Black Dyke

Conductor: Dr Nicholas Childs
Hadleigh Temple Timbrels (Irene Ivory)
Brentwood Leisure Centre,
Saturday 13th February

It is not easy finding a suitable venue for the visit of a band such as Black Dyke, with the capacity of the hall needing to be a priority if the event is to fulfil its intention of raising funds.

Brentwood Leisure Centre would certainly not be highly placed on grounds of acoustics or audience comfort, with the listeners a fair distance away from the band. Nevertheless, the professional approach of band and conductor ensured that the event was treated as seriously as if they were in one of the top concert halls, and the quality of the playing successfully transcended the limitations of the hall.

Signature march

Introduced by Lt Col David Phillips, the Executive Officer of Hadleigh Temple Band, who also offered a prayer for the event, the band struck up their signature march “Queensbury” (James Kaye).

Right from the outset little nuances of interpretation showed that this was much more than a mere peremptory run through, whilst Richard Marshall displayed his class in the solo passages. It is supposed to have been Richard Strauss who is quoted as saying “Never look at the trombones, it only encourages them” but Nicholas Childs pointedly ignored this advice, allowing them to bring out their featured passages most effectively.

An old favourite revisited

After the opening march the programme continued in time-honoured fashion with the overture “Poet and Peasant” (Franz von Suppe). Howard Lorriman’s arrangement highlighted various tone-colours available, from the opening bars omitting the euphoniums and cornets through to a striking contribution from the vibraphone.

The playing exuded class throughout, with delicate horn arpeggios backing David Thornton’s lyrical solo, and with excellent work from solo cornets and soprano in the waltz.

Elegant solo playing

The first soloist was Richard Marshall, despatching “Jenny Wren” (Ronald Davies) with alacrity, playing from memory and making it all seem deceptively easy. The accompaniment also was exemplary, showing great attention to detail and never threatening to overpower the clean tones of the soloist.

Kings of Cool

A segment entitled “Kings of Cool” encompassed three items, all arranged by solo horn Sandy Smith. “The Lady is a tramp” (Rodgers/Hart) featured his own section, with important contributions from the trombones, Richard Marshall and Paul Duffy, the last-named presenting a striking quasi-improvised jazz solo from the seat he had taken up at the “wrong” end of the back row, not to mention a ringing final note.

“That’s Amore” (Harry Warren) was presented as a flugel solo by Alex Kerwin, with the assistance of bass player Daniel Sinclair, whose vacillating valves provided the mandolin-like effects as Alex played onto the bell of his bass.

This item was well worked, with subtle use of humour and facial expressions, culminating with the production of a flower and a chaste kiss, quite appropriate for the eve of Valentine’s Day.

The third item was “Luck be a Lady” (Frank Loesser) which gave the repiano, second and third cornets their chance to shine. As they came to the front of the band the walking bass part was played to perfection, and Andrea Price made a telling contribution on vibraphone once more.

Championship-winning selection

The first half closed with “Within Blue Empires” (Paul Lovatt-Cooper). Nicholas Childs explained that it was the piece on which the band had won the English National Championships in 2009, and pointed to the trophy that was standing at the front of the stage.

He then presented a synopsis of the work, illustrated by the band, and in particular Gareth Brindle on baritone and Joseph Cook on tuba as they were to represent the whale calf and mother respectively. This certainly helped the audience to understand what they were going to hear and was a fine example of how to present new music to an audience – even if at least one listener was heard to mention at the end that they “prefer music with a tune to it”!

As for the playing it was a very committed performance, with Paul Duffy and Brett Baker both in imperious form, whilst the whale sounds blended in well with the playing of the band.

Spectacular opening

The second half started with Hadleigh Temple Timbrels joining the band for a performance of “Toccata” (Bach arr Ray Farr). The nine timbrellists were flanked by two rows of three flag-bearers, their black outfits contrasting with the red of the flags and, coincidentally, matching the colours of the band’s uniforms.

It was an effective display, and it was just a pity that it wasn’t possible to add lighting which would have set it off to a tee.

Salvation Army classic solo

Before introducing the rest of the programme, Nicholas Childs made mention of the history of the band, and referred to its latest victory in the British National Championships in 2009, whereupon the trophy, which had been shrouded in cloth until then, was revealed in all its glory. In a change to the printed programme, Brett Baker stepped forward to bring “Concertino for Trombone and Band” (Erik Leidzen).

It was interesting to hear his interpretation of this familiar work, taking plenty of time over the opening arpeggio figures and with much use of dynamic contrast. From the opening forte-pianos from the basses Nicholas Childs brought out every feature of Leidzen’s complex scoring, with the ascending runs across the band echoing the soloist coming across a lot more clearly than is usually the case, whilst Brett took everyone by surprise with his final note up in the stratosphere.

Solos in contrast

In very different vein, Sandy Smith demonstrated his total command of the tenor horn in “Evergreen” (Streisand arr Catherall). His smooth, silky sound and self-assured playing captured every nuance of the music, sitting nicely on the well-balanced accompaniment.

David Thornton was the final stand-up soloist, choosing to play John Hartmann’s “Rule Britannia”. Nicholas Childs drew some laughter from the audience as he explained that, of course, the euphonium was the hardest instrument of all to play, but David then proceeded to make light of all the technical challenges, whilst adding a few embellishments of his own to the already intricate solo line.

Peter Graham

It was not to be the end of the solo opportunities, however, as Brett Baker (trombone), Richard Marshall (cornet), Andrea Price (vibraphone) and Lee Skipsey (drum kit) were featured in “Scat”, one of the movements from Peter Graham’s “Cats Tales”. This also gave Nicholas Childs the chance to refer to the band’s links with the composer, and to publicise their latest cd collaboration with the International Staff Band.

Sublime hymn tune playing

David Phillips nearly committed the ultimate faux pas by referring to the conductor as “Robert”, going on to offer the excuse that he had recently chaired a programme given by the Cory Band.

He then explained how he was always struck by two aspects of the Black Dyke Band, their sound and their appearance, likening that to the importance of Christian witness, and Jesus’ exhortation to “Let your light shine”.

The band then gave a master-class in hymn tune playing with “Deep Harmony”, a rock-steady bass note between the verses leading into some extremely quiet dynamics, before a measured rise and fall at the end .

Finale and closing tribute

The final programmed item was the “Finale from the Organ Symphony” (Saint-Saens arr Wilby) which was featured by the band on the soundtrack of the film “Babe”.

It made for a fitting finale, with all the sections of the band put through their paces, with some exquisite horn sounds at the start of the fugato section and an effective trombone chorale. As the applause died down, Nicholas Childs referred to the news of the passing of the much respected David James, who had been such an influence in the brass band world.

The band then dedicated their encore to his memory, an emotion-filled rendition of “I’ll walk with God” (Brodszky arr Richards).

The concert was arranged to raise money for the work of The Salvation Army in South-East Essex, thanks largely to the hard work of organiser Peter Edwards.

With band and soloists on top form, it is an evening that will stay in the memory for a long time. (As an aside, it was also quite heartening to see all the “big name” players lending a hand when it came to packing away and loading the coach!)

Peter Bale

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