Scottish Co-op Band

Conductor: Allan Ramsey
Morley Town Hall
Saturday October 29th

Founded in 1918 the CWS Glasgow Band as they were formerly known and now as Scottish Co-op, has had many successes in its eighty-seven years history. They became the first Scottish band to win the National title in 1990 (a feat they repeated six yeas later) and also the first Scottish band to win the Grand Shield contest.

They have in the past had the privilege of working with some of the finest conductors in the brass band  movement such as Dave King, Howard Snell, James Gourlay and Nicholas Childs to name a few, and are now yet again finding success, this time under some splendid direction from Allan Ramsey.

Stepping into the heart of the brass band movement in Yorkshire can be daunting with the audience waiting with keen anticipation to hear what this fine band had to offer. Yorkshire folk are notoriously difficult to impress, but speaking with Allan Ramsay before going on stage he said both he and the band were looking forward to the concert and they were delighted to be invited to play in this excellent concert series. Since returning to the band in August he had changed their concert repertoire and was delighted with the bands response. Were the good folk of Yorkshire to be impressed then?
 
The evening got underway with the superb march ‘Keighley Moor' -  a great way to get the Yorkshire audience onside. Taken at a brisk tempo the band romped through the march in fine style and it brought a warm and genuine response from the audience who new that the MD had played a high risk starter, which came off in fine style.

Music from the world of opera followed in the beautiful ‘Una Furtiva Lagrima' by Donizetti that featured the bands principal cornet player Jim Hayes who gave a nice warm rendering of this moving music. The accompaniments from the band were sympathetic both to the music and soloist.

Music from the pen of Kevin Norbury in is very descriptive ‘Gaudete' that features the ‘Coventry Carol' showed the band to be on top form with some great work from the trombone section and percussion in this excellent music.

Kenneth Downie is without doubt one of the most talented composers to come out of the Salvation Army. The band chose to give a world premiere to music simply entitled ‘Peace'. This music is a follow up of the composers ‘In Perfect Peace' and will no doubt be a very popular item in any bands concert programme. The playing calls for great control all through the ensemble and on this first performance that was admirably achieved.

Andrea Casey is a relatively new player to the band on flugel horn and she chose the thrilling if slightly ubiquitous ‘Children of Sanchez' by Mangione. This music his very exciting and the soloist played with conviction and a nice round sound. The conductor made sure the tempo was well controlled, which is not always the case when this piece is performed. This young lady has a lot going for her and will benefit from playing with this fine ensemble.

More music from the Salvation Army in the Dean Jones composition ‘Glorifico Aeternum' which features the well known hymns ‘ Now Thank Thee O Our God' and ‘The King of Love Our Shepherd Is'. This music has an up tempo feel to it and finishes in grandioso style. The bands big warm sound was evident in this music and although the percussion section were a little too heavy at times it did not detract from a most thrilling performance. It was a good ending to the first half.

Music from the big band era opened the second half with Allen's arrangement of ‘Caravan' which featured Paul Kiernan on solo trombone. This is one of the classics for which the Duke Ellington and his band were famous. The soloist and band captured the style of the music well but more control of dynamics was needed to get the full effect.

Adrian Drover's superb arrangement of Lecuona's ‘Malaguena' kept the concert moving along at a brisk pace and some fine work from the percussion section was a feature in this dynamic entertaining music, and the band really revelled in this number.

The Mass ‘Benedictus' from ‘The Armed Man' by Karl Jenkins gave the audience the chance to hear a superb lesson in phrasing, control and sound from Allison Bonnar, the bands solo euphonium player. This beautiful music was for me the highlight of the evening and both soloist and band deserve great credit for featuring this music on the programme.

The music of Elgar always warms the blood and in the moving ‘Nimrod ‘the band gave this great music the full justice it deserves with some excellent dynamics and a great feel for the broad statements it requires. It does not get much better than this.

Music from Latin America in ‘Bolivar' gave us the chance to hear the superb trombone playing of Paul Kiernan once more this soloist's excellent technique allied to some intuitive expression, was a object lesson for all budding soloists in the hall. Well done too to the band for keeping well in the background and letting the detail shine through.

The lovely Scottish melody ‘Aye Waukin O'' featured the bands repiano cornet player Caroline Munro. Like the soloist's before her she played with lots of conviction and a nice bright sound. The band gave her the space to express herself in this simple but effective music.

The concert drew to a close with the ‘Reunion and Finale from Gettysburg' in this great arrangement by Whitburn Band's Andy Duncan of Randy Edelmann's film score. Who says there is rivalry in Scottish banding then? Over fifty thousand men lost their lives in this battle of the American Civil War and the evocative music was captured in this fine ending to the concert. The band played music from the film ‘Stingray' as their encore.

Choosing concert programmes to suite everybody is a thankless task but in their choice of programme here the Musical Director was not afraid to try something a little different. All credit to Allan Ramsey and the Scottish Co-op Band who gave the good sized audience a concert well played with plenty of contrast. They certainly enhanced their reputation and I am sure they impressed a very hard to be impressed Yorkshire audience. That tells you how good they were on the night. 
                
David Tinker

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