The Amsterdam Staff Band

Conductor: Howard Evans
Almere,
Netherlands
Saturday November 26th

It's always difficult for a band to perform on a farewell concert of their bandmaster, especially when a talented and gifted bandmaster such as Howard Evans has proven to be is involved.

However, as usual the Amsterdam Staff Band (ASB) was well prepared and instructed by their bandmaster for his final concert with them.

Howard Evans lead the band as a true professional -although he must have been emotional, and the opening number "Glorifico Aeternum" (by Dean Jones) was solid as a rock. At some times balance wise the second euphonium could have produced a little more sound, but the band produced a very fine brass band sound,  never lost the clarity or the rhythm's in this very fine programme number. Speaking of a nice sound, flugelhorn player Menno van der Woude did a fantastic job the entire evening. The essence of the piece is a modern Salvation Army song called 'somebody prayed for me' also the tune 'Now thank we all our God' which is heard in this piece.

This last tune (clever and beautiful arranged by the bandmaster himself) was the song used for the community singing after a short introduction by Howard Evans. It sounded like that the compiler of the programme -most likely Howard himself- wanted to make a statement through "His" music. The pieces of the evening were all matching with the gospel, on which the SA's music is based upon.

The next piece of the evening was called "Shekinah" a very old (Old Testament) word which refers to the ancient energy and a gorgeous piece written by Ken Downie, played with intensity by the ASB.

After some formalities, the band continued with cornet solo "Caprice for Cornet and Band", an energetic solo by William Himes. The soloist was the bands own principal Arend Pietersen (the only principal during Evans era with the ASB who did the job for more than one season). This impressive young man, performed this solo by heart and was of outstanding quality. A bit unsure in his cadenza, however, a more than reasonable performance of a tricky solo!

Howard introduced the composer of the next piece "Glory" and asked him to conduct his piece. The young composer Olaf Ritman (solo cornet player in the ASB) has already produced a number of works that have appeared on various brass band cds. Also the ASB performs every now and then a new item from this talented man. This up tempo arrangement of the well known tune "Glory to His name" has blocks of sounds, which is very often been done in bigband style numbers. The band seems to be used to play this bigband style, since it showed it's ability to produce to correct sounds also in a different style.

The bands own hero, flugelhorn player Menno van der Woude, stood up to perform a contemporary melody by Ennio Morriconi (arranged by David Bertie), "Gabriels Oboe", or should we call it "Menno's Flugelhorn"? This solo is also featured on the bands latest recording, Rejoice, the Lord is King! Menno's sound live is as good as that studio recording and at times this young man played with breathtaking beauty! The band showed that they know this piece very well and gave Menno exactly what he needed to produce his magical things!

The final item before the interval was Ray Farrs arrangement of "Toccata in D minor" (JSB). This piece has been done so many times. However, this was one of the best performances I ever witnessed. Nice broad chords, very solid work from the percussionist on xylophone and the entire piece was very musically shaped. A huge compliment for the way the band played all these syncopated figures,... well measured and perfectly correctly timed. Howard's hand was obviously noticeable!

After the interval a new concept was introduced as "Magnificat/ a celebration". The ASB recently toured to the UK and their concept for the second half of the programme was called "A Symphony of Hope". This Magnificat is another creative sculpture by the hands of the departing bandmaster, and both concepts use both brass band music and songs (the Amsterdam Staff Songsters were also present for this special occasion and they sung some good pieces, chosen by Howard Evans).

The Magnificat starts with a short introduction, followed by "Cause for Celebration". This brand new piece by William Himes was written for a summer music school in the USA. Howard Evans was invited to come over and was promised a busy week, not only working with a brass band, and a youth choir but also to do some work on the piano.

The opening of the piece is Fanfare style and therefore it made a lot of sense using this piece as the beginning of the Magnificat. The piece ends with the famous tune "Old Hundredth". It wass well played, although some tuning problems in the very beginning of the piece were evident and it must be said that the opening phrase comprehends some difficult intervals in the higher registers of the middle section.

An eager soloist (he stood up one programme item too soon) played the trombone solo "This I know" by Terry Camsey. A very light, swinging piece that suited the soloist, Marc Onstwedder, very well. The accompaniment was attractive, with a rich brass band sound. The ASB has a fine bass section, with a carrying sound and a well considered manner of shaping and this was heard especially while opening up the sound in the tutti bars. This is something the band did very well, and it cannot possibly be denied that this discipline is also something that Howard has been working on in his time given with the ASB.

The band had only one solo item left after a long evening playing. Howard must have had much confidence in his band playing Ray Steadman-Allen's "The Lord is King!" at that stage of the programme. This piece of music needs a lot of concentration, discipline, musical skills and embouchure to fulfill the difficult task the composer created.

The last time this piece was performed in the Netherlands was (to my humble opinion) by the Canadian Staff Band in 1994. The piece has three movements; in three very different styles. The band proved again that Evans had it right. Although there were some uncertainties (Baritone and solo Horn) in the last movement, it was a very decent performance, for a piece that hasn't been heard live in the Netherlands for over a decade! Again some beautiful sounds, in this brilliant piece.

Howard will be missed in the territory overseas, and watching the faces of -some of- the bandsmen after the final note under his animated leadership, it's obvious that they wanted to keep him with them forever.
All in all a very good concert, in which the band really tried to give their beloved bandmaster and friend the best possible performance. A fresh programme brought by Howard Evans, who really tried to give his best for the Highest. To my opinion both parties succeeded in their goal!

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