Friday nights are still hot and sticky at Central High School’s football stadium this early in the season. Still, the Marching Yellow Jackets are decked out in their uniforms for the first game of the season.
At half time last week, Central led duPont Manual 13-3. Players walked off the field, but the crowd’s energy kept growing. The band was about to start.
Band director Thomas Cheatham has led the group, hyping crowds with powerhouse field shows, for about 18 years.
“We make it a fun deal. We don't do the same show over and over and, you know, they get to dance, they get to do all the type of stuff,” Cheatham said.
Cheatham has been playing since he was young, but it wasn’t until he went to Kentucky State University that he learned about marching band performance.
“I was fairly a good drummer, but I didn't really know much about marching, especially HBCU-style marching,” he said. “So I did that, and I was like, ‘Oh, wow. This is, this is where it's at.’”
Historical Black Colleges and Universities like Kentucky State have a distinct style of marching band performance marked, in part, by their use of brass instruments and drumlines and the accompanying dance by majorettes and drum majors.
Cheatham put it at the forefront of his leadership of the Marching Yellow Jackets.
“We just don't get it a lot here, so it's different,” Cheatham said. “We found a niche that is missing in our bands because we have some really good bands around the city. They just don't do what we do.”
Central’s style of marching also includes contemporary music like hip-hop and R&B, as well as older songs that are well-loved in the Black community.
“They get to play music that they hear, but they didn't realize they could play on their instrument, and that's what I think makes this a different program,” Cheatham said.
Central’s marching band, like other high school bands, can be found at most Friday night football games. But they also travel to away games, and play in band competitions and parades across the region.
Marching Yellow Jackets commit a lot of time to their passion. In addition to performance, there is band class, after-school rehearsals, summer rehearsals and of course band camp.
Cheatham said he wants the students to be able to deliver the full package every time they perform.
“If you go to play this music and you gonna dance, the music's gotta sound good,” Cheatham said. “You can't sound like some people who can't play well, but can go out there and shake their butts. That's just not gonna work.”
All the time spent practicing and playing together builds a strong camaraderie between the band members.
“It's like a brotherhood and sisterhood. At the end of the day, everything is not taken harshly,” said Ahmad Payne-Jones, a Central senior and member of the drumline. “Everybody knows what everybody says is genuine.”
The hard work pays off. At games, much of the crowd is just as excited to see them as they are at the football game itself. When the band marches over from Central High School on Chestnut Street to the football field on Muhammad Ali Boulevard, Russell residents come outside to watch them go by.
“Our marching band here is a big culture thing,” said Central junior and this year’s lone drum major Angelina Kalakon. “Seeing how our school was built upon being the first African American school for Black students and colored students in Louisville is something that runs deep.”
Kalakon, like many band members, sees her place in showcasing the legacy and culture of Central as an important part of what she does.
Being able to bring that culture to the masses is a sense of pride for the Marching Yellow Jackets. It’s clear in the way they talk about the band.
“We might lose the football game, but hey, we're going to be on that dance floor,” said Jordyn Thomas, a junior and section leader for the trumpets. “They [other schools] don't want to go band for band. They don't know. They don't want to go band for band. And I will stand on this, 10 toes down.”
The confidence extends to students as they grow in the band during their time at Central.
Kemare Gary, a sophomore and section leader for the trombone section, said when she joined the band she was very shy.
“And this year, I feel like the band has made me, I'm able to be myself with everybody in here, because Cheatham, he's created this loving environment,” Gary said. “I feel like it's helped me out a lot, like grow and come out of my shell.”
Watching the individuals and the community grow and change as students graduate, and freshman join is one of Cheatham’s favorite parts of his job.
“We see them musically grow up, but we see them physically grow up, you know, mentally grow up,” he said. “We see them [grow] from a little boy who can barely hold a drum to someone who's helping someone else, who's now a leader, who's helping people, who's doing things, and now they're leading the group, they're section leaders and all that… man that is awesome.”
This is Cheatham’s last year at Central before he retires. When he looks back at the legacy he hopes to leave one thing is clear.
“I want them to know that we just want to be the best. But when I say the best, I'm not saying better than Male, better than Eastern, I'm talking about the best versions of ourselves we want.”
