Sleigh Bells and Brass

"This time my seat was not in the usual part of Gord’s Room I like to be, but in the third row. I’d sit up front all the time if I could. The change in perspective allowed me to zero in on sections of the ensemble and I have to say, even though I’ve often said the group plays extremely well, my angle of listening and view put the lower brass and middle voices in the line of fire and holy cow are they ever good. I think the best example of their exceptional playing was in a transcription for band of Beethoven’s Adagio from Sonata No. 8 (Pathetique). Getting the right tone from a section and playing with the sensitivity demanded of the work is not easy to do. It only takes one player to mess it up. The whole program was good. Each tune had elements most of the audience would be familiar with. I especially liked they put Robert Redhead’s arrangement of Gord’s Canadian Railroad Trilogy in the mix. I understand it was added for obvious reasons, which meant they didn’t have a ton of time to rehearse it. Robert was in the audience too. The band has a concert in Huntsville at the Algonquin Theatre July 15 and 16. They’ll be performing with Kyung-A Lee who has been the accompanist for the Cellar Singers. She’ll be playing Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the band’s arrangement by Neil Barlow. You can get tickets for that online. Otherwise we’ll have to wait until the fall to hear the band again."