Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps

In 1957, Tony and Ann Odello and the Concord VFW post assumed control of the Martinettes, a defunct drum corps and drill team. They reorganized the unit as The Blue Devils, taking the name from the V.F.W.'s color (blue) and a local landmark, Mt. Diablo (devil). Initially, the group of fewer than 50 young people, performed as an all-boy drum corps with an all-girl drill team. In 1958, the Blue Devils added glockenspiels, becoming a drum and bell corps, while the girls became a separate baton twirling troupe, the Majorettes. The two units continued to perform together with much success, winning numerous state and local competitions between 1957 and 1970. In 1961, the Blue Devils added a flag section to the unit that was then competing in the state's Junior division. Jerry Seawright succeeded Tony Odello as corps manager in 1964. In 1968, the drum and bell corps moved into Senior Division competition, and a new "B" Junior corps was begun. All units of the Blue Devils organization were enjoying such success that the decision was made to transform the "A" drum and bell corps into a drum and bugle corps (D&B).

In 1970, a group of ten buglers was added to the Blue Devils drums and flags, and the corps entered its first competition as the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps. By 1972, the unit, now with over seventy members, advanced from Class B competition to Class A and traveled on tour outside California for the first time, making appearances in the Pacific Northwest. The summer of 1973 marked the Blue Devils first national tour and its first appearance at the Drum Corps International World Championships in Whitewater, Wisconsin. Finishing 24th of 48 corps, the corps earned Associate membership in DCI. Also in 1973, the Junior drum and bell corps became the Blue Devils B D&B Corps and the younger Blue Devils C D&B Corps was formed. In 1974, the Blue Devils finished in 9th place at the DCI Championships; in 1975 advanced to 3rd place; and in 1976, won the first of the corps' record 19 DCI World Championship titles. After Seawright's retirement in 1984, Mike Moxley became director, and since 1991, the corps has been under the direction of David Gibbs, a former marching member and drum major.

Of special note among the Blue Devils nineteen World Championships are those of 1982, 1994, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2017 when the corps went through the entire season without suffering a defeat. 2009 also marked the first season that one organization won multiple titles, when the Blue Devils won World Class and the Blue Devils B won Open Class having also done it the next year in 2010 and then again in 2014. Over the years, the Devils have often made use of jazz and Latin music repertoires, notably Bill Reddie's Channel One Suite (made famous by Buddy Rich) and charts from the music of Chick Corea and Chuck Mangione and that written for Stan Kenton's big band. Because of their musical style choices, the Devils are one of the corps most associated with jazz.[3][4][5][6]

In 2014, the Blue Devils won their sixteenth DCI World Championship and recorded their sixth undefeated season. At the DCI Finals in Indianapolis on August 9, the corps received a record high score of 99.650.[7] In doing so, they beat the second place Bluecoats by a margin of 2.475, bested the previous high of the 2002 Cavaliers and 2005 Cadets by half a point, and earned a perfect score from seven of the eleven judges.[8][9] The Blue Devils are also the only corps to have crossed the 99-point threshold twice in DCI Championship history achieving a 99.050 in 2009 with 1930, and a 99.650 in 2014 with Felliniesque.

On August 8, 2015, the Blue Devils won their seventeenth DCI Championship. It was the corps' first come-from-behind win, after finishing preliminaries in fourth place because of a penalty, trailing Carolina Crown, Bluecoats, and The Cadets and semifinals in second, behind Carolina Crown.[10]

In the Blue Devils' 2017 program, "Metamorph," voiceovers were used from a newly-discovered audio tape recording of the late former director Jerry Seawright addressing the crowd at the Blue Devils' first appearance as a drum and bugle corps in 1972. [11][12]

Through the corps' 62nd anniversary in 2019, the Blue Devils continue to be a DCI Finalist, with the streak extending through 45 consecutive Top Twelve finishes, including 19 World Class Championships. They also have a run of thirteen consecutive seasons of either being champion or runners-up, another uncontested record in DCI.

The Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps is sponsored by BD Performing Arts, a 501 (c)(3) musical organization. As such, it has a Board of Directors, directors, and staff assigned to carry out the organization's mission. The CEO is Shaun Gallant and the Corps Director is Pat Seidling.[13][14]

BD Performing Arts also sponsors the Blue Devils B corps, the Blue Devils C corps, the Blue Devils Open Class and A Class Winter Guards programs, the Diablo Wind Symphony, and BD Entertainment.

In 2015, BD Performing Arts added the Blue Devils International Corps, a 97-member unit made up of alumni of the Blue Devils and 8 other DCI World Class corps. The corps spent more than a month traveling and performing in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Switzerland, concluding with 9 days and 15 performances of their 7–minute show at the Basel Tattoo in Switzerland.[15][16]

Source:[17]

Gold background indicates DCI Championship; pale blue background indicates DCI Class Finalist; pale green background indicates DCI semifinalist.

^† = DCI record high score.

At the annual World Championship Finals, Drum Corps International (DCI) presents awards to the corps with the high average scores from prelims, semifinals, and finals in five captions. The Blue Devils have won these caption awards:

Don Angelica Best General Effect Award

• 2003, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2017

John Brazale Best Visual Performance Award

• 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012 (tie), 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019

George Zingali Best Color Guard Award

• 2001, 2003, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
• Currently the only Corps to win this award 8 times in a row.

Jim Ott Best Brass Performance Award

• 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2014

Fred Sanford Best Percussion Performance Award

• 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015

Prior to 2000 and the adoption of the current scoring format, the Blue Devils won these captions:

High General Effect Award

• 1976, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1994

High Visual Award

• 1976, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1986, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999

High Color Guard Award

• 1982, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999

High Brass Award

• 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1984 (3 way tie), 1985 (tie), 1986, 1988, 1991 (tie), 1993 (tie), 1994, 1995 (3 way tie), 1997, 1998, 1999

High Percussion Award

• 1976, 1977, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1994, 1996, 1997

• Blue Devils website
• Drum Corps International