US Army

An American Wolf Pack

Gil Surrette Collection

Wolf Pack Advertisement, Nuremburg, 1945. Dave Brubeck formed the "Wolf Pack Band", a swing/dance band while with the 3rd Army. When he was near Verdun, as part of the 17th Replacement Depot, waiting to go to the front, a large Red Cross truck pulled up, hauling a piano. They turned the back of the truck into an improvised stage, someone said, "Is there a piano player here?" Brubeck responded immediately and so did the GIs sitting in the mud waiting for an uncertain future. When Colonel Brown saw the impact Brubeck made on the troops, he issued the order that kept Brubeck behind the lines and in front of his own band, known affectionately as the Wolf Pack (but named perversely for the German submarine fleet), which was basically a jazz orchestra that varied from 10 to 18 pieces.