It’s (not) Unusual
7-Dec-2007
Fairey Band with Phil Lawrence
Conductor: Frank Renton
Soloists: Chris Pannell, Lisa Sarasini, Paul Coupe, Kevin Wilson, Rod Franks, Richard Marshall, Jamie Prophet, Mike Eccles, Lucy Murphy, Brenden Wheeler, Margaret McDonald, Louise Thompson, Derek Wa
Now then. What an absolute dolly mixture filled pick and mix lucky bag of bon bons we have here.
76 minutes of fun and games, at times serious and thought provoking, at others as throw away as a spent carton of left over Chinese take away food. The title couldn’t have been better chosen.
Phil Lawrence is a gifted composer and arranger of eclectic taste, with humour as dry as a pharaoh’s back bone and a technical ability to bolt almost seemingly impossible structures together better than Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
It’s hard to think of the last time you sat and listened to music played by a brass band (albeit accompanying a whole plethora of soloists both great and good on many of the tracks) and came away both scratching your head like Stan Laurel and wearing a smile on your face like the shark from Mack the Knife. It’s (not) unusual? Too flipping right it ain’t.
16 tracks, from Bach and Mahler, to the serial women’s knicker collector Tom Jones and Captain Kirk’s television offspring, with musical stop offs at Mendelssohn and Wagner, Cole Porter and Alan Vizzutti. Oh – and don’t forget Mr Lawrence himself. This is musical schizophrenia at times.
It is also highly enjoyable fare too, even if the execution is more than a little uneven at times. For every nasty moment however, there are two good ones, one great one and even the occasional, ‘what the..?’ eyebrow raising item.
If there is a real weakness however it is that everything and more has been crammed into the 76 minutes in such a delightfully haphazard way – even the cover features anyone and everything from a slightly camp medieval knight and muscle bound Viking to the Star Ship Enterprise. Even the sleeve notes are a grammatical entertainment in themselves.
It’s the equivalent of munching your way through a bag of ‘Revels’ chocolates – for every fantastic orange one, you also get the odd horrid coffee moment and the occasional anaphylactic shock inducing nut one too.
The opening ‘Star Trek Deep Space Nine Theme’ for instance is a real coffee choice – with tuning of the Bones McCoy, ‘Not as we know it Jim’ variety spoiling the atmosphere.
After that it’s thankfully more of the orange, coconut and toffee picks, with some tremendously enjoyable solo work from the professional helpers, Derek Watkins, Richard Marshall, Jamie Prophet and Rod Franks.
Watkins screams away like a teenage female victim in a B movie horror pick, whilst Rod Franks delivers two enjoyable flugel horn solos (although you do wonder if he recorded his bits in a toilet cubicle given the slightly odd tonal quality of the instrument he plays). Richard Marshall jinxs like Phil Bennett against the All Blacks whilst Jamie Prophet is as solid and penetrative as a Joe Calzaghe right hook to the chin. All earned their money and certainly enjoyed themselves it sounds.
The pros are also well back up by the Fairey team of soloists too, as well as the mezzo soprano of Margaret McDonald and harpist Louise Thompson. The title track is a bit of a hoot – Tom Jones crossed between Aled Jones and Barry White given the notational range of the trombone trio, whilst the slightly surreal, ‘The Wizard’ which is a cross between William Rimmer meeting Edward Elgar on a Whit Friday march contest is a technical curiosity of puzzling enjoyment.
Elsewhere there is some wonderful playing on the more serious arrangements with Stravinsky’s ‘Pastorale’ and ‘Siefried’s Funeral March’ showcasing both the arrangers and ensembles ability to deliver at a very high class level.
So too the Lawrence ‘originals’ of ‘Bach Variations’, ‘Marion’ ,‘Anblasen Fanfare’, ‘A Slow Ride in a Static Machine’ and ‘A Day In the Life of A Knight’. Not all work – but the evidence of a very individual compositional voice is heard to good effect.
Its hard not to smile and think that this ever so slightly off the wall recording has more than a fair share of being undertaken with a tongue placed firmly in the side of Mr Lawrence’s cheek.
As Frank Renton says in his sleeve note accompanying the release “The music is at times exquisite, never less than challenging, but never dull…”
You just have to agree.
Iwan Fox.
What's on this CD?
1. Star Trek Deep Space Nine Theme, McCarthy arr. Lawrence, 3.24
2. It's Not Unusual, Reed arr. Lawrence, featuring Lisa Sarasini, Paul Coupe and Kevin Wilson (Trombones), 2.13
3. I've Got You Under My Skin, Porter arr. Lawrence, Rod Franks (Flugel Horn), 3.42
4. A Slow Ride in a Static Machine, Lawrence, 3.55
5. Liebesleid, Kreisler arr. Lawrence, 2.55
6. Anblasen Fanfare, Lawrence, 3.07
7. Zig-zag, Vizzutti arr. Lawrence, Richard Marshall (Cornet), 1.51
8. The Wizard, Phillip Lawrence, 5.46
9. Pastorale, Stravinsky arr. Lawrence, 3.36
10. Marion, Phillip Lawrence, Rod Franks (Flugel Horn), 4.46
11. Ulricht, Mahler arr. Lawrence, Margaret McDonald (Mezzo Soprano), Jamie Prophet (Soprano Cornet) and Louise Thompson (Harp), 5.54
12. Bach Variations, Phillip Lawrence, 4.38
13. Saltarello, Mendelssohn arr. Lawrence, 5.47
14. A Day in the Life of a Knight, Lawrence, 11.21
15. Siegfrieds Funeral Music, Wagner arr. Lawrence, 8.04
16. Give it One, Alan Downy arr. Lawrence, Derek Watkins (Trumpet and Flugel Horn), 3.46
