Sellers International Band

Musical Director: Phillip McCann
Morley Town Hall
Saturday October 1st
Compere: Mike Meadmore

The first concert in the 2005/2006 season promoted by Leeds City Council had as its guests the Sellers International Band directed by Phillip McCann. The band has a well deserved reputation both on the contest and concert stage and have in the past couple of years returned to the type of form that has seen them become a forceful presence at major contests.

Much of the credit for this must rest with the MD, who has brought a sense of discipline and ambition back to the band, whilst also broadening their musical horizons with a number of well received CD releases and concerts. Meanwhile, the band has become one of the most busy and successful charity contributors in the movement, and has raised over eighteen thousand pounds through its charity concerts – a commitment that is deserving of recognition.

Gordon Langford's ‘Famous British Marches' got the evening off to a cracking start with the conductor keeping a good brisk tempo throughout with the percussion section outstanding, and they followed this with the Overture ‘Egmont' by Beethoven in the famous Eric Ball arrangement. This Overture, which used to be a real mainstay of nearly all top bands concert repertoire has become sadly neglected and it was a pleasure to hear it once more. This music suits the brass band with some nice tonal colours and Sellers displayed excellent technique in a fine performance with excellent individual and ensemble playing on show.

The first soloist of the evening was Eliot Darwin, the bands principal cornet, and he chose the beautiful solo ‘In Trutina' from ‘Carmina Burana' by Carl Orff . This was a well shaped performance with excellent phrasing, whilst the soloist displayed great feeling for the lyrical musical line, although the band accompaniments was a little uncertain at times.
 
The theme tune from the film ‘Dances with Wolves' by Darrol Barry was next on the programme, and this music, although repetitive has a nice melody and the band played in a relaxed style.

The band's solo trombone Rebecca Lunberg chose music from the film ‘Babes in Arms' with ‘My Funny Valentine' arranged by Adrian Drover and she gave a stunning performance, producing excellent control over the full range of the instrument with some fine backing from the band. This was playing of a very high class indeed and was warmly received by the sizeable audience.

Music from Tchaikovsky in ‘Excerpts from Act 1 of Swan Lake' followed with the band producing some exciting playing. Ballet music does not always sit easily with brass bands as a rule, although on this occasion the MD brought a lightness of touch to the playing that suited the elegance of the subject matter.

'Deep River' by BruceBroughton played in the big band style was complimented by some fine work from the trombone section, and was a nice change of style, before the next soloist, solo horn player Leah Williams gave what at times was a breathtaking performance of Peter Graham's ‘Glorious Ventures'.  This young lady has a lovely warm sound coupled with a cast iron technique and gave a display to why she is regarded as one of the finest horn players in the brass band movement without a doubt.

To round things off, Goff Richards Songs from the shows in ‘Breezing Down Broadway' was followed with the well known song from the musical 'Carousel', ‘You'll Never Walk Alone' (possibly for all those hidden Liverpool supporters in the audience!) which concluded the first half of the concert in some style.

Two pieces by Philip Sparke opened the second half, with first, his very effective ‘Marchissimo' in which each section of the band enters the stage in turn playing as they do so. This lead to the next soloist with the bands very talented solo euphonium player Mark Bousie . ‘Variants  on  an English Hymn Tune ‘ (the hymn tune Nicea) and he certainly carried it off with aplomb. This player has been one of the most consistent performers both on the concert and contest stage for quite a while and is a fine leader of his section.

A song made famous by Frank Sinatra, ‘Here's That Rainy Day' arranged by Adrian Drover led to a bass trombone and euphonium duet in an arrangement by Fernie in ‘I Only Have Eyes For You' featuring Charmian Gott and Toni Howden, and this was carried off in nice style with good backing from the band and with both soloists capturing the mood of the song perfectly.
 
Andy Duncan is a fine arranger of band music and his ‘Suite: Mary Poppins' had the audience tapping their feet to this very popular music. Its forty years ago since this musical was first heard and with the advent of DVD it has become an indispensable item in any household with young children. The songs and the story are almost iconic, and this smashing arrangement maintains the exuberance of the original. The audience certainly didn't need a spoonful of sugar to help this medicine go down.  

‘Alladale' from Sparke's ‘Hymn Of The Highlands' featured Sian Carradus on flugel horn, Leah Williams on tenor horn and Tim Smith on baritone and this superbly atmospheric music was expertly played by the trio.

Finally, Peter Graham's ‘Shine As The Light' drew the concert to a close before as an encore the band played Goff Richard's arrangement of ‘Hymns of Praise'.      
           
This had been a concert well presented and well played by a band who sounded very well rehearsed and who were very well led by their MD. Credit must go to the band and conductor for a well thought out programme that was pitched just right for the audience present – nothing too heavy or over serious, but nothing that was ‘throwaway' either.  There were a lot of well satisfied customers leaving the hall at the end of the night on what was a fine start to what promises to be an interesting series of concerts ahead.

Dave Tinker

^back to top