m. 

"We know what to expect from them as musicians. They know how to prepare for rehearsal," he said of Gross and other long-tenured members."

As for the band as a whole, both men said it represents something very special.

"It should be one of the biggest draws to bring business and people into our city," Gross remarked. 

"It’s a quality of life enhancement for the community," said Prichard. "The music is really enjoyable. It’s a service we’re happy to provide. And Iowa has a history of community bands that’s more than century old."

Correctly, in style

Over the years of playing with the band, Gross has gotten to be good friends with various members that they've formed their own little groups.

"I started a woodwind quintet and we play all over. We’ve played quite a few concerts at the art center. Four of us are retirement age or older and we really enjoy it and it keeps you young," Gross said.

That notion of music keeping you young is something he circles back to more than once in conversation. 

"What’s unique about all of the arts is that you can keep active in them all your life and there aren’t many things you can say that about," Gross noted. Which there's unmistakable truth in. Through mid-July, Willie Nelson, 91, and Bob Dylan, 83, were maintaining a robust touring schedule as part of the "Outlaw Music Festival." Director Martin Scorsese is 81 and still making movies that garner Academy Award nominations.

There's another, more personal, reason Gross said he's kept up with music for so many years.

"I know it’s the best way I have to convey or express my emotions, how I feel. I feel words are very limiting and with music I feel I can show people exactly how I feel," Gross said.

Sometimes those feelings haven't come up exactly right and he's flubbed (mistakes happen with years even with decades of practice). But Gross has arrived at a Zen-like attitude about any so-called errors.

"It happens to everybody because we’re human, but the flubs we’re mainly talking about are mechanical flubs and not musical flubs," Gross said. "In other words, you can play a wrong note but it doesn’t mean something bad unless you play the note at the wrong volume or style or in the wrong tone. To me, playing the right note or not the right style or intonation or tone is worse than playing a completely wrong note but correctly, in style." 

As long as he can still play in the style that feels right to him, Gross said he'll continue to perform. However long he continues with the Sioux City Municipal Band, Gross, as the longest-tenured member, will feel a great responsibility to his bandmates.

"They need to know the background and the history of the organization," he said. "I think it adds a sense of pride."

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that Gross plays in a quintet and still plays oboe.