Cory’s welcome visit to Derby for this concert organised by Derby Central Salvation Army was a timely reminder of their outstanding concert talent.

Philip Harper gave the audience familiarity with a twist – dipping into the extensive band library to unearth a few gems of yesteryear to go alongside current favourites - each dusted off to reveal their polish as well as their Cory provenance.

Few can match

A razor sharp ‘Night Flight to Madrid’ – a staple of their entertainment programmes under Denzil Stephens nearly 40 years ago was followed by von Suppe’s ‘Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna’ overture - played with a charm and elegant excitement that few bands can match – especially when paced so expertly by an intuitive MD. 

Tom Hutchinson brought back memories of the great Jim Davies with his sumptuous rendition of ‘Hejre Kati’, whilst ‘Aristotle’s Air’ by Christopher Bond featuring Glyn Williams and Chris Thomas was balanced against the dislocated beauty of ‘Serenade’ by Derek Bourgeois.

Helen Williams chilled the marrow with ‘Domen’ as a prelude to the energetic passion of ‘Balkan Dance’ to close.

More delights came after the break, with the classic Rimmer march ‘The Australasian’ dedicated to Music Advisor Nigel Seaman, who had just notched up a historic southern hemisphere National ‘double’ in leading Wellington Brass to both the 2018 New Zealand and Australian titles.

National double

More delights came after the break, with the classic Rimmer march ‘The Australasian’ dedicated to Music Advisor Nigel Seaman, who had just notched up a historic southern hemisphere National ‘double’ in leading Wellington Brass to both the 2018 New Zealand and Australian titles.

The very appropriate ‘I’ll Get By With a Little Help from My Friends’ allowed the band to open up the cylinders as they headed to the close with tremendous solo spots from Ailsa Russell on the ‘Finale’ from the Haydn ‘Cello Concerto’, and Chris Thomas with the rich liquidity of ‘Londonderry Air’, as well as the touching simplicity of Kenneth Downie’s arrangement of ‘Myfanwy’.

With Philip Harper ensuring that interaction with the audience was maintained throughout the night, ‘Gøta’ proved to be a neat reminder of how something so different can sound so effective, before the foundations rumbled with ‘The Pines of the Appian Way’ and the technical brilliance of ‘The Four Seasons’ encore.

Andrew Jenkins