Rhythmic Renaissance

David Danford
Accompanied by Nicola Rose (piano)
Alto Recordings: CDALTO001CD
Total Playing Time: 62.12

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The brass band movement is currently blessed with a whole host of very fine exponents of the art of percussion playing. It has not always been thus, and we now somewhat take for granted that every top line band has in its ranks at least one percussion player of quality who can perform as a soloist every bit as good as a high class principal cornet or euphonium.

The difficulty however is that although percussion per se has become an integral part of the general brass band movement, individual compositions that feature percussion as a solo voice have remained on the margins of concert and recording repertoire for the medium for far too long. The pioneering work of the likes of Evelyn Glennie and Simone Rebello have done much to change attitudes towards the use of tuned percussion in particular in the brass band genre, yet the movement itself still possess a somewhat narrow conservative appreciation of its immense potential.  Too often percussion features are used as lightweight ‘fillers' or more criminally, ‘comedy' items of little musical importance – an insult to the performers and invariably to the music performed: Surely there is more to offer an intelligent musical public than a witless run through Monti's ‘Czardas' or ‘The Two Imps'?

That may about to change with this enjoyable and intelligent recording from Dave Danford, one of the new breed of young, dynamic and exceptionally talented tuned percussionists currently plying their trade in the brass band medium. It would in fact be rather unfair to call him a ‘brass band percussionist'; he is more a very skilled practitioner who happens to enjoy playing in brass bands, as he has a burgeoning professional career that also encompasses solo, wind and orchestral genres too. 

Recorded in the intimate acoustic of the Ty Cerdd Studio in Cardiff, the 8 eclectic items of repertoire on ‘Rhythmic Renaissance' reveals a highly cultured and subtle performer who has a finely attuned sense of style and rhythmic precision. 

Accompanied by the outstanding pianist Nicola Rose (who is treat to listen to throughout) this is something of an extended recital recording – and all the better for it too. The absence of a brass accompaniment in the form of ensemble or full band may seem to rather negate the opportunity for the soloist to explore potential repertoire to be used in conjunction with the medium, but that would be folly. Some of the pieces on show are already scored with brass accompaniment, but in this recording the clarity of performers artistry is enhanced by the absence of the muddied banding waters in which the lower tones of tuned percussion especially are too readily lost.   

This also allows the soloist to display the subtleties of light and shade, timbres and colours, which the marimba in particular can achieve as an unfettered voice. So too with the xylophone and vibraphone, as delicate, facile playing is produced with a fine sense of shape and understanding of the musical line, whilst the darker, richer tones and colours of the instruments palate are revealed with sensuous accessibility. This is fully apparent on both the more contemporary items and those of a more traditional approach.

The 8 tracks cover a wide acre of musical ground, from an arrangement of the Vaughan William's ‘Concerto Accademico' for violin through to a movement from the Derek Bourgeois ‘Concerto for Percussion', Alfred Reed's delightful, ‘Scherzetto' to the darker and more complex writings of Paul Smadback and Ney Rosauro and the exotic and slightly surreal ‘Elam Woc' by Jacob Wheeler. Each has much to admire and enjoy both in terms of composition and of performance.

The Vaughan Williams provides the hub of the recording accompanied by the pianist. As a work for marimba and vibraphone it just about comes off, although it tends to lack the feel of dextrous vibrancy that the violin would display with ease in the outer movements. The slower, more reflective second movement is more successful, yet overall it rather feels as if it is a work that has more academic than musical purpose.

Peter Tanner's ‘Sonata for Marimba and Piano' however is a richly crafted work that has lost none of its musical relevance in the 50 years since it was composed. Here the performers deliver it with a keen sense of stylistic appreciation, an almost Swiss chronograph precision and lovely understated musicality. So too the darkly complex ‘Virginia Tate', written by the composer as a homage of sorts to his mother in law (what a woman she must have been then) and a one movement work with a real sense of troubled reflectiveness – the undercurrent of which is heard from the start.

Derek Bourgeois also reveals a dark, but more serene presence of musical mind in his ‘Adagio for Vibraphone' that rises and falls like breakers on a sea shore, whilst in complete contrast  Alfred Reed's light and breezy ‘Scherzetto' is almost a throwback to the music of the 1950's and ‘Worker's Playtime' with a milk bottle top feel to his second movement from his ‘Concertino for Marimba and Winds'.

'Katamiya' from the French percussionist and composer Emmanuel Sejourne has a hypnotic feel that at first unpins, then sensuously overwhelms the senses, leaving a real imprint on the brain long after the piece has finished whilst the same sense of subterranean boring into the mind can be felt with the effective, somewhat intoxicating and very enjoyable Brazilian inspired ‘Toccata and Divertimento'. The rhythmic patterns in both movements are immediately secured with a precise combination of shakers allied to vibraphone, the result of which allows the music to delve deeper and deeper into your subconscious.   

Finally, the slightly surreal ‘Elam Woc' which takes its inspiration more from Dylan Thomas's village in ‘Under Milk Wood' rather than a small furry creature from a Star Wars movie. It is equally enjoyable whatever though.

It rounds off an enjoyable, thoughtful and intelligent release from a gifted soloist, which benefits also from high production values and a superb accompanist. The outlook for percussionists in brass bands may well be looking up. 

Iwan Fox.

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