Only a brass band like Battle Creek could pull off a concert collaboration like this – and with such panache.

In reaching out to celebrate the musical lifeblood of New Orleans, Michael J Garasi asked a great deal of his performers, with the majority of the celebrated roster of soloists performing with a brass band ensemble for the very first time. 

Ambition

The ambition was met in full and more on an evening as memorably intoxicating as a classic Basin Street Sazerac cocktail – from the opening fizz of ‘Amparito Roca’  to the melange of Tchaikovsky bombast meets exotic Gamelan percussion in Johan de Meij’s ‘Extreme Makeover’. 

The serenity of Saint-Seans ‘The Swan’  (played by Steve Mead) and the fun-time bar room antics of Louis Prima’s ‘Sing, Sing, Sing’  simply added to the piquant first half brilliance.

This was authentic jazz musicianship – distilled into shot glass measures and offered to one and all to be drunk with passionate appreciation; heady, rich and colourful, with a swagger of stylish exhibitionism and generosity of spirit that brought waves of joy flooding back in return from every seat in the packed auditorium. 

It was followed after the break by a stunning collaborative mix; Wycliffe Gordon (trombone), Doreen Ketchens (clarinet), Herlin Riley (drums), Al Ayoub (banjo/guitar) generating a sense of inclusive exuberance. 

This was authentic jazz musicianship – distilled into shot glass measures and offered to one and all to be drunk with passionate appreciation; heady, rich and colourful, with a swagger of stylish exhibitionism and generosity of spirit that brought waves of joy flooding back in return from every seat in the packed auditorium. 

Imprint groove

The brilliant improvisations of Doreen Ketchens, the imprint kit-groove of Herlin Riley and subtle rhythmic colourings of Al Ayoub drew you into the musical heart of New Orleans, the band playing their part with subtle artistry, the MD controlling with deft nuance – a perfect counterbalance to the irresistible Wycliffe Gordon.

‘When it’s Sleepy’,  ‘Time Down South’,  ‘Bourbon Street Parade’,  ‘Means to Miss Orleans’ (a great vocal trip by Rich Kelly), ‘Bill Bailey’,  ‘Basin Street Blues’ and ‘South Rampart Street Parade’,  brought the Mardi Gras to downtown Battle Creek.

The standing ovations were many and fully deserved. Battle Creek is one heck of a lucky town to have this band at its artistic heart.

Hutton Kitzmiller