Brass Machine
21-Sep-2006
Leyland Band
Conductor: Russell Gray
Obrasso Recordings: CD913
Total Playing Time: 67.08
It seems that Obrasso has developed a happy knack of catching bands for recordings just at the right times. When it comes to good fortune however, they could hardly have hit it better than here; capturing Leyland fresh from arguably their greatest ever triumph on the contest platform in capturing the 2005 National Championship.
That said, this is not Leyland's first outing with the Swiss label. Their earlier Greatest World Hits disc plundered everything from Elvis to Abba in a typically upbeat Obrasso collection from their own arrangement catalogue. The atmosphere for this latest recording however, must still have been one of prolonged celebration with barely three months having passed since the momentous day.
Russell Gray, instrumental in Leyland's National's success as well as the band's continued resurgence after a period in the contesting wilderness, is at the helm and once again in characteristic Obrasso fashion, the fare is a blend of concert originals from several of Obrasso's "in house" composers, interspersed with a generous sprinkling of arrangements suitable for bands of wide ranging abilities.
Gilbert Tinner is responsible for two of the originals in Brass Machine and I Ride on a Motorbike, the former not only lending its name to the title of the disc but also providing the opening number. Both pieces are lively upbeat affairs with Brass Machine lumbering into life from its predictably mechanical opening until the jazzy main theme kicks in. One could be forgiven for thinking that Christian Lindberg owns the rights to any trombone effects involving the imitation of motorbikes, seen as he often is, clad in leathers for his performances of Jan Sandstrom's Motorbike Concerto.
To the best of our knowledge there was no leather involved in Leyland's recording session although the trombone section do make a pretty good job of sounding like a brace of Harley Davidson's heading off up the M6 in Tinner's I Ride on a Motorbike. An easier going jazzy number then Brass Machine, it would be fairly unremarkable were it not for the fun of the motorcycling trombones.
As one of Obrasso's best selling house composers and arrangers, Goff Richards is always well represented in their CD programmes. Here he is heard in both capacities, with three originals and two arrangements in the shape of 12th Street Rag and Swing When You're Winning. The latter is an undoubted crowd pleaser, topical and popular tunes, slickly arranged and played with energy by the band, albeit maybe a little too much so from the over exuberant cornet section at the end.
The cornet section are featured en masse in 12th Street Rag, another old favourite brought back to life and given a spirited outing from the whole section. In similar fashion the originals, Splinky Splanky (easily a contender for the dodgiest title award), Jukebox and Night Life (Times Gone By) are scored with great facility even if they do tend to the cheesy in their thematic context. It's probably the eccentrically labelled Splinky Splanky that comes off best in this respect rather than the somewhat contrived Jukebox or the dance hall days inspired Night Life although the Leyland players put creditably equal effort behind all three.
Alan Fernie is another of Obrasso's most popular arrangers and with six on the disc to his name he also provides the material for four of the band's soloists. Neil Sedaka's Solitaire has been around for a long time in other transcriptions but here Fernie allows himself license with the accompaniment and harmonies to provide a stylish vehicle for the cornet playing of Andrew Lord whose sweetly toned, almost delicate performance is pulled of with a good deal of panache. Janet Lewis on flugel takes centre stage in Fernie's treatment of Big Spender, with a suitably raunchy accompaniment from the band.
Andrew Lord and solo euphonium Brendan Wheeler combine to enjoyable effect in Andrew Lloyd Webber's All I Ask of You, although the upbeat treatment of the music might not be for everyone. Jeff Lewis's rich baritone sound adds a lovely melancholy to Rainy Days and Mondays, helping to nullify the occasional nagging touch of stylistic woodenness that is finally laid to rest in the mellow closing bars. Fernie's scoring of Vangelis's Voices is an attractive concert number that should be suitable for bands of most sections whilst Swing Legends is another effective selection of big band classics in the mould of the Goff Richards arrangement in which Fernie manages to weave an entertaining web of popular tunes and crafty links.
Sandy Smith's contributions of Leroy Anderson's Fiddle Faddle and the excellent Los Hermanos De Bop by Mark Taylor are both great numbers and would go down well in any concert programme. Not that they are a pushover to play though! There is plenty to occupy Leyland's cornet section in Fiddle Faddle whilst the modern big band idiom of Los Hermanos is one that takes some getting inside, a potential pitfall that Russell Gray's players just about manage to get away with.
Brendan Wheeler is the man of the moment in Darrol Barry's evocative November Moods, an extended, rhapsodic mood piece as one might expect, but one that impresses most in the slower music that frames the central allegro. It's refreshing to hear a euphonium soloist that produces a lean, clear tone as Brendan Wheeler does here, a sound that says tenor tuba rather than euphonium but is no less attractive for it. The slower music shows a side of Darrol Barry that we do not always get a chance to hear and November Moods is a home grown piece that deserves to find its place in the euphonium soloist's repertoire.
The other single composer contribution comes from Christopher Walter in the form of his "fanfare and theme" A Salute from Lucerne. A touch of the John Williams here perhaps but it's an effective choice to end the disc and Leyland clearly enjoy the ride.
Obrasso never short change us in their CD programming and with seventeen pieces totalling nearly seventy minutes playing time there is plenty of choice on offer here. Understandably not every piece manages to keep the attention entirely focused but on a playing level there is no doubting that Russell Gray has injected a new found vein of confidence and enthusiasm into his players that has been lacking from Leyland for some time now.
As the narrow miss in 2006 qualification for the British Open shows, there is still work to do for the National Champions but for a man whose passion goes back to his playing days with the band there could be no one more apt to bring Leyland back to the kind of consistency that made them such a force to be reckoned for so many years under Richard Evans.
Christopher Thomas
What's on this CD?
1. Brass Machine, Gilbert Tinner, 4.33
2. Swing Legends — Big Band Highlights, Alan Fernie, 3.24
3. Solitaire, Cornet Soloist: Andrew Lord, Neil Sedaka arr Fernie, 4.20
4. Slinky Splanky — Rock & Roll, Goff Richards, 2.55
5. Big Spender, Flugelhorn Soloist: Janet Lewis, Cy Oliver arr Fernie, 2.16
6. I Ride on a Motorbike — trombone feature, Gilbert Tinner, 3.16
7. Swing When Your Winning: Big Band Highlights, Goff Richards, 4.31
8. All I Ask of You, Cornet arr Euphonium Duet: Andrew Lord & Brendan Wheeler, Lloyd Webber arr Fernie, 4.08
9. Fiddle Faddle, Leroy Anderson arr Sandy Smith, 3.46
10. November Moods, Euphonium Soloist: Brendan Wheeler, Darrol Barry, 7.46
11. Voices, Vangelis arr Fernie, 2.56
12. Jukebox, Goff Richards, 2.23
13. 12th Street Rag — Cornet feature, Eduay L Bowman arr Goff Richards, 3.49
14. Night Life — Times gone by, Goff Richards, 5.00
15. Rainy Days and Mondays, Baritone Soloist: Jeff Lewis, Williams/Nichols arr Fernie, 3.35
16. Los Hermanos De Bob, Mark Taylor arr Sandy Smith, 2.49
17. A salute from Lucerne — Fanfare and Theme, Christoph Walter
Total Playing Time: 67:08
