Boston Brass

Regent Hall, London
Friday 10th October

The guests for the afternoon concert of the Brass Arts Festival 2008 were the quintet Boston Brass, appearing at the end of a short visit that had commenced in Scotland earlier in the week. 

The group consists of trumpeters Jose Sibaja and Jeff Conner, French horn player J D Shaw (who was also responsible for the all the arrangements on the programme), trombonist Lance Laduke and tuba player Andrew Hitz. Both trumpeters doubled on flugel, one also using a piccolo trumpet on occasion, and Lance played a number of pieces on euphonium.

Brilliant kick off

They kicked off in brilliant fashion with the “Moscow Cheryomushki Galop” by Shostakovich, taken at a blistering pace, with neat trumpet articulation and strident interjections from J D Shaw, whose ultra-secure horn playing astounded the audience throughout their programme. The short piece abounded with the quirky touches that are typical of the composer’s style, and concluded with a shouted “Hoy!”

The introductions were shared amongst the group, liberally sprinkled with humour, whilst the music itself – albeit with inherent comic moments – was treated very seriously. 

Angular phrases

“Danza Final”, from the ballet “Estancia” by the Argentinian composer Ginastera, is based on folk songs, and depicts the farmers at work, followed by a celebration party. It was marked by frequently changing time signatures and angular phrases, with sections of alternating bars of 6/8 and 3/4. 

Tuba player Andrew Hitz was kept particularly busy, with long strings of repeated quavers and some impressive “whoops” for good measure, whilst the use of the piccolo trumpet added an additional sparkle to the ensemble.

Spanish descriptions

A group of four pieces by Piazzola was introduced by Costa Rica born Jose Sibaja, whose long Spanish descriptions of each one were “translated” with such titles as “A recipe for curry”, “What . . .?”, “About a girl” and “. . . no idea!” 

Once the tango rhythm of “Libertango” had been established, J D Shaw made light of the high-lying horn solo, and the euphonium presented accompanying figures against the trumpet duet.

In “Oblivion”, the accompaniment was built up from the bass, with euphonium, flugel and horn joining in turn before the sultry trumpet melody was introduced, later taken up on flugel. “Adios” and “The Death of an Angel” offered the opportunity for further diverse styles, with driving rhythms, more busy writing for the tuba and culminating with fierce flutter-tonguing from all five players.

Excellent balance

Introducing the “Largo from the New World Symphony” Andrew Hitz referred to the very few notes allotted to the tuba in the original. He certainly had considerably more to do in this version, which commenced with the two flugels, euphonium and tuba providing the backing for J D’s horn melody. Throughout they maintained an excellent balance and a full, sustained sound.

Andrew was featured prominently in the next item, their take on Liszt’s “Hungarian Rhapsody No 2”. This was presented with considerable humour as various instruments competed for the limelight, both in terms of the musical line and their positioning on stage. 

Enjoyable close

When the trumpet cadenza came along, it contained seemingly endless long notes and trills, causing Andrew at one point to leave the stage as he grew fed up of waiting. There was also a duet between the two trumpets, alternating notes, but with the first player operating the valves on the second trumpet when it appeared to get caught in a “groundhog day” moment. It certainly made for a most enjoyable close to the first half of their programme.

Yawning

The second half opened with “Brass Roots”, an original work by Don Sebesky. Solo passages were spread across the group, including some stratospheric trumpet playing, whilst in the central slow chorale Jose Sibaja was to be found yawning at the side of the stage.

When introducing “Autumn Leaves” an explanation was given as to the origin of the euphonium – although they recognised it would be quite familiar to a British audience - pointing out that the name originates from a Greek work meaning “unemployable”! 

Take Five

The arrangement commenced with a walking bass with the euphonium adding arpeggios above, the horn then taking up the melody before being joined by the flugel. A flugel solo from Jose neatly incorporated references to “Take Five”, and they took a brief break towards the end when trumpet and trombone were exchanged for flugel and euphonium respectively.

Agility

Dizzy Gillespie’s “Mantega” was presented as a lively trumpet duet, with horn, trombone and tuba replicating the intricate piano accompaniment (built up one part at a time), whilst Andrew Fitz took the spotlight in Peewee Ellis’s “The Chicken”. His agility on the tuba was impressive throughout the afternoon, even in the lowest register, and he ended the piece with a hefty shot pedal note. 

Jeff Conner and J D Shaw also had solo passages, including a striking “whinny” effect from the horn in its highest register.

Jeff’s flugel was heard to good effect in Benny Lawson’s “I Remember Clifford”, whilst the most unusual item was “Taka-ta-ta”, a mix of rap and rhythmic speaking accompanied by Jose tapping out rhythms on an instrument case which brought the house down.

Boston Brass’s take on Duke Ellington’s “Caravan” featured claves and a shaker to back the opening horn melody, more frantic activity from Andrew on tuba and some spectacular high trumpet. 

Climax

As the climax approached J D Shaw demonstrated his versatility by swapping his horn for a third trumpet as the music drove relentlessly onwards.

For an encore they presented “The Night Train”, opening with a steady tuba tread and culminating in a great expiry of breath from all five performers as the imaginary train arrived at its destination.

Striking impression

Philip Biggs, introducing the group, had spoken of the impact they had had at one of the International Trumpet Guild gatherings, and they certainly made a striking impression on the Regent Hall audience, including a certain Maurice Murphy who knows a little bit about trumpet playing himself! 

They all demonstrated both formidable technique and supreme musicality, the whole presented in a most affable and approachable manner, whilst the two flugels, horn euphonium and tuba produced a beautifully warm and mellow sound. 

It was only a pity that their recordings had gone astray en route to Scotland as, from comments overheard as people were leaving, they would have been assured of plenty of sales.

Peter Bale

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