Central Ohio Brass Band

Conductors: Jessica Sneeringer & Guest Conductor: Keith Wilkinson
Guest Soloist: Brett Baker
Chapel at Worthington Woods
Columbus, Ohio
Friday 14th May

With the attraction of Black Dyke solo trombone Brett Baker and the Central Ohio Brass Band (2010 1st Section North American Champions) audience members knew they were in for something special and this concert would surpass expectations.

Dr. Keith Wilkinson conducts the Salvation Army Band at the Chapel at Worthington Woods and served as compere for the evening.  

Fantastic job

While the Salvation Army can sometime be known for quite extended introductions as they promote their message, Keith did a fantastic job keeping it short, funny and to the point the entire evening, giving the band just enough time for breaks.

Concert began as a bit of a reprise or salute to the Central Ohio Brass Band’s (COBB’s) recent accomplishments.  

The celebration was well deserved, as it was their first proper concert since winning the North American Championships (they had performed a few numbers at the Special Olympics earlier this month).

Packed hall

There was quite a packed hall (only the few odd seats where audience goers were uncomfortable sitting next to each other) for the concert. Extra chairs even had to be brought in.

COBB opened with ‘13.7 Billion Years Earlier’ (McFayden) which won them the Devilish Publishing Online Open Brass Band Contest a few months ago.   The hall was quite live and so it would take the band a little while to get used to it.  

The pianos were just fine, but the fortes blew out the walls until the band settled in.

The band continued with ‘Triumphant Rhapsody’ (Vinter), which helped COBB win the North American Championships.  It was difficult for the band to bring out dynamics, but (in spite of the hall) the style and articulations came through quite effectively.

Whilst it may have lacked the polish of their performance a few weeks back (at the North American Championships), it was still quite exciting nonetheless.  A nice warm tuba sound was amplified in the hall, 4th man down Jen Stoycheff played the big cornet cadenza brilliantly, and the last chord enveloped the hall!

Good to great

Keith Wilkinson jumped in to guest conduct ‘Ye Banks and Braes’ (arr. Wilkinson) as Brett Baker took the stage for the first time. As the concert went from good to great, Brett really demonstrated how smooth he could be, even in the technical licks.

Brett finished out the first have with Keith’s arrangement of ‘Fantastic Polka’.

Being this was the last piece before the interval, normally the audience would get up and rush out for the bar, but that definitely did not happen, as I think they were all stunned and in awe of the range and technical capabilities of the trombone that the had just been witness to (and the fact that it was at a Salvation Army building meant there were no bar).

Following the interval the Central Ohio Brass Band assistant conductor Todd Seymour took the stage to lead the band in the ‘Liberty Bell March’ (Sousa/Hume). 

This was a solid introduction to the second half and a good selection to please the audience.

Small tribute

The band then performed a small tribute to their Salvation Army hosts with ‘Mid All the Traffic’ (Ballentine).  The piece was well played, and one of many more lyrical pieces on the second half.  The choice to go soft and lyrical was a great idea given the hall, and it is nice to MD consider the hall when choosing pieces.

Brett Baker returned to the stage, and Keith Wilkinson back to the podium for the ‘Largo’ (from Vivaldi’s ‘Winter’).  Keeping in the spirit of the piece I would say Brett’s lyrical playing was as smooth as freshly zambonied ice.

Brett concluded the printed portion of his program with a stunning rendition of ‘Georgia on My Mind’ (Carmichael/Richards). 

It was absolutely lovely, and equally as lovely support from the band.

Encore

As an encore, COBB MD Jessica Sneeringer joined Brett Baker for a duet, - ‘Scarborough Fair’ (arr. Langford).  Really a pity that Brett’s portion had to end there, as we know he is so capable of playing all night.  However, the five pieces were a treat and the concert was meant to be kept within a respectable time frame.

COBB then perfomed Hime’s arrangement of ‘Amazing Grace’, with some lovely soprano work from Kim Dekay (last year's best cornet at the U.S. Open).  

’Amazonia’ (Graham/ ‘Windows of the World’) and ‘Floral Dance’ (Moss/ Broadbent) rounded out the a great evening.

Audience support

This was not one of those drawn out concerts, but rather shock and awe with much of the shocking and awing do to Brett Baker and of course supported by the 2010 ABBA 1st Section Champions (Central Ohio).  

It was nice to audience see support from members of all of the area’s adult brass bands (Chapel Brass, Columbus, Ohio, Scioto Valley and TBDBITL).  Surely a great evening that most will remember for sometime.

Pat Herak

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