There has been a further boost to American banding with the news that Keith Thompson, former soprano cornet soloist of the Sheldon Theatre Brass Band in Minnesota, has formed a new brass ensemble.

Spinal source

Metro Brass, derives its name from the location of most of its players – in and around the Minneapolis and St. Paul metropolitan areas. With eleven players, Metro Brass is one person larger than Thompson’s previous small ensemble, XBrass, with the founder taking his new inspiration from a very unusual source

Thompson told 4BR: "If numbers matter, this new group should be 10% better than the old one – sort of like Spinal Tap turning the dial up to 11."

If numbers matter, this new group should be 10% better than the old one – sort of like Spinal Tap turning the dial up to 11Keith Thompson

Members

The members of the group are Keith Thompson, Dan Julson, Greg Wyman and William Munoz-Aponte (trumpets/flugel/corno da caccia), Charles Tibbetts and Gerry Abraham (horns), Bruce Alpern and Lauren Husting (trombones), Glen Newton (trombone/euphonium), Derek Crosier (bass trombone), and Gary Bird (tubas).

Thompson told 4BR that Metro Brass repertoire will include music introduced by the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, German Brass and similar ensembles, as well as compositions and arrangements uniquely theirs.