|
 Solid
Brass Review
History of the
World Through Music
Article and Concert review
by TG
On Friday, February 8, 2008, the
Homestead Community Concerts presented its third program of the
2007-2008 season. The eleven “historians” call themselves
Solid Brass.
Founded in 1982,
SOLID BRASS, is recognized by audiences and critics alike as one
of the premier brass groups in the country. The members of the
ensemble are some of the New York City area’s finest musicians
who have performed at Lincoln Center with the Metropolitan
Opera, New York City Opera, and New York City Ballet, numerous
Broadway Shows, as well as appearances as orchestral and chamber
musicians. The SOLID BRASS roster lists fifteen performers and a
touring venue that includes Canada, the United States, and
Mexico.
Tonight’s eleven
person ensemble included: Douglas Haislip (C and B-flat
trumpet, co-founder, and principle arranger) who does mostly
freelance; Chris Jaudes (trumpet and flugal horn), who is a
trumpet instructor at Long Island University and currently in
the “pit” with the Broadway show Gypsy; Jeff Holmes
(trumpet), who is Director of Jazz Studies at the University of
Massachusetts; Chuck Bumcroft (trumpet), who is a faculty member
at Montclair State University and Affiliate Artist in Trumpet at
Keane University; Janet Lantz (French Horn), who is a fourth
generation Floridian (now in New York) doing mostly freelance
work including our Gold Coast area and the Florida Grand Opera;
Carl Della Peruti (tenor trombone, co-founder), who is a
trombone instructor at Rutgers University; Hans Muhler (tenor
trombone), who designs b rass instruments for the Yamaha
Corporation; Don Hayward (bass trombone), who is an instructor
at Columbia University; Kyle Turner (tuba), who is a top-notch
amateur tennis player, currently with the New York Philharmonic;
and Adrienne Ostrander (percussion), whose specialty is
educational concerts for schools which has taken her so far to
46 states.
The concert
started with the sounds of medieval carols by antiphonal
off-stage trumpets with the rest of the ensemble playing as they
came down the aisle. It was a unique and surprising beginning.
Each piece in the program was introduced by historical and or
musical information. The Giovanni Gabrieli “Sonata Pian e Forte”
for example was one of the first examples of a composer
indicating the dynamics (degree of loudness). For you brass
buffs the original instrumentation was for cornettos (the wooden
precursors of trumpets) and sackbuts (the earliest trombones).
The program then
jumped to the 20th century with a suite of pieces by
Ralph Vaughn Williams. First was a full brass ensemble version
of the fairly well-known organ piece “Rhosymedre”. This was
followed by “Loch Lomond” which was originally for an a capella
male chorus. It should be noted that the traditional four-part
male (TTBB) voicing was respected as only four instruments
played at any one time. The suite ended with several boisterous
songs of the sea.
Next were the
1875 pieces “Les Dragons” and a gusty and bright version of “Les
Toreadors” from Carmen by Georges Bizet. It may have been
scandalous when first presented but “Les Toreadors” is probably
one of the more popular and well-known pieces in today’s concert
repertoire. Did you know that the telephone, the light bulb, and
Carmen were created within a year of each other?
The first half
ended with the dramatic 1848 “Procession to the Cathedral” by
Richard Wagner. We were given a short story of Elsa’s plight of
her promise not to question the “white knight” of her dreams
verses her curiosity as to his real name. As she marches to the
cathedral to be wed we were left without a resolution. Did she
or didn’t she? For you Wagner fans there should have been a huge
orchestra with twice as many brass and percussion players. The
ensemble played rich, full, sonorous chords and did Wagner proud
building bigger and bigger throughout with an ending (which
included tympani) that filled every cubic inch of the hall. Wow!
After
intermission we were treated to excerpts from Handel’s
“Fireworks Music.” Picture the special platforms for the
orchestra playing their hearts out, lots of fireworks exploding
overhead, and, a magnificent fire! Yes, a fire.
Apparently the fireworks set nearby building(s) ablaze. The next
music by Leonard Bernstein was a box office disaster in 1956.
However, the “Overture to Candide” which we heard, is probably
the most played Bernstein composition. Of note was a beautifully
mellow middle section of muted trumpets, flugal horns and French
horn. The percussionist earned her keep in this one as she did
the job of several covering many of the percussion parts of the
original orchestral arrangement.
Now we got into
the “Big Band” era with Benny Goodman’s “Stompin’ at the Savoy”
and George Gershwin’s “Someone to Watch Over Me”(nice subtle
color variations of muted and unmuted trumpets), and the Glen
Miller Band favorite “Tuxedo Junction” (complete with “wa-wa”
muted trombones and a “bluesy” trumpet solo. This was the era of
$550 cars, homes for $5000, new foods such as Wonder Bread and
Mott’s Apple Sauce, the Great Depression, food rationing,
drought, and the growing fear of war. Even without a saxophone
section SOLID BRASS captured the style (including some jazz
improvising) and the spirit of the era. This departure from the
very “classical” first half of the concert was met with great
enthusiasm, finger snapping, and toe tapping.
Up to this point
the music training, teaching background (many are still college
and university instructors), and broad experiences of the
performers was very evident.
The concert
ended with a Beach Boys medley of “Help Me Rhonda”, “Surfer
Girl”, and “California Girls”. One was transported back to high
school with that ball that spun stars across the walls and
ceiling, holding onto your special guy or girl. I kept expecting
to hear “Blue Moon” in the middle of the second tune. I heard
comments that the tempo was a bit slow on “Surfer Girl”.
There was
silence as one of the performers reminded us that this was the
era of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, the Cuban blockade,
the first black Supreme court judge, “advisors” in Vietnam, and
Neil Armstrong walking on the moon. One could see audience
members “flashing back” to where they were or what they were
doing at that time. It was a disquieting moment.
The finale, a
Tijuana Brass medley, was met with nodding, toe tapping, some
clapping along, and much “mouthing” of words as listeners
recognized one of the songs. Again the criticism was that the
tempo for the most part was too slow. Guys, take off your
disciplined “professor” hats and let it fly. Adrienne (the
percussionist), don’t be a lady here. Drive them!
The audience
gave SOLID BRASS an enthusiastic Homestead standing ovation.
Their encore “Pennsylvania 6-5000” was a loud, unrestrained,
bright, and brassy big band sound complete with different muting
techniques, “flutter”-tonguing, and full audience participation
on the title line. A great ending to an enjoyable historical and
stylistically diverse presentation.
The last concert
of the season will be “song stylist” Linda Davis on Sunday,
March 16, 2008. If you like country you won’t want to miss this
one. Pleases note the date as it may be different than the one
publicized several months ago. Ticket information is available
at (305) 235-8818 or (305) 253-6620 or online at:
www.homesteadconcerts.com.
>
Click here
for Solid Brass' official website. |
