麻豆影院

This weekend鈥檚 Super Bowl means a lot of things to a lot of people. In the 麻豆影院 area, it means the home-state Denver Broncos are going for their third championship. For fans of Coldplay, Beyonc茅 or Bruno Mars, it means one potentially epic and over-the-top halftime performance.

For College of Music alumnus and former Assistant Dean, it means it鈥檚 been 49 years since he marched during halftime at the very first Super Bowl in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

鈥淚t was an adventure,鈥� Hill says. 鈥淚t was my first flight on an airplane鈥攎y first time in California.鈥�

Hill, who now leads the Fine Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts, led the Grambling College (now Grambling State University) marching band鈥攁nd the Arizona State University marching band鈥攐nto the field in 1967. Hill says he wasn鈥檛 nervous, despite the television audience of 20 million.

鈥淚t was my responsibility to make sure everything clicked and was on track for both ensembles,鈥� Hill says. 鈥淏ut I was well prepared. Our band director was a stickler on execution, preparedness and confidence.鈥�

The fact that the drum major didn鈥檛 feel pressure that day is all the more impressive considering the political climate of the late 1960s. During a time when the Civil Rights Movement was changing the country forever, Grambling鈥檚 all-black band and ASU鈥檚 all-white band marched together in one historic show of musical solidarity.

鈥淚t definitely wasn鈥檛 routine. It was a big deal. But we weren鈥檛 thinking about the Civil Rights movement. What was important to us was doing well on that stage.鈥�

Hill鈥攁long with Paul McCartney, U2, Prince and others鈥攊s a part of this weekend鈥檚 Super Bowl celebration. He and two members of the 1967 ASU marching band will be featured in a听on CBS Friday night about the evolution of the Super Bowl鈥檚 halftime shows, from marching bands to.

Though times and tastes have changed the Super Bowl halftime show forever, Hill says there鈥檚 still a strong message that resonates from the Grambling-ASU collaboration.

鈥淢usic is colorblind. The language is there, and the people that are engaged in that creative activity don鈥檛 see any color,鈥� Hill explains. 鈥淥ur band didn鈥檛 see ASU necessarily as a white band. We were thinking, 鈥極K, how can we do this show and make it everlasting?鈥� And I鈥檓 sure ASU鈥檚 band felt the same way.鈥�

Yet, Hill says, the two bands still had to face the reality of their times.

鈥溌槎褂霸� 20 years later, while conducting the Arizona All-State Jazz Ensemble, I happened to meet several of the people who were in ASU鈥檚 Super Bowl band,鈥� Hill remembers. 鈥淲e reminisced about what a phenomenal time we had, and then we decided to watch the university鈥檚 old tape of the halftime show. Unfortunately, the alumni association in 1967 hadn鈥檛 recorded our band鈥攋ust ASU鈥檚.听And that鈥檚 a sign of the times back then.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that would happen now. We鈥檝e come a long way since that experience.

Hill, who received his master鈥檚 degree and PhD in music education from the College of Music, was also a professor of music education during his time in 麻豆影院 and founded the Mile High Jazz Camp.

Watch 鈥淪uper Bowl鈥檚 Greatest Halftime Shows鈥� on Friday, Feb. 5, 8 p.m. MST (9 p.m. EST) on CBS.