Strictly Brass Dancing

Rayleigh Brass & guests
Musical Director: Alan Thorpe
The New Empire Theatre, Southend
Saturday 5th April

Rayleigh Brass is a non-contesting band based in Southeast Essex with a reputation for putting on innovative and attractive concerts.  

Their Musical Director, Alan Thorpe, joined the band some 30 years ago, and has led the band since the late 1990s, whilst one of the band’s other long-serving members, Peter Hammerton, made for an affable compère.

The theme chosen, “Strictly Brass Dancing”, enabled them to draw on the varied talents of a couple of their members, in particular repiano cornet Jemma Andrews, a talented medal-winning dancer, and horn player Megan Hall, a very accomplished bass guitarist.

The concert took place in The New Empire Theatre, a former cinema now used by various community groups, and the band made good use of the stage lighting available. 

The band took to the stage with the men dressed in black shirts and trousers, complete with silver stars and the occasional sequin, and the women in a variety of dresses, with the basses seated behind the cornets and bass guitar (which was not used continuously throughout the programme) behind the trombones. 

Strictly come dancing

The theme tune to the BBC’s “Strictly Come Dancing” introduced the genial Peter Hammerton, who explained that he was standing in for Bruce Forsyth, who was unable to make it. 

Throughout the evening, in addition to his introductions to each number and the performers taking part, he also regaled the audience with a series of jokes which, if not always original, were impeccably presented and went down well with the audience, many of who are regular attendees at the band’s concerts. 

Cornet player Jemma Andrews is a member of Southend Dance Centre, and has had considerable success in competition, paired with Dane Bennett. 

Wearing a selection of colourful outfits, they performed various dances to suit the music being played, commencing with the Rumba to the band’s rendition of “Something Stupid”. 

After a cornet quartet version of “Tango” (Albeniz) they returned to dance the Samba to Barry Manilow’s hit “Copacabana”, which also featured vocals from the band, and a full range of percussion effects. 

Soloist

Angela Davis was the first vocal soloist to appear, bringing a passionate interpretation – in French - of Bizet’s “Habanera” that was marked by some excellent bass playing by Chris Bearman, currently studying tuba at the Guildhall School of Music.   The band did well to keep the accompaniment down and not allow the solo line to be swamped.

A training band was formed some time ago, catering for beginners of all ages, and they made their first appearance of the evening, dressed in brightly coloured tee-shirts, in the guise of a Samba band, complete with whistles, shakers and various sizes of drums, playing the colourful “Carnival de Paris”, written as the theme music for the 1998 World Cup in France.

Angela Davis returned to present Gershwin’s “By Strauss”, that seemed to be pitched uncomfortably high for her, before the band turned to the music of the man himself, and the “Emperor Waltz”. 

After the introduction the waltz itself did not quite take off, lacking the appropriate Viennese lilt to it, and with a few moments of uncertainty before the reprise of the main tune.  Staying with the classics, the band made a valiant attempt at “Montagues and Capulets”, taken from Prokofiev’s ballet “Romeo & Juliet” and used as the theme tune for TV’s “The Apprentice” as well as Sunderland FC!  A fuller sound and better balance is needed to make this more effective. 

Clog Dance

Herold’s “Clog dance” featured some nifty work from the percussion section, with some fine playing from the middle of the band, and then it was time for the bass section to take centre stage for an item entitled “Night at the Ballet”. 

With one Bb bass remaining in his seat in the band, the remaining three players entered from the side of the stage, wearing white tutus and head-dresses over their uniforms.  Chris Bearman coped manfully with various extracts from Tchaikovsky as they performed a neatly choreographed routine, much to the amusement of the audience, culminating in the dying swan, with Chris finishing – still playing – on his back with legs in the air. 

Corny it may have been, but this particular audience loved it, including the end, when the remaining two players entered with stretcher and approach the supine Chris, only to carry off the tuba and leave him lying there.

To lead into the interval, the band performed the “Intermezzo from ‘La Boda de Luis Alanso’” by Gimenez.  This depiction of a wedding party featured prominent use of both tambourine and castanets, and the band made much of the dynamic contrasts, both in the tutti and solo passages.

The second half opened with an enthusiastic rendition of “42nd Street”, although the bluesy interlude towards the end did not really come off.  The Training Band then took their places standing on the apron stage: 6 cornets, 5 horns, 4 trombones and tuba, under the direction of their tutor, Peter Bearman. 

Putting on the Ritz

Their presentations of “Putting on the Ritz” and “Singing in the Rain” (with discreet percussion backing) were very well received, and it bodes well for the future of the band. 

The band was then joined by Angela and Roger Davis for an Irving Berlin Medley, including “Top hat, white tie and tails”, “Dancing cheek to cheek” and “Let’s face the music and dance”.  The accompaniment was a little heavy at times for the relatively light voices, but there was some good work from both the horns and the xylophone.

The final guest for the evening was Elliott Mountford: a local lad, he showed every indication of following in the footsteps of his namesake, Billy Elliott, with his exuberant presentation of “Supercalifragilistic” (Sherman Brothers).

Singing and dancing to a pre-recorded backing he astounded everyone with his agility and panache, finishing with a series of cartwheels across the stage.

Elvis Rocks

Megan Hall took up her bass guitar for the following sequence, commencing with “Elvis Rocks”, in which the band was also joined once again by Jemma and Dane.  The bass guitar did not merely duplicate the tuba line, but alternated at times most effectively, giving an added bite to “Jailhouse Rock”.

This was followed by a shortened version of “Night Fever”, with Dane Bennett performing the John Travolta role behind a curtain lowered to the rear of the band, only for compère Peter Hammerton to switch places just before the curtain was raised in an attempt to steal his thunder.

Final appearance

After the final appearance of the Training Band, with “Crazy thing called love” the band moved up to date with “Pacific 202”, producing some entrancing sounds and hypnotic rhythms in this atmospheric Acid House number.  Again, the playing of the lower half of the band were particularly effective, especially the light euphonium ostinato figures.

For the finale, all the participants joined forces to present excerpts from “Grease”, featuring both singers and dancers, and with the training band producing a mean hand-jive as they lined up at the front.  Megan had her moment in the spotlight with the introduction to “Summer Loving”, and there was some neat close harmony work from the trombones. 

Following the acknowledgement of the applause, the audience was sent on its way to the sounds of “YMCA”, complete with enthusiastic actions from the Training Band members.

Rayleigh Brass may not be a Black Dyke – and nor would they aspire to be – but they know their audience well, and provided an excellent evening’s entertainment which could only enhance their reputation. 

They maintain a mailing list and send out regular information on coming events, and the concert was well-publicised around the town and in the local press, no doubt contributing to a good crowd turning out on a cold Saturday evening.

Peter Bale

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