The Foden Band

Conductor Russell Gray

"Best of Brass Series" (Prima Arts)
Winding Wheel, Chesterfield
Sunday 24th February 2002

Chesterfield is a place that 4BR hasn't been to before, so we sent out our spies to check out the new combination of Foden's and Russell Gray, prior to their contesting debut at the North West Regional Championships.

Hindsight is a great thing, but at the time of the concert none of us knew if the new partnership was going to be a roaring success or a bit of an anti climax. Now that they are the newly crowned North West Regional Champions we could say, "We told you so", but we'll resist the temptation and give a report on a very enjoyable evening.

The threat of gales and snowstorms did not dampen the audience's enthusiasm for what was a demonstration of top class brass playing. The Foden Band has a record second to none in the competition field but it was here, that they confirmed what a class outfit they are in concert.

Prima Arts, were the hosts and sponsors for the evening, and the company set up by David Hirst has been brave enough and forward thinking in starting a series of concerts in excellent venues such as the splendid Winding Wheel, that should be a very worthwhile success. Band concerts can be a difficult thing to promote, especially in areas where there is little tradition and no real captive audience, but the hall was full and the atmosphere generated was friendly. Long may these continue.

Under their new Musical Director, Russell Gray, the band commenced their programme with Peter Graham's arrangement of ‘Olympic Fanfare' by John Williams, which gave us the clearest indication of what the evening had in store. The playing was bold but controlled with evidence of a superb cornet section topped off by the electrifying playing of Alan Wycherley on soprano cornet, and even of some of the phrases were a little too separated for our liking, there was no doubt that the rich sounds associated with the band in the last three years or so didn't depart with the members who left recently.

The band followed this with a well-tempered rendition of the "Wellington March" by Zehle, which showed that the band has retained a fine middle of the band sound with deep colours and timbres in the baritone and euph section. The cornet end did tend to be a bit strident in places, but we think this was down to enthusiasm on this occasion, whilst the new bass trombone player really enjoyed himself and produced a real classic sound.

Mark Wilkinson gave a "tour de force" performance of Tico Tico which again showed that he remains one of the very best Principal Cornet players and concert soloists on the circuit, whilst the band dusted off the old war horse, "Le Domino Noir" to great effect. It's a hackneyed old piece of writing, but it ain't half good.

The lovely middle movement of "Suite Gothique" showed off the bands lyrical style of playing to excellent effect, and Foden's still have the great ability to take the dynamic level down to ppp's with a sense of control. A very brisk run through "Perpetuum Mobile" showed a razor sharp technique, and it was nice to hear a bass end that can actually play semi quavers!

The first half ended with a robust and up tempo rendition of "Gaelforce" by Peter Graham, that certainly had the audience tapping their feet, and the playing of Helen Fox, and earlier Martin Armstrong were worth the price of a pint of bitter.

"Malegueana" opened the second half and was a little untidy, but plenty exciting, before John Barber showed a clean pair of heels in the oldest of all corny trombone solos, "The Acrobat". This was a lovely bit of musical choreography though, and even though the music was belittled a bit, it certainly made for great entertainment. It could give the piece an extended life.

"Variations on Moto Pertetuum" seemed a little under rehearsed, and even though there was plenty of hustle and bustle, the solo lines were nowhere to be heard and it was a bit of a mess. "David of the White Rock" in the classic George Wilcocks arrangement was a superb bit of playing though before the band opted for a whip through "Lezghinka" that was stunning.

Then came the real highlight of a fine night when Glyn Williams stepped up to give a thunderous rendition of "Napoli". Cornet players will shudder after hearing the scope of this lads technique and range and quality of his tone. Awesome stuff.

A last bit of peace and quiet in Peter Graham's "Crimond" finally led us to the Finale form Tchaikovsky's Fourth Symphony, which ended a cracking show in fine style.

Overall a fabulous concert then and special mention to Russell Gray who handled the band in very competent style. He has a clean and clear beat and no nonsense approach and only occasionally in the concert did the band get the better of him – but we think this was from enthusiasm rather than bad musicianship. Great stuff and with the benefit of hindsight, obviously the start of a very successful partnership.

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