The Dirty Dozen

The main theme for my blogs has been "ethnic" brass bands that represent a style hailing from a certain part of the world. I forgot this could include America. The famous Dirty Dozen revolutionized the "New Orleans" brass band style, forming in 1977 and taking hip-hop and funk influences into their music.

The rehearsals in their early years were not geared towards gigs. People were just interested in learning the chord progressions and players brought in anything they wanted for the group to read. This relaxed atmosphere fostered the funk influences, and led them to play lots of jaz standards many light-hearted pieces such as the Flintstones theme.

The Dirty Dozen sparked a resurgence of interest in New Orleans style brass bands, and inspired the creation of bands such as Youngblood Brass Band and the Rebirth Brass Band.

Listening:
"My Feet Can't Fail Me Now"
"I Shall Not Be Moved"

Arkady and the Alphorn

Arkady Shilkloper is not a member of a brass ensemble, he's more of a one-man show. He is a Russian horn player who took up the alphorn and is kind of amazing on it. Arkady is a virtuosic improviser on the instrument, often soloing with chamber orchestras, looping over himself, or simply playing alone. He loves the funk idiom, as the harmonic series on the instrument (lydian/mixolydian; major scale with sharp-4 and flat-7) serves funk harmonies well.

Jeff Agrell, with his interest in improv, has taken some influence from Shilkloper, advocating what he calls the "daily Arkady." This means to simply pick the horn and make things up constantly for five minutes, to see what comes out. Arkady said this method helped him learn to improvise. Here are some videos for your listening pleasure.

Arkady w/ chamber orchestra playing funk.
Arkady improvising alone.
More improvising alone (longer).

Mexican Banda Music

At the center of the pop music world in Mexico is a style of brass music called Banda. Although first seen in the 1880's, banda music exploded into Mexican pop music in the 1990's. The instrumentation uses brass, woodwinds, and percussion: sousaphones, trombones, trumpets, Latin percussion, and clarinet/saxophones.

Banda el Recodo is a very famous group today that plays in this style. It is remarkable that this group has been around since 1938 and is STILL in the pop scene today. That kind of longevity is the opposite of American pop. The ensemble consists of four clarinets, three trumpets, Latin percussion, a sousaphone, three trombones, and three singers.

Venezuelan Brass Ensemble - Gran Fanfaria

This is a large brass ensemble (37 brass, 6 percussionists) hailing from Venezuela. They perform in concert settings, covering all styles, including Latin, classical, and jazz. This exciting video shows those three styles, and at the end, they all stand and wildly play "I've Got Rhythm" to the delight of the audience. What a show!

The Venezuelan Brass Ensemble was formed in 2003 from Venezuela's state youth orchestra system, so they are interestingly a state-sponsored group. They got their foot into the international scene in 2007 playing at the BBC Proms, and since then they have been playing all over Europe.

The Music of William Boyce

During my listening presentation we heard the Canadian Brass play a suite by William Boyce. This piece was on the same album as such standards as Scheidt's Galliard Battaglia, Mouret's Rondeau, and Bach's Air on the G String, so the presence of Boyce's music should come as a relief to well-listened brass players who are looking for something different.

Boyce is little-known to most people, but according to Grove, he was "the most technically accomplished and versatile English composer of the 18th century." Much of his fame came from his eight short symphonies that were originally written as introductions to theater pieces. Boyce was an admirer of Handel.

Here is a link to the first movement of his First Symphony in D.

Praetorius in the Brass World

Michael Praetorius (pictured right) is mostly known for his collection of folk/secular instrumental Renaissance dances called Terpsichore. Terpischore is the name of one of the nine muses of Greek mythology, the one associated with dance. He did not write the melodies in these piece but did arrange them for wind instruments; the counterpoint/voicing is his own.

Praetorius collaborated with the violinist/composer Caroubel, who was responsible for some 82 dances in Terpsichore. These dances were from the French tradition, and based off of pre-existing melodies.

I love these pieces. I've heard some of these dances since I was young, and like the innocent and light feel to them. I think it's good every once in a while to listen to music that isn't super-serious. It can be oppressive to listen to music out of a sense of duty or self-improvement.

During my listening presentation, we heard 2 "dance suites" arranged for the St. Louis Brass Quintet by the trumpeter, Allan Dean.

Listening on April 13

I brought in much arranged brass quintet music, from many different time periods. Arrangements from other ensemble types can open up your brain to different styles and types of writing. Although these pieces aren't meant for a brass ensemble to play them, a good ensemble is challenged to make the music speak as it was intended, and in this way arranged pieces can be a musical muscle-stretcher for the players. Some arranged music such as the Nutcracker and Carmen are great for engaging the audience. It's always fun for people, especially lay-people, to hear tunes they recognize, and a transcribed piece may be the only way to do that.

Listenings included:

St. Louis Brass
Praetorius - 2 "dance suites" from Terpsichore
Hindemith - Four Madrigals
Scheidt - Passamezzo variations

Bonesapart
Bizet - Carmen excerpts
Tchaikovsky - Nutcracker March

Canadian Brass
Boyce Suite