Live coverage of the 2010 Brass in Concert Championships from The Sage, Gateshead.
Sunday 21st November
Draw: Pre-drawn
Start: 9.30am
Adjudicators:
Derek Broadbent and Rob Wiffin (Music)
Brian Hilson and Stan Lippeatt (Entertainment)
Chris Jeans (Soloist)
Additional comments and thoughts on our Twitter site: www.twitter.com/4barsrest
Comments by Iwan Fox
What do we think?
An end to an entertaining day which didn't really hit the heights, but didn't plumb too many depths either.
It was a bit of a puzzle in fact — quality playing at times, but programming that was incoherent from many of the bands.
The results will be out around 7.00pm.
Our top six today seems to revolve around the usual suspects — Brighouse, Grimethorpe and Foden's with Fairey (Geneva), Tredegar and Leyland.
Personal preference for us is a battle between Grimethorpe and Brighouse with Fodens in third. Then a gap to Fairey (Geneva), Tredegar and Leyland with Rothwell our dark horse.
4BR Prediction:
1. Grimethorpe Colliery
2. Brighouse & Rastrick
3. Foden's
4. Fairey (Geneva)
5. Tredegar
6. Leyland
Dark Horse: Rothwell Temperance
11.Rothwell (David Roberts
Overture to Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (Michael Kamen)
Tour the Band (E. Dorf/S.Igek/Duke Ellington/Michel Camilo)
March: Simoraine (Clive Barrowclough)
Estrellita (Manuel Ponce)
Euphonium Soloist: Andy Marsh
Eliza Doolittle V Fats Waller (arr Richard Glascodine)
Fantaisie Brilliante from On the Shoulders of Giants (Peter Graham)
The title and film may be naff but Rothwell deliver in fine style on the Robin Hood opener — although it does sound a bit like a 1st half concert finisher.
Tour de Band — is not great. Has its moments, but this is solid rather than virtuoso playing and needed more drive and energy. No problems with the march which is given a real polished outing full of detail and style.
The euph solo never quite comes off despite a fine effort by Rob Marsh, whilst the comedy item really wasn't. Short and sweet thankfully — but it made you cringe.
Finisher is so much more like it — Rothwell's strength on show in force. Wonderful sounds, detail and pace even if a few lips wobble to end.
Overall: A hit and miss affair really. The weak spots in the programme were noticeable despite the quality of the execution.
10. Foden's (Prof. John Wallace)
Innuendo (Queen arr. Peter Meechan)
My Favourite Things (Rogers/Hammerstein arr. Alan Fernie)
Euphonium Soloist: Glyn Williams
Hymn to Barossa (Andy Scott)
Peanut Vendor (Moises Simons arr. Robin Dewhurst)
Suite from the Motion Picture 'Stardust' (Gareth Westwood)
Champions open with the thumping sounds of Freddie and the lads with Innuendo (which isn't an Italian suppository) and its delivered with a real feel for the honking madness of it all.
The solo is a real oddity though — Glyn's favourite excerpts from test pieces young, old and all things Sparke — all linked tenuously by Julie Andrews's old warbler from Sound of Music. Journey into Freedom to Year of the Dragon and more besides. Different.
Hymn is superb — proper brass band playing. So classy. Peanut Vendor is a terrific humour spot — just long enough for the laughs but with great trmbone paying from one and all — big and small (and very small with the MD) — and not a packet of KP ready salted to be seen.
Bold finisher is a bobby dazzler — more great stuff from Foden's who seem to link neatly with Wallace's direction.
Overall: Highly enjoyable programme of substance — and a bit odd and thought provoking too. Up there today no doubt about it.
9. Brighouse & Rastrick (Richard Evans)
March: Lets Go (Vasily Soloviev-Sedoy arr Sandy Smith)
Sussudio (Phil Collins arr. Stephen Bradnum and Leigh Baker)
When She Loved Me (Randy Newman arr. Sandy Smith)
Flugel Soloist: Mark Walters
Shepherd's Hey (Percy Grainger arr. Dennis Wright)
Little April Showers (Frank Churchill arr. Leigh Baker)
160BPM from 'Angels & Demons' (Hans Zimmer arr. Sandy Smith)
Effective opening minus the Great Leader is a liitle dacha of a Russky into Hungary 1956 we go. The audience are not too sussed on the next one though — a bit derivitive of many of this ilk we have heard before from the lads.
Much the same for solo too — so well played but lacking that whimsical delivery that marks Randy Newman out so much. There seems to be something missing for us here today with Briggus and the Percy Grainger effort seems very dated.
Briggus do the humour well, even if it is a little overlong, and the finale is upbeat and driven, but this is not an audience that seems to be big Dan Brown fans — more Charlie Brown by the looks of it as the perfunctory applause signals at the end.
Overall: An odd one this — plenty of very fine playing, but no real charge of electricity between the band and the audience. Nothing really connected (not even Tricky Dicky's tartan strides) with them today.
8. Grimethorpe Colliery (Allan Withington)
Drinking Song from La Traviata (Giuseppe Verdi arr. Robin Dewhurst)
Wives and Lovers (Burt Bacharach arr. Robin Dewhurst)
Magnificat/Et Exsulta (Monteverdi arr. Robin Dewhurst)
Trombone Soloist: Gary McPhee
Winter (Antanio Vivaldi arr. Robin Dewhurst)
Soprano Cornet Soloist: Kevin Crockford
A Fist full of Dollars (Ennio Morricone arr. Robin Dewhurst)
Music to watch the girls go by (arr. Robin Dewhurst)
Molto Perpetuo in D Minor (Ottokar Novacek arr. Robin Dewhurst)
Carnival Variations (Traditional arr. Robin Dewhurst)
After all that waffing around then a real entertainment band makes an appearance. We have been waiting for something like this all day.
A series of musical vignettes built into a programme that made full sense despite its disperate elements — from cool 60s swing to Vivaldi. Intelligent music making with excellent direction boosted by the execution that at times was vaired but was never other than engaging.
Great start led into a bit of neat Bacharach then Monterverdi and segued to Vivaldi with Kevin Crockford on tip top form. The Girls were watched with a beady eye and the Moto Perpetuo was a gem. The weak point though was the finisher — an over long rehash of Mr Lear's Carnival with pretty weak humour.
It just came off thanks to the quality of the playing.
Overall: A great entertainment package — so intelligently put together by the MD and executed by the band. No wonder the crowd loved it.
7. Flowers (Garry Cutt)
O Verona (Craig Armstrong arr. Leigh Baker)
Misty (John Barber/Errol Garner)
Flugel Soloist: Tim Malpas
March: Punchinello (William Rimmer)
Lux Aurumque (Eric Whitacre)
Play that Country Tuba Cowby (Stan Freese arr Leigh Baker)
Featuring: Bass: Phil Green
Excerpt from The Spirit of Puccini (Hermann Pallhuber)
The lights are down on the first item, but the effective playing doesn't shed any light on incomprehensible images on the screen. Arty nonsense that detracts from the performance.
Tim Malpas is a suave lead in the Misty feature — Clint Eastwood would be proud of his efforts. The march is a sticky old dog though — never quite managing to have the easy swagger that it needs.
The Eric Whitacre item is classy — with images that resonate with the music, although the image of a bloke dressed as Dolly Parton to accompany Phil Green's Tuba Cowboy will haunt small children who witnessed it here for a long time — as will Phil's western accent — more Dudley than Dallas.
The item is saved by his fine playing and the brevity of the humour.
The Puccini was a crafty choice to close, but needed a real screamer to top it off like those pesky Austrians did. Just sounded tired to end.
Overall: Like Tredegar they opted for the UK Gold recipe that nearly worked. There was stuff to entertain and intrigue but also a fair lump of old hat too.
6. Carlton Main Frickley Colliery (Philip McCann)
Knut liten og Sylvelin (Tad/Gate arr. Frode Rydland)
Over the Rainbow (Harold Arlen arr. Stephen Bradnum)
Featuring: Flugel: Sam Fisher, Tenor Horn: Leah Williams, Baritone: Toni Howden, Trombone: Rebecca Lundberg
Malambo (Danza final) from the Ballet 'Estancia' (Alberto Ginastera arr. Paul Drury)
L’amore Sei Tu (Dolly Parton arr. Paul Drury)
Cornet Soloist: Kirsty Abbotts
Seaside Rendezvous (Freddie Mercury arr. Svein H Giske)
Pilatus : Mountain of Dragons (Steven Reineke arr. Svein H Giske)
An interesting opener is full of repetitive Nordic drive — like a stammering Saab car stuck in 4th gear, but its highly effective stuff.
Schizo voiced Judy Garland (4 separate voices on the lead tune) make Over the Rainbow sound like a trip to a pychiatrists chair. Oddly unengaging.
Not so the Gaucho fight to follow, with hints of Postcard from Mexico thrown into the musical stew — a catchy little item. Miss Abbotts is sublime with her solo spot — quite outstanding lyrical cornet playing as good as anything you will hear.
The hatted seaside postcard from Queen is as camp as Dale Winton in a bowler though. Nostalgia ain't what it used to be — even in black and white.
Dragon slaying closer is a typical McCann offering — different and thought provoking — and enjoyable.
Overall: You must hand it to Mr McCann — he does try to search for something different with his band's appearances here. Not everything came off of course, but what did was of a very high quality.
5. Tredegar (Ian Porthouse)
Activate (Matthew Hall)
Over the Rainbow (Harold Arlen arr: Ray Farr)
Flugel Soloist: Zoe Hancock
March: The Joybringer (Kenneth Downie)
Legends of Cyfarthfa (Matthew Hall)
The Typewriter (Leroy Anderson arr: Fred Muscroft)
The Dream of a Witches’ Dance (Hector Berlioz arr: Howard Snell)
Power packed opening just has the odd moment of unease to start but it soon recovers with a wonderful solo spot from Miss Hancock. No wonder Dyke have pinched her from the valleys.
SA march is a crafty choice that works with the vocal accompaniment. The MD is going for the UK Gold vote here and it seems to work.
All leeks and daffodils for the Merthyr feature with clever images and touch of hywl to end. Typewriter is a bit hit and miss in places — the crowd liked it but its an oldie they know.
The big bash of Berlioz is bravura playing to close but not without the odd mishap on the way.
Overall: A traditional programme mix this — something the audience knew and enjoyed. Not greatly innovative in terms of today but the Saga Holiday brigade were well pleased.
4. Fairey (Geneva) (Steve Sykes)
Blackbird Special (Reid Gilje)
Wedding Dance (Reid Gilje)
March: The Phoenix (Derek Broadbent)
Bravura (Peter Graham)
Euphonium Soloist: Matthew White
Rasarit (Reid Gilje)
Excerpts from Khachaturian Symphony No. 3 (Khachaturian arr. Ray Farr)
A real thumper to open from Fairey — courtesy of the Dirty Dozen and Eikanger. Straight into the Gypsey wedding march, which is all Eastern European razzle dazzle — and not an illegal economic migrant in sight.
The march with its images of the burnt bandroom is just the right side of good taste — it could have been Blaze Away, and there is no praise high enough for Mr White on euph. Fantastic playing.
Bravura too a tee, although the piece is an odd retake of something else we heard in the Childs euph duo heyday?
The view from the top of a Norwegian fjord is wonderful stuff — so classy and controlled and the big grandiose bit of Soviet Five year plan Khachaturian is given the full hog to close.
Overall: Very classy and full of substance to go with the sometimes questionable style. This was a very fine band on top class from under Mr Sykes.
3. Redbridge Brass, Jeremy Wise
In the Stone/Getaway (arr. P. Beachill)
What are you doing (Michel Legrand)
Tarantella (Gioachino Rossini arr. Howard Snell)
Pipework (arr. James Sear)
With one Look (Lloyd Webber arr: William Himes)
Bolero (Maurice Ravel: arr. Philip Littlemore)
Funkmeister Wise opens with a bit of Earth, Wind and Fire that pumps along with trumpets, synth and bass guitars.
Self deprecating Mnozil link is a weak joke though, especially as the septet playing isn't in their league, whilst the Aristocratic Tarantella is plump and showy but a little lacking in drive.
Fantastic Pipework Blue Man skit though — clever, inventive and genuinely innovative. Bravo — classy stuff so well delivered.
Rosie Evans is a fine (if far too young and pretty) Norma Desmond in the Sunset Boulavard number. The old girl was more like Joan Rivers on a bad night. There was a stamp of quality here.
Bolero is a bit staid but the great delivery makes up for it in spades for a rousing climax to close.
Overall: A highly polished bit of stage work this — lots of interest, wit and variety. Just the one caveat — the brass band playing was in the minority and the weakest element. Bravo though on something a bit different and very engaging.
2. Leyland (Philip Harper)
March: The Wizard ( George Allan)
Midnight (Lucy Pankhurst)
Euphonium Soloist: Philippe Schwartz
The Witch of the Westmorlands (Archie Fisher arr. Philip Harper)
Featuring: Baritone: Kirsty Rowe, Cornet: John Doyle
That Old Black Magic (Arlen and Mercer arr. Philip Harper)
Soloists: John Doyle, Cornet, Danny Brooks, Trombone
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Paul Dukas arr. Bourgeois)
It's a kind of magic for Leyland with a themed programme that was certainly inventive and at times a touch odd.
The march was sturdy old Whit Friday stuff — complete with band in standing formation, whilst the euphonium solo with Phillippe Schwartz was a touch bizarre at times.
An odd mix of the mystical and muddling — very well played and with a surprise eneding Paul Daniels would be proud off. Don't quite know if it worked though.
A lovely interlude with the Westmorland Witch before trumpets out for a bit of 40's swing, which was polished if static in rhyhtmic pulse. The big old banger to close was well done even if a bit of tiredness crept in by the end.
Overall: An inventive mix and match from Mr Harper and his team — not quite as magical as they may have hoped in places, but it still kept you guessing and certainly intrigued from start to finish.
1. Reg Vardy (Ray Farr)
Intrada: Eine Feste Burg (arr. Ray Farr)
Libertango (Astor Piazolla)
A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (Eric Maschwitz)
Trombone Soloist: Mark Nightingale
The First Circle (Pat Methany)
Revolutionary Rock(Fredic Chopin)
A bit of a curious one from Raymondo and the local lads and lasses.
Intrada is a pick from the past but just about comes off, whilst Libertango has also been done before.
Back to times past too with Mark Nightengale playing the Nightingale so to speak on trombone. It's a loud old bird with the stage mike almost up his bell. Great playing but a bit of a faux pas surely by having him featured again in the next item — although Ray does love his cool jazz.
All ends with Chopin brought up to date — well with a hint of Ray's old Toccata in D Minor special.
Overall: Solid stuff but not really innovative or imaginative. The MD conducted in a state of almost transcendental climactic ecstasy throughout by the look on his face — either that or he knew where the cameras were.
