369th Experience Music Committee

Julian E. White Ph.D.

Dr. Julian Earl White, Distinguished Professor of Music, and retired Director of Bands and Chairman of the Music Department at Florida A&M University, graduated from Florida A&M University earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education. He later received a Master’s Degree from the University of Illinois, and the Doctor of Philosophy Degree from The Florida State University.

Under Dr. White’s leadership, the Florida A&M University Wind Ensemble presented a concert at the American Bandmasters Association Convention, and numerous others across the country. The internationally acclaimed “Marching 100”rendered performances at three Super Bowls, The Grammys, The ESPY nationally televised awards ceremony, CBS Game Day, and the Inaugural Parade for President Barak Obama.

Dr. White served as Drill Designer for the McDonald’s All-American High School Band. His drill creations were featured at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, The Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, and the Fiesta Bowl in Phoenix, Arizona. His elaborate drills have also been featured on all major television networks, and the Bastille Day Ceremony in Paris, France

Dr. White is on the staff of Bowl Games of America where he designs halftime shows for College bowl games. He is also on the adjudication staff for Music Festivals, USA, and International Music Festivals. Dr. White designs halftime shows for many high school and college bands across the country.

Dr. White was the recipient of the Distinguished Professor/Advanced Teacher of the Year Award, the University Superior Teacher Accomplishment Award, and was a three time recipient of the University Teacher of the Year Award. He received the NAACP Achievement Award, The Thurgood Marshall Outstanding Achievers Award sponsored by the FED EX Orange Bowl, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Kappa Delta Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega National Service Fraternity, Inc., and the Richard Allen Educational Achievement Award, presented by the AME Church. Dr. White was a recipient of the Florida A&M University National Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award. He was also honored to receive the Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity, Inc. National Service Award, the highest award bestowed upon a member of the fraternity. John Philip Sousa was the first recipient of this honor. Dr. White is a member of the prestigious American Bandmasters Association. He is the only Director from an HBCU Band to be a member of this group of the greatest 300 band directors worldwide.

Dr. White has served as Florida Bandmasters Association District IV secretary and Chairman. He was also the Florida Music Educators Association Advisor for the College Music Educators National Conference, and Chairman of the Florida Music Education Association Black Caucus for five terms. Dr. White served seven terms as a member of the FMEA Executive Board.

Currently, he serves as Director of the Band of the Big Bend, which is sponsored by the Goodwill industries. He is a Senior Consultant with Coordinated Services for the Improvement of Education (CSIE) and serves as its Leader for the Save Our Bands Initiative. Additionally, Dr. White teaches instrumental music at Stubbs Music School in Tallahassee, Florida.

He is married to the former Dennine Mathis who serves as Flute Professor at Florida A&M University. They have one son, Julian Earl White, II. Dr. White has two daughters Tonja Mathews and Phaedra White, and two grandchildren John Burt and Mallory Mathews.

H.B. BARNUM

Legendary music producer and arranger H. B. Barnum has worked with an extraordinary cross-spectrum of performers in his long career. Barnum was born Hidle Brown Barnum, Jr., on July 15, 1936, in Houston, Texas. At age four, he won a nationwide talent contest for his singing and piano playing, which launched a film and radio career that included appearances on Amos ‘n’ Andy and The Jack Benny Program. Barnum recorded his first solo album at the age of fourteen as Pee Wee Barnum. He attended Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles, California.

In 1955, Barnum co-founded the short-lived doo-wop group, The Dootones, at the request of Dootone label owner, Dootsie Williams. When the group broke up, he joined another doo-wop group, The Robins. Barnum began producing for The Robins in 1958, and also recorded a single on his own. Barnum had his first major hit as a producer when Dodie Stevens’ “Tan Shoes and Pink Shoelaces” reached the U.S. Top 5 in 1959. Although he recorded three albums during the 1960s – The Record, The Big Voice of Barnum – H. B., That Is, and Everyone Loves H. B. – Barnum, That Is – as well as the hit single “Lost Love,” his work as a producer and an arranger began to outpace his musical career. Barnum’s reputation flourished after he joined Capitol Records, where he often worked in collaboration with producer and longtime friend David Axelrod, forging an innovative orchestral jazz-funk sensibility much copied and sampled in later decades. Barnum has arranged for many notable musicians including Gladys Knight & The Pips, Johnny Bristol, Lamont Dozier, Jimmy Norman, Aretha Franklin, Count Basie, Etta James, Nancy Wilson, Martha Reeves, The Temptations, The Jackson 5, The Marvelettes, O.C. Smith, Frank Sinatra, Lou Rawls, The Supremes, Al Wilson, B.B. King and Puff Daddy. By the mid-1970s, Barnum switched from pop music to television, scoring countless series and specials in addition to composing numerous advertising jingles. He won international awards for his musical compositions for commercials. Barnum has claimed to be responsible for around 100 gold LPs and 160 gold singles.

Beginning in 1967, Barnum has held an annual Thanksgiving dinner for the homeless in his Los Angeles community. In 1981, he founded and began directing H. B. Barnum’s Life Choir, a large well-known gospel group that assists him in helping feed nearly one thousand needy people every Thanksgiving. Barnum has also served as minister of music at St. Paul’s Baptist Church of Los Angeles.

BOBBY SANABRIA

Bobby Sanabria is a seven time Grammy nominated drummer, percussionist, composer, arranger, conductor, producer, educator, film-maker, bandleader, and multi-cultural warrior. He has performed and recorded with such legends as Dizzy Gillespie, Tito Puente, Mongo Santamaría, Paquito D’Rivera, Ray Barretto, Candido, Henry Threadgill, Larry Harlow, and the Godfather of Afro-Cuban jazz, Mario Bauzá. His first big band recording, Live & in Clave!!! was nominated for a mainstream Grammy in 2001 bringing Mr. Sanabria worldwide acclaim for his revolutionary forward thinking vision while being built on a bedrock of tradition. His 2008 Grammy nominated, Big Band Urban Folktales was the first Latin jazz recording to ever reach #1 in the national Jazz Week charts. In 2009 the Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra he directs at the Manhattan School of Music was nominated for a Latin Grammy for its tribute to Mario Bauzá and Machito for Kenya Revisited Live!!!, a reworking of the music for Machito’s greatest album, Kenya, on its 50thanniversary. In 2011 The recording Tito Puente Masterworks Live!!! by the same orchestra was nominated for Latin Jazz Grammy by the Latin Grammys. Mr. Sanabria’s 2012 recording, inspired by the writings of Mexican author Octavio Paz, is entitled MULTIVERSE and features his incredible 19 piece big band. DRUM! Magazine named him Percussionist of the Year in 2005; and he was also named 2011 Percussionist of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association. This South Bronx native of Puerto Rican parentage is a 2006 inductee into the Bronx Walk of Fame where he has a street named after him on the borough’s Grand Concourse. He holds a BM from the Berklee College of Music and is on the faculty of the New School and the Manhattan School of Music where he conducts Afro-Cuban Jazz Big Bands at both schools. He is associate producer of the TV documentaries, The Palladium: Where Mambo Was King shown on BRAVO, winner of the IMAGINE award for Best TV documentary of 2003; and PBS’ From Mambo to Hip Hop: A South Bronx Tale, ALMA Award winner for Best TV Documentary in 2006.