The Jersey Surf Drum and Bugle Corps was started in the winter of 1990 in Camden County, New Jersey by a group of area school band directors, led by Bob Jacobs, who wanted more performance opportunities for their students than halftime shows during football season.[2] When an organizational meeting was held at Edgewood High School, more than fifty prospective members arrived from the southern New Jersey area, as well as from Pennsylvania and Delaware. The organization was chartered as Explorer Post 333 and began holding rehearsals at the Berlin Community School, moving to Berlin Park when warm weather arrived. The corps made its public debut on June 29, 1991, playing the National Anthem at the Independence Classic drum corps show at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. The corps wore rented high school band uniforms.[3][4]
When the Surf entered competition in 1992, it had one hundred two members. The corps was undefeated in the Garden State Circuit. They also competed in three Drum Corps East (DCE) shows, and, in its first-ever DCI show, the Jersey Surf finished fourth of seven Division II and III corps at the DCI East Regional prelims. The corps, now based at Edgewood Junior High School in Atco, New Jersey purchased the corps' first equipment truck and two blue school buses. The corps made its debut at the DCI World Championships at the Division II prelims in Lowell, Massachusetts in 1994, finishing in fifteenth place among eighteen corps. In 1995 the corps added championship-caliber staff members and bought a semi-trailer equipment truck.[3][4]
The 1996 Surf bought diesel buses, and after winter rehearsals at Fort Dix, was ready for the season and made its first Finals at DCE. Bus problems almost scuttled the tour to DCI in Orlando, Florida, but they arrived and finished seventh of thirteen Division II corps with their program "Cool Tunes from the Back of the Bus" that enhanced their growing reputation as a crowd-pleasing corps. In 1997 and '98, the corps expanded its touring and returned to DCI in Orlando, finishing in sixth both years and just missing the five corps Division II Finals. The 1998 corps was voted "Most Improved Division II Corps" by the Division II corps directors. The 1999, Surf was again Garden State Circuit Champions. They toured into Canada for the first time on the way to DCI World Championships in Madison, Wisconsin. At Camp Randall Stadium, the corps got the first of three standing ovations for their warm-up tune, "On, Wisconsin!" Finishing in fifth place of the twelve corps in prelims, the Jersey Surf made their first DCI Division II Finals. The 2000 season found the Surf riding the crest of the wave. They won three contests, including the DCI Atlantic championship, on their way to a return visit to Division II Finals. At College Park, Maryland, they were fifth of fourteen corps in prelims. Their fourth-place finish in Division II Finals earned them a berth in the Division I Quarterfinals, where they finished twenty-first.[3][4]
Over the next six seasons, the Jersey Surf would be a consistent finalist within Division II, but would not truly challenge for the title until 2007. In 2004, the corps moved from Berlin to Mount Holly, although they continue to have facilities in both Berlin and New Brunswick and have camps in Sicklerville. The 2007 corps toured the West Coast, winning shows in Washington, Oregon, and California en route to DCI Championships in Pasadena. The Jersey Surf was in first place after DCI's Division II Quarterfinals, but was passed by the Spartans in Semifinals and took second place in Finals. In 2008, the Surf was undefeated until meeting the Blue Devils B in Ohio. Then, they were third in Open Class Quarterfinals in Michigan City, Indiana, a position they held through Semifinals and Finals in Bloomington, Indiana.[3][4]
When the DCI Board of Directors approved the new, two-division competition format beginning in 2008, only World Class corps were guaranteed being paid for their performances. In light of this, following the 2008 season, the Jersey Surf Drum and Bugle Corps elected to leave Open Class and compete in World Class. After being evaluated by the DCI Board as to the organization's competitive and fiscal stability, the corps became a DCI World Class corps in 2009.[5]
In 2015, Janina Gavankar filmed the music video "Don't Look Down" with Jersey Surf.[6][7]
Selections from A League of Their Own by Hans Zimmer
1994
The Music of Barbra Streisand
Repertoire unavailable
74.200
15th Div. II
1995
New Age Jazz of John Tesh and Yanni
Repertoire unavailable
83.200
8th D.v. II
1996
Surf, Wind and Fire: Cool Tunes from the Back of the Bus
84.100
7th Div. II
1997
More Cool Times
Got To Get You Into My Life by John Lennon & Paul McCartney / Through the Fire by David Foster, Tom Keane & Cynthia Weil / Rock That by Maurice White & David Foster / For Once in My Life by Stevie Wonder
81.300
6th Div. II
1998
Pictures of Spain –Interpretation of a Larry Kerchner Original
Summertime (from Porgy and Bess) by George Gershwin / Take Five by Paul Desmond / Waltz of the Mushroom Hunters by Greg Hopkins / A Night in Tunisia by John Birks Gillespie / It Ain't Necessarily So (from Porgy and Bess) by George Gershwin
Are We There Yet? by Lyle Mays / Have You Heard & See the World by Pat Metheny / Heat of the Day & The Awakening by Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays / In Her Family & The Truth Will Always Be by Pat Metheny / First Circle by Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays
89.850
6th Div. II
2002
Our Side of the Story: Celebrating the Spirit of Youth
Prologue, Cool, I Feel Pretty & America (from West Side Story) by Leonard Bernstein
87.750
9th Div. II
2003
Down the Shore with The Jersey Surf
Theme from A Summer Place by Max Steiner / Wipeout On The Waterfront / Set Free On the Boardwalk
Overture from The Marriage of Figaro / Inspirations from Symphony No. 40 in G minor / The Lacrimosa from Requiem / Magic Flute, Act II: Pa-Pa-Pa-Papageno & Der Holle knocht in meinem Herz / Symphony No. 50 in G minor / Eine Kleine Nachtmusik All by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ebb & Flow La Mer by Trent Reznor / La Mer by Andrew Yoziviak (inspired by Claude Debussy) / La Mer by Charles Trenet & Georges Augustin / Maelstrom by Robert Thatcher & Colin Bell / Asteraw from Cirque du Soleil's Zarkana by Nick Littlemore
[mondo mondrian] Music for Pieces of Wood by Steve Reich / Cornfield Chase from Interstellar) by Hans Zimmer / Variations on Manuel de Falla's Ritual Fire Dance (from El amor brujo) by Andrew Yozviak / Etude Op 10 No. 12 in C minor, Revolutionary by Frederic Chopin / Behind Blue Eyes by Peter Townshend / Symphony No. 4 by David Maslanka
69.925
30th Place World Class
2019
FantaSea Oceans by Goff Richards / Moses and Marco Polo Suite (from Marco Polo) by Ennio Morricone / The Legend of Atlan (from Aquaman) by Rupert Gregson-Williams / Op. 28: The Sea, Fantasy in E major for Orchestra by Alexander Glazunov / Aurora Awakes by John Mackey / He Commands the Sea (from Aquaman) by Rupert Gregson-Williams
