East meets West

Black Dyke Band & The White Russian Central Band
Conductor: Dr Nicholas J. Childs, Major Stephan Gorin, Lt-Col Pavel Mozgariov, Lt-Col Nicolai Drozhzha
Tameside Hippodrome, Ashton-Under-Lyne
Thursday 28th October 2004

If you live in the UK, then its possible in recent weeks that you could have seen adverts such as 'East Meets West' spectacular at a local theatre/concert hall.  The Army Air Corps appeared at Northampton, and the Russians have been here as well in the form of The White Russian Central Band.

The White Russian Central Band had ten concerts in ten days in late October/early November and three of them were with the current National Champions, Black Dyke.  Following on from Tameside Hippodrome, Dyke had a double-header of concerts in Halifax and Preston over the last weekend in October.

The concert was split into three sections: Both ensembles did individual slots before combining on stage in the second half to perform a mixture of music suitable for both bands.

Black Dyke got the proceedings going with a mini set that was typical of the National Champions.  The Berlioz overture 'Le Corsair', was clean and tight, with some fine ensemble playing and taken at quite a tasty tempo as well.

The latest addition to Black Dyke programmes, 'Black Dyke at the Movies', featured music from Austin Powers, ('Soul Bossa nova') and from Sister Act, ('I Will Follow Him'').  Preceding this was Dr Childs' introduction about the movies, and after what can be only described as 'Key Words', the band comes in with a burst of 'Pearl and Dean', and not long afterwards, '20th Century Fox'.  Different styles of music don't seem to bother this band at all, as they adapt to whatever is required.  This is of course is a key ingredient to making the brass band sound accessible to varying musical tastes.

The solo slot fell to David Thornton who gave a solid performance of Pete Meechan's 'Auld-Lang-Syne' before Dyke brought its own individual contribution to an end with 'Pines of Rome'.

The White Russian Central Band's programme was a varied mix of music associated with its Country.  Folk tunes, singing, dancing, a solo featuring a talented young lady on the Cimbalom: the emphasis was on entertainment and the enjoyment they have in performing certainly came across with music that is important to them. (Apologies for lack of titles, as I am not fluent in Russian!).

The second half saw a packed stage of musicians go through a programme that included 'The Procession of the Nobles', Black Dyke cornets featured in 'Bugler's Holiday' and the 'March of the Dzerjinsky Regiment' arranged by Major Kenny.

All pretty good wholesome entertainment from two combionations out to enjoy themselves and give the packed audience a treat. It worked and everyone went home for a well earned pint of Yorkshire bitter and a few shots of Vodka - it was one of those nights.

Malcolm Wood

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