Brett Baker
Flowers Band
Conductor: Paul Holland
Doyen Recordings: DOY CD450
2025 marks 30 years since Brett Baker recorded his first solo album. ‘Bone Idyll’ he has certainly not been since – this, the latest, his 37th release.
Never short of inspiration, he pays tribute to his teaching and playing heroes - notably the iconic figures of Denis Wick and Christian Lindberg whose performances helped inspire his musical development from the Forest of Dean village of Bream to concert halls around the globe.
Bravura homage
It's a bravura homage – the opening to the Gordon Jacob ‘Trombone Concerto’ delivered with a stentorian authority that sets the tone of what follows through engaging detours of appreciation. The carefully calibrated accompaniment of National Champion Flowers adds greatly to the performances.
In retrospect it would have been good to hear the Jacob in full – the opening movement capturing the same sense of noble certainty that hallmarked the playing of its dedicatee Denis Wick who premiered it in 1956.
the opening movement capturing the same sense of noble certainty that hallmarked the playing of its dedicatee Denis Wick who premiered it in 1956.
That said, the finely attuned approach to Ray Steadman-Allen’s ‘Suite for Trombone - Immortal Theme’ and Christian Lindberg’s ‘Mandrake in the Corner’ gives ample heft to the release.
In addtion, Brenton Broadstock’s ‘KING!’ is a revealing capitalised character portrait of the well-known Australian conductor – an enticing glimpse of what he feels may lie beneath the exuberantly polished contesting veneer that is deserving of the exclamation mark emphasis of the finale.
Finessed
August Belcke’s cheerfully virtuosic (if slightly overlong) ‘Concertino’ is played with a Prussian flourish of bold swagger, which is echoed in the Barnum & Bailey Americana showmanship of ‘Autumn Dreams’ by Leo Zimmerman. Baker is such a finessed performer of these types of works (Arthur Pryor etc) that you can easily forget how difficult they are.
Baker is such a finessed performer of these types of works (Arthur Pryor etc) that you can easily forget how difficult they are.
The same applies with ‘Heroic Etude’ by Rob Wiffin, which deliberately squeals the tyres of its daredevil tempo – the soloist surefooted enough though to playfully peek over the edge without losing grip.
Elsewhere, ‘Nessun Dorma’ is a somewhat curious inclusion (despite the nod of appreciation to Howard Snell) although ‘Making Whoopie’ certainly recalls the deceptive, rakish style of the great Don Lusher, and the commercial suavity of John Barry’s ‘You only live twice’ has a debonair touch that is as equally recognisable.
Iwan Fox
To purchase:
CD: https://www.brettbaker.co.uk/
Download: https://www.worldofbrass.com/DOYCD450-download
Wobplay: https://wobplay.com/
Play list:
1. Trombone Concerto (Gordon Jacob arr. Denis Wick)
i. Maestoso
2. Heroic Etude (Rob Wiffin)
3-5: Suite for Trombone (Ray Steadman-Allen)
i. Allegro brillante
ii. Moderato cantabile
ii. Adagio semplice
6. Making Whoopie (Walter Donaldson arr. Don Lusher)
7. Autumn Dreams (Leo Zimmerman arr. Keith Wilkinson)
8-10. KING! (Brenton Broadstock)
i. Movement One
ii. Movement Two
iii. Movement Three
11. You Only Live Twice (John Barry arr. Mark Freeh)
12. Concertino (F. A. Belcke arr. Eric Burger and Ian Jones)
13. Nessun Dorma (Puccini arr. Ian Jones)
14. Mandrake in the corner (Christian Lindberg)
