The Harvey Phillips Northwest “Big Brass” Bash began as a one day affair as “Octuba Octubafest” in Spokane in 1986 and was organized by John Baker. It continued for six years with Harvey Phillips as its regular guest artist. The Mattison-Phillips Tubajazz Consort, which was on its way to Saporo, Japan for the ITEA Conference, was featured in 1990. A brass quintet from the Tokyo College of Music was another featured group during these years. The first T-shirts were given out at this time, and they became the official concert dress for the participants in the Sunday Concert.

In 1993 and 1994, it was moved to Longview, Washington and renamed “Northwest Tuba fest” and was hosted by Sam Blumenthal. In addition to Harvey Phillips, Ellis Wean of the Vancouver Symphony, presented a seminar on mouthpieces, and Rodger Vaughan, of California State University at Fullerton, presented a class on arranging for tuba ensemble. Dr. John Richards, Principal Tubist of the Oregon Symphony, presented an historical perspective of tuba family development in the 1993 session.

John Huenink and the Oregon Tuba Association was responsible for hosting Northwest Tuba Fest in Eugene, Oregon in 1995 and 1996. Richard Frazier formerly of the University of Oregon was involved in the 1995 production and shared a recital with Harvey Phillips.

In 1997 and 1998 the event officially became the Northwest “Big Brass” Bash or NWBBb. It was hosted by Ron Munson and the University of Puget Sound. Brian Frederiksen presented a seminar on the teachings of Arnold Jacobs in 1997. Guest Artists for the first time in 1998 included a euphonium artist, Brian Bowman, in addition to Harvey Phillips. Gene Dowling, of the Victoria Symphony also participated. Attendance was at an all time high with an average of 130 participants that year. At this point, directors were selected. An event philosophy and a direction involving the concept of having a euphonium and tuba guest artist for each year was formed.

The following year featured Loren Marsteller as guest euphoniumist, and Harvey Phillips as continuing guest tubist. In 2000, Jason Gilliam, euphonium, and Chris Olka, Principal Tubist of the Seattle Symphony were the two guest artists. These two years were hosted by Keating Johnson and Washington State University in Pullman, Washington.

In 2001, the event became The Harvey Phillips Northwest “Big Brass” Bash in honor of this events life long friend and major inspiration, Harvey Phillips. A special award was presented to him as well as an award to Marilyn Trail, wife of John Baker, President, who passed away in November 2000, after a courageous battle with cancer. The evening recital became officially the John Baker Founder’s Recital in John’s honor for his inspiration and direction in the shaping of BBb philosophy. This year saw the biggest turnout in the history of the event (140 participants from as far away as Louisiana), and included Brian Bowman, euphonium and Pat Sheridan, tuba. It was hosted by Larry Gookin and Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington. A new logo for the event was co-designed by Annie Agars Klindworth, Music Secretary at Central Washington University and Debbie Munson, Art Teacher at Rogers High School in Puyallup, Washington. The first web page for this event was posted by Mark Babbitt, CWU's Professor of Trombone.

In January 2002, the official web site for HPNWBBb was established by Ron Munson and Mike Ross. The 2002 event marked the first time in BBb history that it was hosted by a public school district and specifically Eric Ryan of Puyallup High School. Eric did an outstanding job as host. Directors Sam Blumenthal and Ron Munson were co-hosts. This year also saw the biggest crowd in attendance at the Sunday Concert and the event was welcomed by the Mayor of Puyallup, Kathy Turner, who expressed interest in BBb becoming a permanent summer event in the City of Puyallup. Guest artists were Gene Pokorny and Loren Marsteller and of course Harvey Phillips who was in much improved health. Chris Olka of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra was also in attendance and performed admirably in the evening recital. It was the year of the 6/4 tuba with Gene Pokorny, Chris Olka and Keating Johnson playing the 2nd tuba part in the Sunday Concert. Attendance this year was down to 109 participants, but this number was still adequate to keep BBb in the black. Jeff Olson, acting president of the Oregon Tuba Association, passed away September 16th, 2001 and was honored by the Oregon Tuba Ensemble for his contributions to the Northwest tuba community.

Guest artists for BBbXVII were Deanna Swoboda, tuba and Gail Robertson, Euphonium. Deanna and Gail's clinics were most outstanding. Chris Olka of the Seattle Symphony was to do a substantial part of the evening recital, but was asked to play with the New York Philharmonic that week so he was excused with everyone's blessing. Harvey Phillips joined us again in ever improved health, and continued to share with, and inspire everyone. Michael Grose of the University of Oregon, and Michael Fischer of Boise State University joined as Director for the BBb. Ron Munson officially resigned from the directors. The event was held for a third time at the University of Puget Sound, and was hosted by Ron Munson and Sam Blumenthal. For the first time in BBb history, the Sunday Concert in the park was rained out. Thanks to the flexibility of the Music Department at UPS, and success in reaching the parents, and potential audience before the Sunday Concert, it was possible to hold the concert in the Concert Hall at UPS. This venue actually worked quite well. Participant attendance was slightly higher at 111 participants, and people from as far away as New Jersey and Florida were in attendance.

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