Pratty Flowers

Hepworth Persimmon Homes Band
Conductor: Mark Bentham
Soloists: Mark Smedley, Robert Westacott, Catherine Booth, Chris Pannell, Graham Starr, Emma Farrow, Yvonne Embury
Amadeus Recordings: AMS CD072

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If there were a prize for the most improved Championship Section band over the past 12 months, then the leading contender for the award would surely be the Hepworth Persimmon Homes Band.   

Such has been their progress that they consolidated promotion from the Senior Cup at Blackpool in May 2003, to being runners up at both Pontins and the inaugural Scottish Open in Glasgow, and this year to further enhance their reputation at the Yorkshire Regional Championships and Grand Shield, before walking off (or marching as the case may be) with the overall championship prize as Saddleworth Whit Friday winners. They may not yet have gained entry to the "majors" of the Open, Nationals or the newly named "Masters", but on the form they have shown of late, and the form they show on this recording, that time may well be fast approaching.

"Pratty Flowers" is a light, easy listening release, deliberately geared to showcase the talents of the players and the band, and to be used, as many are on the Amadeus label, as a promotional tool for the band and its new found sponsors.  There is nothing too seriously substantial, yet what is performed has the mark of excellent preparation from the MD, Mark Bentham, and both the band and the homebuilders should be well pleased by the end result.

The 16 tracks are an eclectic mix, with seven quality soloists coupled to some interesting ensemble material that has been intelligently selected to focus on the well-rounded, compact sound of the band. Both are invariably neat and secure with all the technical demands placed on them and have a balanced warm sound throughout the dynamic range. Hepworth are not the biggest sounding band for sure, but on this selection of pieces that comes as a welcome bonus, as there is clarity and lack of harshness to the overall ensemble.

The opening tracks confirm this very well indeed, with the MD's neat arrangement of the quirky "Holmfirth Anthem" (and now the bands signature tune), "Pratty Flowers" followed by an authentic well tempered march, "The Wizard" by George Allan, the piece that served the band so well in winning the 2004 Saddleworth Whit Friday Championships.

The first of the soloists is the bands soprano cornet player Mark Smedley, who is off at the end of this year to join Black Dyke. You can hear why they wanted him as he displays a lovely clear tone allied to a rock solid technique and lyrical sense of the solo line in the slightly fussy arrangement of "La Califfa".  This a player with a very fine future ahead of him. The same must also be said of the other soloists as well, with Catherine Booth producing a well structured performance of "Beneath the Willows", Graham Starr making a real plumb rich tone on the bass trombone on "Rainy Day in Rio" and Yvonne Embury showing excellent control and style on "A Nightingale Sang in Berkley Square".

In addition, Emma Farrow, the 4BR "Newcomer of the Year" winner for 2003 shows that her development as a soloist (as well as ensemble player) is moving along nicely with a classy rendition of Howard Snell's arrangement of the Bizet "Flower Song" -  this is another of the bands players with a big future ahead of them. Keeping players of this quality may be a bit of a problem for Hepworth if they carry on like this, but it is a compliment of sorts when the likes of Black Dyke and Fairey FP (Music) come hunting.

The double National Champions certainly picked up a young star in Chris Pannell on solo horn, and although he will be a loss to Hepworth he will certainly be a gain for the Stockport band, and he shows why with a cracking whip through the oldest war horse in the soloists repertoire, "Carnival of Venice". It may not be cutting edge stuff, but the class shines through this neat arrangement of the Arban favourite - although we were a bit surprised to find that according to the sleeve notes the old Frenchman wrote it in 1964, when he would have been 139 years of age!    

Rob Westacott though is someone who certainly improves with age, and the bands Principal Cornet again shows why he is so well respected a soloist with a superb bit of lyrical cornet playing on "Adagio from Symphony No 2" by Rachmaninoff arranged by Ray Farr - it is a real gem of a performance.

Surrounding the seven soloists is some equally fine ensemble playing, with John Golland's "Fives and Threes", originally written for the James Shepherd Versatile Brass making a long overdue reappearance, and containing a set of quasi cadenzas for all the main players that makes the "Tristan Encounters" lot seem like a stroll in the park. "Devil's Galop" is also given just the right treatment - all hustle and bustle with Dick Barton and the gang off to save the world once more, whilst "Get Happy", written by Harold Arlen and made famous by Judy Garland gets the feet tapping and reminds you strangely that the old hoofer was certainly not a "happy" lady, apart from the times when she was full to the brim with pills and scotch perhaps.

The "Elephant Love Melody" from the film "Moulin Rouge" is captured to a tee in a cracking arrangement by the MD - all quite surreal and mismatched, yet all making sense in a strange absinthe soaked way - a bit like the film itself, although this is all the better for not having to put up with the awful voice of Ewan McGregor.

The only weak spots for us in the 16 tracks though are "Take 5", which although cleverly arranged by the MD, doesn't capture the free flow of the original and the wonderful playing of Paul Desmond on sax in the dislocated time signature. It sounds a bit too complex, over written and a bit too hard work on this airing, whilst "A Little Prayer" owes more to the Tom Jones school of lullaby singing than the gentle caressing of Evelyn Glennie - this is a bit on the testosterone injected side of things for us. (You don't want to encourage women of a certain age throwing their knickers at you after playing this at a concert would you?)

The release ends as it began with a super bit of playing with Philip Littlemore's corker of an arrangement of "Coronation Scene" from Boris Gudunov by Modest Mussorgsky, and which is given a real bravura performance from the band.  

This is a well structured and performed CD from Hepworth that caters for all tastes and shows that here is a band to look out for over the coming months. Mark Bentham and his charges are a band certainly on the up and on this release you can hear why. It is the next step up the contesting ladder that is the most important though - the ability to compete at the highest level, but on this evidence you can hear that they are not short of both confidence and talent, and if you have them in abundance, things will always look and sound good.  The rise of Hepworth Persimmon Homes Band it seems is set to continue for a good while longer.

Iwan Fox

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