Tennessee State University Aristocrat of Bands
Tennessee State University’s marching band, the legendary Aristocrat of Bands, will perform Thursday in the 89th annual Chicago Thanksgiving Parade.
“We’re appreciative of our students for sacrificing some time — we know everyone wants to be with their family on Thanksgiving,” says professor Larry Jenkins, assistant director of bands. With this performance, the venerable ensemble will once again live up to its other nickname, “The Band of Firsts,” as the first HBCU band to march in Chicago’s parade.
“The Aristocrat of Bands has a storied history that we’re also honored to now be a part of," says Daniel Mulka, executive director of the Chicago Thanksgiving Parade Foundation, in a release.
“It’s an exciting feeling, exhilarating — it’s one that you know that you’re going in the right direction when these things are happening,” Jenkins says. “[It] gives you motivation to keep going and see what’s next, see which other ways you can create new experiences and keep elevating.”
Jenkins also notes the band will give paradegoers the sound and look that people have come to expect from TSU, but also sprinkle in tunes of the holidays to get everyone in the spirit.
Whether you’re at home in Music City or visiting anywhere else in the country, you can watch live via free streaming service Pluto TV. The parade broadcast, hosted by actors Jen Lilley and Jesse Hutch, is scheduled from 8 to 11 a.m. Central.
“For our band program, there have been some incredible things that we have been able to step into space and create that space for other HBCUs who want to do something similar,” says Jenkins.
The AOB was the first collegiate band to receive a Grammy nomination in any genre — and in February, it became the first to win. The band took home trophies in both its nominated categories: Best Roots Gospel Album for its debut recording project, 2022’s The Urban Hymnal, and Best Spoken Word Poetry Album for its contribution to Urban Hymnal collaborator J. Ivy’s album The Poet Who Sat by the Door.
Jenkins advises everyone to keep a close eye on the band, as the group is always seeking ways to expand its reach.
“We’re an ambassador for our community the same way we are for our university,” he says. “I definitely would want the people of Nashville to be proud when they see us and when TSU goes out the rest of the world to these other places, Nashville goes with us.”
