Echoes of the East

Buy As You View Band
Conductor: Dr. Robert Childs
Soloists: David Childs, Chris Thomas, Owen Farr, Joanne Deane
Doyen Recordings: CD195
Total Playing Time: 75.51

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Over the past few years, the Buy As You View Band under their Musical Director, Dr. Robert Childs has undertaken a very positive and ambitious series of CD recordings. It also says a great deal about their professionalism and musicianship that their undoubted abilities have shown them to be able to perform works with such quality from both ends of the musical spectrum.

They continue to set themselves exceptionally high standards, not just in the recording studio but also on the contest and concert stage, and there is little doubt that they are one of the outstanding brass bands in the world at present.   That is why this rather uneven recording entitled 'Echoes of the East' leaves you rather puzzled.

Recorded on a single day in July this year it follows closely on in complete contrast to their epic ‘Gaia Symphony' release and showcases the band in a lighter more relaxed mood.  Fifteen of the tracks featured on the disc are new or first recorded performances, so you get plenty of fresh material to listen to, but you are still left wondering at times if this is not BAYV quite on the scintillating recording form they have so recently shown.

The two main ensemble contributions are superbly presented. ‘The Armed Man – A Mass for Peace' has been skillfully arranged for brass band from the Karl Jenkins orginal by Tony Small. The seven movements are expertly delivered with a fine sense of stylistic understanding from the beauty of the sublime ‘Benedictus' played with wonderful musicianship by David Childs through to the vibrancy of the opening ‘The Armed Man' and ‘Charge!' It is a very moving and atmospheric work given a very moving and atmospheric performance.

Rodney Newton's ‘Echoes of the East' is an absolute cracker. The four movement suite is based on traditional music from the cosmopolitan melting pot of humanity that is to be found in Romania and Bulgaria; European in geography, almost Asian in outlook, modern and intellectual in their achievements, almost medieval in their parochial introspection. 

The composer captures these dichotomies with a razor sharp musical ear to bring us a stunning opening ‘Aubade', as the sun rises and the Church bells (orthodox Catholic, Jewish or Christian – he never quite reveals) welcome a new dawn. This leads to the humour and almost naïve joy of a local gypsy wedding (again with subtle hints of an occasion that mixes religious fervour with almost debauched celebration) and then to a lovely innocent ‘Twilight Romance' as if two young would be lovers have met for the first time by the banks of the Danube. It ends in colourful bravura style as the gypsy families meet for one of their traditional festivals amid displays of competitive chest beating and a carousel of raw and feral excitement. 

Elsewhere the opportunity is given to showcase four of the bands main soloists in repertoire that unfortunately does not really do them justice. Chris Thomas, Owen Farr, Joanne Deane and David Childs are as fine a quartet of solo performers anywhere in the banding world, yet here their talents are not utilised anywhere near their true potential.

David Childs is of course quite breathtaking, but even on this cleverly updated version of ‘Napoli' you are left wondering why this old war horse of a piece has been allowed out of the retirement paddock once more.  The same goes for John Iveson's disjointed and prosaic ‘Londonderry Air,' which is given a persuasive rendition by Chris Thomas that nevertheless leaves you wishing he could have had something more substantial to show off his silky skills.

Meanwhile Monti's ‘Czardas' has been exhumed in yet another pointless format – this time for tenor horn. Owen Farr knocks it off with supreme nonchalance, but surely the item has come for this to be interred into the library under special instructions not to be tampered with again – unless someone takes the novel step of actually arranging it for violin and brass band.

Finally, Joanne Deane is miscast in a dreadfully unyielding version of  ‘Marianne'. Here is a wonderfully lyrical player playing in a style that certainly does not suit her obvious, and very classy talents as a performer. She deserves better.

The unevenness is also evident on the remaining items too. The ‘Olympic Spirit' opener is a solid starter, given just the right robust bit of treatment by the band in a neat arrangement by Christian Jenkins, although the original is a tired rehash of the composer's much better Los Angeles Games effort than this one for the Seoul Games four years later. The first was gold medal material from John Williams; this one barely scrapped a bronze.
 
The same also goes for the two big band versions of ‘MacArthur Park' and ‘Scarborough Fair', both of which lack a feel for the musical style required. The first is an overlong version of the song made famous by Richard Harris for its cake baking inspired lyrics. Barry Forgie is a great arranger, but this is not one of his best and although the band play with admirable accuracy and precision in the ensemble, the style is compromised by a rhythm section that fails to give an appropriate back beat foundation. Unfortunately it occurs once more in ‘Scarbrough Fair' leading to a stiffness and inelastic feel to both items. Neither swing very much.

Fortunately the cornet section gives a real snorter of the Harry James ‘Trumpet Blues and Cantabile' complete with a fine bit of soprano playing from Chris Turner, before the finale for this release sees BAYV scorch their way through Ray Farr's arrangement of the ‘Infernal Dance and Finale' from Stravinsky's ‘Firebird'. This is brilliantly visceral playing, dark and menacing to start which them unfolds into a huge and glorious ending.

It rounds off a release that really does have some superb extended moments allied to some rather mundane and at times vapid material. BAYV has set itself amazingly high standards to maintain in its recorded output since Dr. Robert Childs has been at the helm, and although this is still a welcome release for the chance to hear the works such as ‘Echoes of the East', overall it doesn't quite add up to the expected sum from its uneven parts. 

Iwan Fox.  

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