UCLA's solid gold music man

By Sandy Siegel

Who can blame Gordon Henderson for tooting his own horn? As director of the UCLA Bruin Marching Band, he's hit quite a few high notes in his 25-year tenure.

Performing at the 1984 Olympics. Entertaining a million spectators at the 2006 Chinese New Year's parade in Hong Kong — leading the only American band to take part. Winning the 1993 Sudler Trophy, an annual award given by the John Philip Sousa Foundation to a university band that demonstrates excellence and innovation.

"That was a big deal for the band because it gave recognition to something we all knew — that we felt like we had one of the best groups out there," said Henderson, "and the rest of the country recognized that."

Henderson talks like a true Bruin, even though he holds bachelor's and master's degrees in music education from the University of Kentucky. A trumpet player at Kentucky, he spent five years there as band director before landing at UCLA.

It didn't take him long to get in step with the Bruin faithful: In 1984, he introduced the "Downfall of Troy," a hoot of a halftime show that's a not-so-gentle dig at you-know-whom. Performed at the home game prior to the showdown with USC, it will be featured at the Oregon contest on Nov. 24. "Everybody's in togas and tunics," Henderson said. "It's like a scattered kind of band show. The kind of thing you'd normally see the Stanford band do."

When he isn't lampooning the crosstown rival, Henderson is designing complex drill formations that take dozens of hours to master. He also arranges most of the music, which ranges from the Beach Boys to Jimi Hendrix to Matchbox Twenty.

"Coach [Ben] Howland asked me if we could learn 'All You Need Is Love,' so we started playing that at basketball games as a salute to [freshman phenom Kevin Love]," Henderson said.

But music and marching aren't his only concerns. Fundraising — for things like scholarships and travel — is high on his to-do list. He started the Solid Gold Sound Club a decade ago to drum up donations from alumni and fans. The band also brings in money by performing on movie soundtracks and appearing on TV and in films — Bruins played the All Santa Marching Band in the Arnold Schwarzenegger flick "Jingle All the Way." Henderson is most proud of his multi-year effort to raise $140,000 to take all 250 band members to Notre Dame in 2006.

Soon, he'll see another wish fulfilled: the first new uniforms in 22 years. Set to debut on campus at the Beat 'SC festivities on Nov. 29 and on the field at the Dec. 1 USC game, the uniforms will feature the familiar navy-blue pants and hat, with minor design changes and a new true-blue coat.

"It's just gonna fit into the whole university color scheme a lot better," Henderson said. "I think people are going to react to it well."

That will be music to his ears.

To learn more about the band, go to www.uclaband.com.