Captain Sam Hairsine of the Royal Marines Band Service reviews Highlights from the 2015 Brass in Concert Championships and World of Brass in Concert

With the luxury of two discs, World of Brass has been able to pack over three hours of great entertainment onto this latest DVD release featuring the many highlights of Brass in Concert 2015.

Appearing between pieces and providing informative and well-judged introductions, Frank Renton is the compère for DVD 2, as well as a familiar guiding voice through DVD 1.

A good variety of camera angles lend interest to an already entertaining show and although there are occasional shots, in which the focus seems to be on the wrong person, this is a well-produced release with high production values.

Disc 1 contains Black Dyke’s Saturday World of Brass in Concert and it is an absolute treat. Festive Overture gives the World of Brass team a chance to show you the venue and, although we all know what a trade stand looks
like, it does set the scene nicely.

Philip Cobb was the guest soloist and, in Jubilance, we hear a band and soloist in perfect synchronicity. The LSO’s Principal Trumpet shows precision, clarity, sublime phrasing and gives a lesson in how to project detail. With his mature musicality, stage presence, fluency and sound, he is a delight to watch. He appears three times more, including for a very tidy duet with his Eminence Brass colleague, Richard Marshall. There are some great camera angles and the changes of view are never distracting.

Dyke’s programme is superb with variety, great solo features and the quality that you would expect from the reigning European Champion.

In Disc 1’s extras, the Yamaha Neo Ensemble is a real touch of class. Led by Conductor Russell Gray, the group is brilliant with tight ensemble, lush sounds and an absolutely fantastic kit player in Girl from Ipanema.

Featured soloist, Katrina Marzella, also wows us with Jonathan Bates’s Carnival of Venice. The other extras are though a little less enticing, being more of a keepsake for the workshop participants. Elland Silver Youth Brass Band’s programme would certainly have been better live as the cameras couldn’t quite capture all of the choreography, but it is enjoyable nonetheless.

Disc 2 has the highlights of the contest and I’d recommend Steve Jack’s BBW Retrospective for a full account. The DVD features bands in the reverse order-of-placing, but you have the luxury of choosing whichever band you would like to see from the home menu. The sound that I got from the DVD was generally good and, although it is all but impossible to replicate that of a live band, the producers have managed to give a good account.

The whole DVD is very enjoyable. EYMS’s 12th Street Rag brought a big smile to my face and Hammonds Saltaire played one of my favourite pieces on the DVD, Tam Tak Tak. It may not be to everyone’s taste, but I thought it was innovative and brilliant. I also loved Leyland Band’s programme, hallmarked by a very accomplished and musical Molly on the Shore and Hummingbird - one of the best pieces on the disc - is clever, witty and different, as well as being expertly performed by soloist, James McLeod.

Virtuosi GUS featured a really good narrator and we get to see bits of the excellent video accompanying its New York-inspired programme. Third-placed Flowers Band had a very clever programme comprising five movements in a piece composed by Jonathan Bates, which provides an opportunity to see David Childs - a soloist who, like Philip Cobb, is in a class apart. His Zigeunerweisen shows lyricism, fluency and a gorgeous sound through a vast range, and David Childs’s virtuosity is worn lightly within a musical and intelligent whole in this staggering performance.

The top three-placed bands all had themed programmes that really worked. Grimethorpe Colliery Band won a brace of prizes and features great playing from Michael Dodds, Roger Webster and others, as well as a terrific deadpan showing from Sean Crowther, whilst Frank Renton adds some Shakespeare to a suitably epic finale.

Cory won the contest and seemed to cover every base: there is Tom Hutchinson’s stunning technique and raw energy in Fuego; Glyn Williams’s beautiful sound alongside Chris Thomas’s flawless control in Aristotle’s Air; a relaxed and cool Under the Boardwalk featuring the flugel of Helen Williams; and The Brigand’s Orgy by Berlioz to finish with. This band seemed to have everything! Fresh and modern, Elemental opened the set and video was harnessed well to complement the atmosphere built by the music, whilst Philip Harper’s Berlioz arrangement gave a terrific contrast to close with its dark menace, epic counterpoint and beautiful slower lines showing off a terrific band.

These DVDs show entertainment contesting at its best - innovative programming, new compositions, terrific soloists and great bands. Oh, and choreography too!