Rebuilding Litton's legacy

A funky, rusted smell fills the air when Karlton Scott, the new band director of Isaac Litton Middle School, opens the tattered cases of his bevy of instruments.

“That’s from the years and years of oil, and soldered joints where the instruments have been repaired and repaired over and over again,” Scott said.

Almost every instrument owned by the east Nashville middle school is damaged. Horns are visibly dented, discolored and worn; some cases are duct tape shells while others are pocked by holes and broken latches; the drum heads are beaten bare; the only xylophone is missing half its bars as well as the chords that hold the bars; and one of the tarnished trumpets is a pre-World War II, retired design.

Thus, Scott’s inauguration into his new position began with a visit to the repair shop. But the news was as discouraging as the instruments.

“The repairman stated we didn’t have one good horn in the bunch. I told him I was aware of that but this is what we have,” Scott said. “Virtually no instruments are in working condition. They have been around for a lot of years. Over time instruments wear out. Ours have been repaired so many times and used by so many students they aren’t in good shape at all. I have some instruments here, that during rehearsal, they will go out of alignment and I have to stop and re-adjust them. The newest instrument is 18 years old and really the life span of an instrument is 10 years.”

Most recently, a student came to Scott with a hinge broken on his instrument’s case.

“What are my options for him? We have none,” Scott said.

The current state of the Isaac Litton’s band is a far cry from the distinguished national reputation it once enjoyed during its days as a high school.

Known as “The Marching 100,” the famous band marched in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York, California’s Tournament of Roses Parade, Memphis’ Cotton Carnival, at baseball openings across the country and at local premieres of movies in front of downtown movie theaters. And, against their same aged peers, the Litton musicians swept local and regional band competitions.

Carole Hulan, who graduated in 1962, was part of The Marching 100 when the band marched outside the Paramount, a movie palace formerly on Church Street, for the premiere of Journey to the Center of the Earth. She counts her years with the band as some of her happiest high school memories.

“It was like a family. In fact, it still is. We all clung together and took care of each other. When you became a freshman, you had the seniors who drew you in and took you under their wing and it continued,” Hulan said, formerly Carole Boyd.

Hulan never strayed far from her alma mater. The 63-year-old is an assistant librarian for Isaac Litton, which became a middle school decades ago. After all her years affiliated with the school, her affection lies most with The Marching 100’s former band director.

“Sammy Swor. Can you hear the excitement in my voice when I say his name?” Hulan said. “He was so amazing because he treated every child individually. He didn’t love the best players the most, he treated each fairly. And he never yelled. We had to memorize our music — we were the only band in Nashville that did that, and we had to practice for two hours every day but no one minded.”

Swor is credited with taking the band from a handful of inexperienced students in 1948 to its hundreds-deep glory in only a few years. A feat Scott is hoping to repeat now after the band program’s fall from prominence due to lack of funding and interest.

Scott, a native of Rochester, N.Y., moved to Nashville after touring as a drummer for the Christian rock band Anderson Blackwood. Taking the helm at Isaac Litton marks his return to Metro after pursuing his doctorate in performance at the University of Memphis.

When the band director showed up at the middle school this August, the band program was virtually nonexistent.

“When I came, it was ‘Your job is just to recruit anybody,’ so that’s what I did,” Scott said. “My goal is to build the size, and to develop a program that is recognized in this area as being one of the top programs and to take the kids out to perform in concert festivals in other places.

“And, to build the kids up so that they have the confidence and an excitement and the discipline they need to succeed in whatever they choose to do,” Scott said.

To do this, though, Scott must overcome some considerable obstacles — the most formidable being the condition of the instruments. Roughly 90 percent of his students depend on the school to provide instruments because they can’t afford the cost of renting or purchasing the musical equipment, Scott said. Further cash is needed for sheet music, music stands, valve oil, storage cabinets to hold instruments (when they come) and a sound system so the students can hear the music they are learning.

He’s also battling low parent involvement as well as children’s work ethics already shaped by television and video games.

When Scott briefed Metro’s central office about the his program’s needs, he said he was told that he wouldn’t be receiving any help this year because of priority placed on two new schools opening next year.

Metro’s hands may be tied, but Dan Heller, the developer of Riverside Village, a retail development in Inglewood, recently sponsored a race to raise funds for the Isaac Litton band. Heller said he had heard of The Marching 100’s legacy, and was appalled at its condition now. Heller likened the instruments to road kill.

“The instruments look like they’ve been run over by a truck,” Heller said.

Heller’s support has helped turn the tide.

“When Heller called, it felt like…I was relieved,” Scott said. “I felt like we were possibly starting momentum that would lead toward our kids having functional instruments. ….Bottom line is that if we don’t fund and nurture our music programs, then I really would hate to see the condition we are in as a society and as a people 40, 50 years from now and beyond.

“Band people have always had to fight for their programs, so I would encourage all of those who are involved in music to continue to make people aware of the needs because we are fighting for the future of music and for the hearts and minds of our kids”