Tredegar Band

Swing Fever
Conductor: Ian Porthouse
Featuring: Paul Bowen (vocalist)
Theatre Brycheiniog
Brecon
Saturday 26th June

It’s said that brass bands can’t swing, and whilst in purist terms that may well be true, good bands can make a pretty good impression of it.

Understands

Stylistic and instrumentation considerations apart, it helps if you have a band that musically understands what is required of them, especially when they are cast for the majority of an evening’s concert, in a supporting role.

Here a fine band, currently on top notch form, enjoyed themselves in secondary support - although when given the chance to hog the spotlight in what was billed a night of ‘Swing Fever’, they didn’t disappoint, playing with considerable brio, musical intelligence and style.

Appreciative

Tredegar had teamed up with local singer Paul Bowen for this piece of musical entertainment (enhanced by excellent lighting and choreography), which was thoroughly enjoyed by an appreciative audience at the fine Theatre Brycheiniog.

Paul is well respected ‘swinger’; a regular on the South Wales club circuit where his intuitive feel for the medium has been in demand for well over two decades.

Frank Sinatra

Here though he ditched the backing tracks and small group ensembles to be supported by a full throated brass band (seated in big band formation with all the cornets playing trumpet for the night) in 16 classic numbers that included songs made famous the world over by the likes of Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee, Dean Martin and Henry Mancini.

Tredegar’s ‘composer in residence’ Matt Hall provided a tremendous set of arrangements, with polished takes on diverse items such as ‘Cry Me A River’ and ‘Me and Mrs Jones’, ‘Fever’, and ‘For Once in My Life’ in the first half, to ‘Mack the Knife’, ‘At this Moment’, ‘Feeling Good’, ‘It had Better be Tonight’ and the ubiquitous ‘My Way’.

Llandrindod Wells

Paul Bowen sang them all with a fruity transatlantic twang that seemed to be persuasively centred somewhere between Llandrindod Wells and Lower Manhattan, whilst he enjoyed warm toned support by the sultry voiced Kim McDerment and the bravura Roger Smith for ‘Your Heart is as Black as the Night’ and ‘My and My Shadow’ respectively.

In between Tredegar had the chance to show off their own swing colours too, with their trio of soloists in particular on tremendous form.

Scorching

Dewi Griffiths let rip with a scorching rendition of  the Harry James ‘Concerto for Trumpet’, whilst Zoe Hancock was a hot as a Mexican chilli fajita with ‘Children of Sanchez’.

In contrast trombonist Stephen Sykes was the epitome of cool as he perched himself on a bar stool to give a luscious old outing for ‘D.L. Blues’.

With the band also providing classy ensemble support with high tempo bangers such as ‘Valero’, ‘Trumpet Blues and Cantabile’, as well as some ‘old hat’ foot tappers in ‘Miller Magic’ and ‘Hot Toddy’ and more up to date finger clickers in ‘Swinging Matilda’ and Matt Hall’s own ‘Activate’, there was plenty to enjoy as the temperature in the hall reached sweltering levels on what was a humid mid Wales night.

Pumping it out

It all ended of course with the classic of all classics and Paul Bowen’s take on ‘My Way’, with the band and MD Ian Porthouse (who was a relaxed and entertaining compere all night) pumping it out like Nelson Riddle and his Orchestra.

The ‘only way’ to end the night for the well satisfied audience was to make it back in time over the Brecon and Radnor canal for a quick cooling half at the local Clarence Pub knowing that they had been well and truly entertained.

Who says brass bands can’t swing?

David Banwell

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