Music Man : Jazz Band Marks 25 Years Under Same Demonstrative Director

Stan Seckler paces in front of the saxophone section, a musical score in one hand and a pen in the other. The Pico Rivera Stage-Jazz Band is pounding out an arrangement of “In the Mood” and the driving sound slams against the rehearsal hall’s walls.

Seckler directs the band with body language. Bobbing his head to the beat, he suddenly drops to the floor in a crouch in an attempt to get the saxophones to play softer. Then he is back on his feet, lips pursed, as he matches each trumpet blast with a punch of his closed fist.

An exasperated look crosses his face, and the fist changes to a flattened palm that slices the air as he whistles for the band to stop. “I don’t hear any dynamic!” Seckler shouts, a trace of his native New York in his voice. “I don’t hear the second measure building.”

Seckler, director of the city-sponsored band, has spent countless Sunday afternoons rehearsing in the activity room at Rivera Park. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the 18-piece group, which Seckler founded when Pico Rivera officials were looking for entertainment at city-sponsored events.

“Originally, the city was looking for more of a concert band,” Seckler said. “But I said, ‘Why not a jazz band?’ ”

Professional Springboard

Since 1964, the volunteer band has been a professional springboard for several of the more than 100 musicians who have played in the group.

“We’ve had guys go on to play with Woody Herman, Buddy Rich, big bands like that,” said Seckler, who teaches saxophone, clarinet and flute in Whittier and who used to play sax for the Charlie Barnett Band. The Pico Rivera band is also an outlet for retired musicians such as John Harris, who gave up playing saxophone professionally for a 9-to-5 job.

“Music is in my blood,” said Harris, a Pico Rivera resident who has played in the band about 12 years. “This is my creative outlet.”

The band’s brassy sounds occasionally attract youngsters in the park who lean against the door frame to listen. The powerful sounds of five saxophones, four trumpets and three trombones reverberate through the cement-floored room where the musicians are perched on folding chairs.

Seckler estimates that about 60% of the band’s members are working musicians and the rest have other jobs. About a third of the members live in Pico Rivera; most of the others live in the Southeast area. Seckler recruits band members from among his students and at local high schools and colleges. The musicians range in age from 17 to the mid-30s.

“I’m not looking for the superstars,” Seckler said. “I’m looking for a kid who loves music, who wants the experience and who wants to learn.”

The band performs for city gatherings such as those held on the Fourth of July and Cinco de Mayo, and also competes in local jazz festivals. In exchange, the city pays Seckler $2,100 a year as director and provides rehearsal space at the park.

On Jan. 29, the band is scheduled to record several Big Band arrangements at Rio Hondo College for broadcast on Los Angeles jazz radio station KKGO-FM. The session will be taped for Channel 53, United Cable Television’s community access channel in Whittier.

In an interview, Seckler proudly recalled the band’s early years when it won six first-place trophies at the annual Hollywood Bowl Battle of the Bands. But when passage of Proposition 13 eliminated funding for the Battle of the Bands and other school music programs, Seckler noticed a drop in the number of young musicians interested in joining the Pico Rivera band.

‘Not Like It Used to Be’

“We still get a few kids who come to the rehearsals and listen, but it’s not like it used to be,” Seckler said. “The whole idea is to have the kids hear us and say, ‘Hey, maybe someday I can be part of that band.’ ”

In the meantime, Seckler contentedly works with his current crop of musicians, leaving messages on their answering machines to remind them of performances and pushing them to “Work! Work!” at rehearsals.

“I get ticked off and yell and scream at them, but when the rehearsal is over, everything is fine,” said Seckler, whose briefcase features a picture of a pointing Uncle Sam with the message “I Want You to Practice.”