Contrasts in Brass

Thundersley Brass Band with Zone One Brass
The Salvation Army,
Hadleigh Temple,
Saturday 28th February 2004

Joint concerts featuring two or more bands are fairly common, sometimes pairing bands of equal standing, but occasionally offering more of a contrast. Keith Schroeter, the conductor of Thundersley Brass Band and currently playing first horn with Zone One Brass, drew a comparison from the world of football when he described his own band as the equivalent of Southend United (currently in the lower reaches of the Third Division), whilst Zone One were on the brink of breaking into the Premiership.

As it was, a large, appreciative audience gathered to hear the two bands in concert at The Salvation Army, Hadleigh Temple, in what was described as "a concert of three halves", each band presenting a number of solo items, separated by an interval just long enough to enable them to change over on the stage, before they joined together for a massed finale.

Thundersley opened the proceedings with Robert Redhead's "Fanfare of Praise", the first of a number of items written or arranged by Salvationist composers. Based around the old crusader hymn tune "Ascalon" it begins with trombones in unison, and although they were nicely together the articulation could have been a little clearer, with the occasional slide between the
notes, whilst there were discrepancies in tuning elsewhere in the band. The move into the more up-beat second half was dealt with confidently, although
the percussion was a little too prominent for this listener. Nevertheless, it was a good and effective start, which they followed with Len Ballantine's setting "I know thou art mine" where the horns, perhaps the most impressive section of the band, produced a good clear sound, if lacking a little body
and intensity at the top of the phrase. There was also some rather weighty playing from the basses, with the attack of the notes a little too harsh for the music.

Mark Rudd, on flugel, was the first soloist of the evening, and he had chosen to play Ray Farr's arrangement of "Somewhere over the rainbow", a
difficult piece to play effectively, although Mark appeared to grow in confidence as he went along. There was some uncertainty and misreading in the accompaniment, which was a little heavy at times, particularly in the bottom half of the band.

Introducing Andrew Duncan's arrangement of "Titanic" Keith described it as a mini test piece, and it was certainly rather an ambitious piece to tackle, although the band made a good attempt at it. The soprano player recovered well after missing a couple of high notes, always one of the hardest things to do, and the band generally coped well with the at times intricate rhythms and figures. As always, it was in the quieter sections that the intonation was most exposed, and the love theme had to fight a little against the basses and percussion. The horn section had another opportunity to shine in Alan Catheral's version of "Born free", with the band really seeming to enjoy the up-tempo section.

For the second solo item the bands had arranged to swap soloists, and this time it was John Stokes of Zone One who stepped up to play the old favourite
"The Acrobat". The audience was forewarned that the conductor didn't really know what to expect, and sure enough there were the glissandi aborted in mid-flow just as he was about to bring the band in, and some good repartee, especially given the brief amount of rehearsal time available. The audience certainly enjoyed it, and the soloist produced a good trombone sound, suitably coarsened at times to suit the piece, which was obviously intended for an instrument with a much narrower bore.

"Soul Bossa Nova" was not on the programme, but was slotted in before Barrie Gott's "Daniel". Slightly less at ease in the former, despite some effective falls from the trombones, the band produced some of the best playing in their set in the latter. Rhythmically tight the enjoyment was there for all to see and it was clear they were letting their hair down - maybe at least in part as their set was drawing to a close. "Daniel" is something of a drum feature but again this listener found the percussion a little too heavy, and there was little sense of the drum break being built
up to a climax, before the band joined in for a positive finish.

Keith had made mention of the unfortunate circumstances surrounding Thundersley's experience at the Areas last year, when they won the Fourth
Section, only to be disqualified for having too many brass players on stage. Despite the criticisms raised above, they are a band in good form, and are
hoping to do well this year. Work on tuning should pay dividends, and concentration on balance between the sections.

Thundersley, in their maroon jackets, were replaced by Zone One in black, as their conductor Simon Dobson, complete with dreadlocks, as was pointed out numerous times during the introductions, took the podium. Immediately there was a sense of anticipation as he looked round the band to gain their
attention before launching into the Toccata from Boellmann's "Suite Gothique". It was clear that he had the band well under control, with players responding instantly to his lead. From the basses up the balance was good, with well graded crescendi and a first class fortepiano at the end.

"Share my yoke" is another piece with Salvation Army origins that has been taken up by soloists across the board, either on cornet or flugel. On this occasion it was young Jemma Andrews of Thundersley Brass who came to the stage with her cornet, accompanied by Zone One. It must have been quite an experience for her and she did well; the notes were all there and better projection and phrasing will come in time - well done!

Peter Graham's "Gaelforce" can be deceptively elusive to bring off in concert, but on this occasion it worked very well, led by the three excellent ladies on percussion, steady and totally in agreement, but not
over-dominant. Although the tone of the flugel in "The Minstrel Boy" was not the strongest, the accompaniment was first class here, with everyone
listening to one another, and the cornet chorale blended beautifully. When the tempo shifted up a notch in the final section the whole band moved up as
one, and coped admirably with the technical difficulties to produce a most effective performance.

"Lightwalk" caused some consternation when premiered by the ISB at the Albert Hall, with Ray Bowes dispensing with the baton to lead the band.
Whilst it is now widely accepted it is still tricky to play, needing a band that can adapt its style accordingly. This the students who make up Zone One are clearly able to do, including featuring a stand-up trumpet solo in the middle. The horns and flugel, basses and trombones all caught the spirit of the piece, and the trumpet-like tone produced by the cornet section was entirely appropriate.

The final soloist was Jonathan (didn't get the surname, I'm afraid!), with Steven Sykes' take on Monti's "Czardas". Standing at floor level in front
of the band he demonstrated his complete control over the instrument and well justified the comment from the conductor that he was the best tuba player he had encountered. There were a couple of moments of uncertainty between band and soloist, but these did little to detract from the audience's clear appreciation of his playing.

For their final solo item, Zone One played Dean Goffin's arrangement of the "Galop from William Tell", setting off at a cracking pace with very clean
articulation. Much was made of the contrasts in volume and the tight percussion helped considerably.

Overall, the band produced a fine sound, after a little uncertainty from the cornets right at the start of their programme. There may be those who would feel the sound is a little too "trumpet-like", but their musicianship is apparent for all to see. Balance was generally first class, although just on a couple of occasions the pedalling from the basses seemed a little excessive. Talking to some of the players, they are looking forward to tackling "Coventry Variations" in three weeks' time, when on this form they should be in the frame or thereabouts. It was just a little disappointing that none of Simon Dobson's own works were prgrammed.

After a fairly substantial interval the two bands squeezed on the stage, conducted initially by Keith in Peter Graham's "Summon the Dragon". The opening from the cornets was very impressive, and the two bands sounded well together. They followed this with Bill Himes' version of "Amazing Grace", where the delicate opening parts, with cornet parts moving almost imperceptively, didn't quite come off, although things improved once the rest of the band joined in.

"Vitae Lux" has become a popular item in recent years, although there was a lack of precision here in the percussion that seemed to unsettle things
slightly. The music built up effectively though, despite some excessive pedalling from the basses, and the final note from the Zone One sop player was worthy of Peter Roberts himself! William Rimmer's "The Cossack" allowed the bands to demonstrate fine articulation once more and precise rhythms, with much being made again of the dynamics.

For the final item they had chosen the march from "The Pines of Rome" in Howard Snell's arrangement, possibly something of a brave choice in the light of the fairly thin scoring in the opening sections and exposed solo figures. This was not the best playing of the night, although by the final climax all seemed well and the less disciplined and less tuneful sections
seemed to have been forgotten by the appreciative audience, who clearly wanted an encore.

It came in the form of a beautiful Cornish hymn tune, new to this listener, entitled "Treskerley", in which Simon Dobson brought out some fine controlled playing from all sections to draw the concert to a fitting conclusion.

As the audience left the hall there was a satisfied buzz as people shared their individual highlights of the evening. Both bands had been able to show what they could do, each bringing supporters and helping to make the evening the success it undoubtedly was., and both able to gain considerable satisfaction from their night's work.

Peter Bale

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