Brass in Concert – Live!

Highlights of the 2004 Brass in Concert Championships
Featuring: Various performers
Doyen Recordings: DOY CD194
Total Playing Time: 79.24

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How far have we come with the entertainment contest? Perhaps more importantly; how far can we now go?

In geographical terms, a few miles it seems, as the 2006 Brass in Concert Championships will find itself in a new home at the fabulous Sage Centre in Gateshead; one of those bonkers Norman Foster inspired designs that at first makes you wonder why, and then just makes you wonder, why not?

However, whereas the organisers of the contest can look forward with confidence to their fantastically inspired new home in which to hold their sell out competition, can they also look forward to some fantastically inspired playing from the competitors themselves?  On the evidence of the past few years, and on the recorded evidence of 2005, it could be debatable.

There has been an undoubted need for the Brass in Concert Contest to find itself a home worthy of its position as the premiere entertainment contest in the UK, and the Sage Centre will be a wonderful venue, but fantastic surroundings are one thing, listening to something wonderful whilst you are sat in the lush seats of the 1650 seat auditorium is quite another. For in all honesty, the standard of overall playing at this contest has fallen away somewhat in the past couple of years to such an extent that there is now a real need for the organisers and the bands to look closely at what direction, musically at least, the contest can now progress.

Brass in Concert has certainly come a long way since the first contest in 1977, when Grimethorpe Colliery won under the direction of Fred Bartlett and a very young faced Billy Millar took home with him the Soloists Prize for his rendition of ‘Blaydon Races'. And whilst the overall standard of  band performances have undoubtedly improved since that time, there was a growing feeling recently that the best years of the contest in Spennymoor were certainly behind it.

The halcyon days were possibly when the likes of YBS, Fairey, Fodens, Grimethorpe and Leyland were battling it out royally here, when playing standards were mesmerisingly good and the innovation from the bands was intelligent and fresh. Not to be unkind to the bands that have attended in the past few years, but the overall standard of playing behind the top couple of bands has been mediocre to decent at best, whilst the visual entertainment has become more slapstick and unimaginative.

People will possibly ask, when was the Rubicon moment when things reached the edge and then fell back? Faireys and their Sugar Plum Fairey tutu's perhaps, or Mount Charles and the dropped trousers?  It would be pointless to suggest that any one individual moment was the one that did it, but something hasn't been quite right here for some time.

This 2005 release gives you all the thrills and spills of the last contest to take place in Spennymoor Leisure Centre, but it also delivers plenty of the evidence of the decline as well. 20 tracks showcase something from all the bands that took part, from individual contributions from soloists to the bands themselves in various moods and contrasting styles.

The eventual winners (and for the fourth year in a row) Grimethorpe Colliery (UK Coal) are on excellent, but not inspired form under Richard Evans with their contributions which include some stunning solo work form Richard Marshall on the Kenny Baker ‘Virtuosity' (which is that and more) and some wonderful playing on the Bach, ‘Little Fugue in G Minor' and ‘Los Harminos de Bop'.  However, this was Grimethorpe in ‘armchair ride' mode: the arrangements were first class and the playing of a very fine standard, but you had the sense that they were very much in the comfort zone, as there was no real threat to them from any of the rivals on show.

There is of course plenty to admire in the solo playing of Kirsty Abbotts (who is outstanding), and of Katrina Marzella, whilst both Sellers International and Whitburn provide quality playing in their contributions. Apart from that though and the rest is pretty ‘hit or miss'. The unevenness of the quality of playing is shown in nearly all the remaining items; some are fine, some a little bit flakey, most are OK. If these were the highlights, then what about the stuff that didn't make the producers cut?

Brass in Concert has been a fantastic event for all of it's 28 years, but it is also an event that has needed this new injection of interest (and sponsorship) to give itself the lifeblood that it requires to survive into the next decade or more. There is much to admire about its ethos and organisation, but there has also been a petrification in recent years that has seen aspects of the contest become stale and outdated.

The new venue and sponsorship should give the contest the security it needs, whilst it should also provide the organisers with the opportunity to attract the very top bands back to it as never before. With no disrespect to those who have played here in the past few years, it would be a huge boost if the likes of BAYV, YBS, Fodens, Stavanger or Eikanger were to be seen and heard on the stage in 2006 wouldn't it.

Where one door closes, another one opens, and even this recording closes a rather subdued chapter to the contest at Spennymoor, it also opens an exciting new one at the Sage Centre in Gateshead. There is still so much more that this contest has to offer, and if it grasps the opportunity with both hands, the future will be very bright indeed. 

Iwan Fox. 

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