Best of the 2005 US Open Brass Band Championships

Various bands and conductors
Illinois: IL003
Total Playing time: 77.31

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There can be something quite disconcerting about getting a second-hand account of an event, no matter how significant it was.  It can be much the same when looking at someone else's holiday snaps: they are so enthusiastic, pointing out all sorts of things that mean a lot to them, but which cannot be gleaned from the pictures alone.  Listening to the disc of highlights is a little like that: one only gets half the picture, as there is clearly a visual component that the audience in the hall is reacting to, but which is not available to the listener. 

In the absence of any visuals, one has to rely solely on the audio recording, which reveals something of a mixed bag.  4barsrest published two reports at the time, one by Iwan Fox and a stateside view from Pat Herak, and with no sleeve notes whatsoever being included, it has been helpful to refer back to them when preparing this review.

Seven bands took part in the US Open itself, plus a number of groups that entered the popular Busker's Competition.  The compilation includes items by six of those bands, the one missing out being last-placed Milwaukee Festival Brass, and two of the busker's groups, Fountain City Brass Band's Twisted Steel, who won the competition, and the Brass Band of Central Florida Buskers.  The winners of the prizes for best new arrangement and best soloist are included, but not Motor City Brass Band's "Death or Glory" which claimed the march prize.

The recording opens with "Call to the Post", a bugle call by Bonny "The Bugler" Brown combining the notes familiar from the start of US horse racing events with "God bless America"!  Sheldon Theatre Brass Band's performance of Kenneth Hesketh's "Masque" was felt to be a little too long on the day, and it does seem a little monochrome, without the brightness that Leyland, for example, found in their recording of the work.

Michael Garasi, the conductor of the winning band, Brass Band of Central Florida, originally trained as a percussionist, but he shows himself to be an accomplished arranger with Aaron Copland's "Tis a gift".  Based on Copland's stand-alone version of the Shaker melody he had included in the ballet "Appalachian Spring" this arrangement, complete with vocal contributions and choreography, created quite an impression in Birmingham in 2005, and it comes across well on the present recording.  One can certainly appreciate the qualities that led the judges to decide it was the best new contribution to the repertoire.

Although Fountain City Brass band were only placed third on the day, they were adjudged to have given the most entertaining programme, and "Malaguena" (arr Harrelson) seemed to have caught the audience's imagination. Listening in the cold light of day, however, there are instances of coarseness amongst the undoubted excitement of the performance, and several of the squealing trumpet effects simply fail to come off.

Of the two busker's items, Brass Band of Central Florida Buskers play Gail Robertson's "Walk this way", in which the melody of "A closer walk with God" emerges from a not particularly tuneful New Orleans style ensemble.  It all seems a little relentless and aimless without any visuals to accompany the music.  Twisted Steel, a low brass quartet from Fountain City, won the competition with "Danny Tell", a lush arrangement of "Londonderry Air" followed by a romp through the finale to "William Tell", complete with allusions to "Bonanza", although the false ending sounds rather forced on cd.

"The Cowboys Overture" is taken from a relatively early score by John Williams, and has proved a particularly popular item in wind band programmes over the years.  Steve Sykes' arrangement for band captures the essence of the Wild West effectively, and the performance by 2nd placed Motor City Brass Band is quite enjoyable, with some well controlled playing, despite the occasional clipped note and dodgy intonation.  The other item taken from their programme is Len Ballantine's arrangement of "Shenandoah", presented most impressively as a vocal solo (apparently by their bass trombone player, although the player's name is not given).

Eric Banks, the former Principal Director of Music for the RAF and currently residing in Australia, has arranged the opening fanfare from the "Festmusik der Stadt Wien" by Richard Strauss, and this was the first item in the programme presented by the Prairie Brass Band.  Originally written for the Vienna Trompeterchor (8 trumpets, 8 trombones, 2 tubas & percussion) it places considerable demands on the players, and for all the band's good efforts a few split notes detract considerably from the intended effect.

Brass Band of Central Florida's "Hunting Wabbits" took the audience to the world of cartoons as Elma Fudd attempted once again to ensnare the elusive Bugs Bunny.  Here the band impresses by its sheer musicality and sensitivity, each section clearly listening to each other and aware of how their contribution fits into the overall picture.

Somewhat unusually, the solo prize was won by baritone player William Hess of Fountain Brass Band, playing "Csardas" (Monti, arr Feift).  It is certainly an impressive performance, the occasional slip notwithstanding, even if the lingering impression one is left with comes from the split last note.

Two marches are featured, Prairie Brass Band's "Ravenswood" and Sheldon Theatre Brass Band's "Mephistopheles".  The former, whilst containing some good playing, is marred by a few moments of brashness, particularly from the trombone section, and occasional untunefulness in the bottom half of the band.  The latter, whilst showing some delicate and accurate playing, suffers from notes not sounding in the quieter sections and a rather deliberate approach that diminishes the impact somewhat.

6th placed Eastern Iowa are represented by two items: the Shostakovich "Galop" (arr Fernie) moves on briskly whilst the un-named cornet soloist in "Sugar Blues" (Williams, arr Morrison) captures the laid-back style beautifully, making this one of the highlights of the recording.

Brass Band of Central Florida's final item is "Gonna Fly Now" (Conti, arr Sharpe), played with rather more exuberance than control, and not as impressive as their other items.

Flugel players looking for a change from "Children of Sanchez" would be well advised to look out for the same composer's "Legend of a one eyed sailor".  Played here by Prairie Brass Band's Brad Hecker in a new arrangement by the band's conductor, Dallas Niermeyer, it displays much of the same rhythmic energy and is a good display vehicle.

The disc closes with another Niermeyer arrangement played by the Prairie Brass band, this time of "Softly as I leave you", immortalised for brass players in Alan Catherall's version for the Childs brothers.  This new version seems rather overblown in comparison, although the band gives of its best.

All in all, this recording is most likely to appeal to those who attended the event, and would like a memento of the occasion, although there may some surprise and disappointment as rose-tinted recollections are replaced by the reality as captured by the microphone.  As a snapshot of current banding in the US it may be of interest to some, although as Pat points out in his article, only two of the competing bands are listed in the top seven North American bands.

Peter Bale

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