The old Monty Python adage can certainly be applied Manger Musikklag in entertainment mode: Now for something completely different.
At their best they are in equal parts endlessly clever and creative; infused with an added pinch of acerbic wit that comes from a musician who has the visionary mindset of a Terry Gilliam in his most inspired Baron von Munchhausen directional mode.
Incomparable inventiveness
The lineage of Martin Winter’s musical DNA is obvious; the febrile scope of his raw material hewn from a seam of incomparable inventiveness first uncovered by Howard Snell. It is as if his mentor has now granted his protégé the mining rights - one that just keeps producing polished gems of brilliant iridescence.
Who else could bring to life a starfish ballet, a 100th birthday trip to a German casino or a dance from the pages of a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale?
This release is 75 minutes of sheer unadulterated, delightful hutzpah.
Bobby dazzlers
Two sparkling bobby dazzlers from ‘An American in Manger’ suite are a cross cultural delight to open; a heady mix of Bronx swagger and Nordic festivity - the latter ‘Manger Springar’ led by a sprightly cocksure Rinat Arzumov.
Meanwhile, ‘Manger’s Madrigal Mystery Tour’ is also a juxtaposition of European cultural idioms; twisted with such clever ingenuity to feel radiantly modernistic.
Here we get the elegance of Italian court life and the chopsy yelp of bragging French housewives linked seamlessly to a chorizo spiced tale of Spanish infidelity and emotive paean to everlasting Milanese love - all rounded off what sounds like a retro night out in an 1980s Essex nightclub.
Wit and imagery
A brace of movements from ‘Central Park Suite’ is also full of wit and imagery; the intertwined triple salchows and Bambi-like slips of skaters at the famous New York 'Woolman Rink' are led in their joyful exploits by Anne Britt Hermansen as a free flowing cornet playing Sonja Henie, whilst the ever eager performers of ‘The Delacorte Theatre’ showcase their talents in the hope of being spotted by a passing Broadway producer.
Salty waltz
Two contrasting solos from flugel horn Randi Holm and solo trombone Birgitte Bjornsdatter Bruget are superbly realised by players fully understanding of their darkly surreal inspiration: ‘Red Shoes Dance Sequence No 2’, evolves with the perpetual energy of an inexhaustible Bonnie Langford, whilst ‘Ballet of the Star Fish’ bubbles in a salty waltz of languid sex appeal.
Crowning glory
The closing ‘Bon Anniversaire Suite’ is something of a crowning glory - a brilliantly acerbic birthday celebration that starts in Russia before taking various time line geographical detours to Mexico, England and Germany before heading back home to Norway for its final fling.
‘Cheburashka’, with its inflections of a Shostakovich scherzo built into its dark coulrophobia, segues into an early morning ‘Muriel’s Wedding’ type Mexican snapshot, 'La Mananitas' (expertly played by Birthe Carlsen), and ‘dixified’ ‘Happy Birthday’ (superbly orchestrated to mimic the clarinet lead), before we head into the future and that 100th birthday casino outing and a final raising of bubbly with a Nordic Latin American funk accompaniment.
It may be something completely different, but ‘Mangernetisk!’ is also one of the most enjoyable brass band CDs you will get to hear for quite some time.
Perhaps Martin Winter can now be persuaded to try something along the lines of ‘The Life of Brian’…
Iwan Fox
Contents
An American in Manger, Martin Winter
1. I. Mangernetisk!, 3.50
2. II. Manger Springar, featuring Rinat Arzumov (Cornet), 4.32
Manger's Madrigal Mystery Tour, Traditional
3 I. Amor Vittorioso, 4.02
4. II. Il Est Bel et Bon (twisted), 3.52
5. III. Fatal la Parte (twisted), featuring Anne Britt Hermansen (Trumpet), 4.09
6. IV. Il Bianco e Dolce Cigno (twisted), 5.21
7. IV. Now is the Month of Maying (twisted), 3.47
Central Park Suite
8. I. The Wollman Rink, featuring Anne Britt Hermansen (Cornet), 4.29
9. II. The Delacorte Theatre, 5.16
10. Red Shoe Dance Sequence No. 2, Randi Holm (Flugel Horn), 4.59
11. Ocean 2 (The Mediterranean) Ballet of the Star Fish, Birgitte Bjørnsdatter Bruget (Trombone), 5.57
Bon Anniversaire Suite
12. I. Cheburashka (on a theme by Vladimir Shainski), 3.49
13. II. Las Mananitas (The Morning Song), featuring Birthe Carlsen (Euphonium), 4.58
14. III. Happy Birthday, 4.28
15. IV. Mein Geburtstag im Casino 2065, 4.32
16, V. Hurra For Deg, 6.10
