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If you've ever watched the Mardi Gras marching bands in Tremé or Live And Let Die and idly wished something similar existed closer to home, then wish no more, because it was right here under your nose the whole time.
If you've ever watched the Mardi Gras marching bands in Tremé or Live And Let Die and idly wished something similar existed closer to home, then wish no more, because it was right here under your nose the whole time.
This summer Durham
will bring a series of shows to venues across the historic city – Brass: Durham International Festival.
Running between 12th and
20th July, Brass will
play host to an unexpected mix of acts like British
Sea Power performing with a brass band and Jo Hamilton performing with Lanterns on the Lake and a brass ensemble and the BBC Big Band.
It may never have been considered especially cool
(indeed, the day it is will probably be its death-knell), but the brass band is
a deeply-rooted and profoundly British tradition - specifically a Northern,
English working class one - as typified in the popular imagination by colliery
ensembles such as the famous Brighouse & Rastrick Brass Band, or fictional
counterparts like the Grimley Colliery Band in the much-loved 1996 film Brassed Off. Brass:
Because if you're just picturing old-fashioned military
bands parping through some old Sousa numbers, or the Sally Army playing
Christmas carols, you're way wide of the mark. Now in its eighth year, Brass welcomes exciting artists from dozens
of other nations, and goes out of its way to embrace experimentalism and
unlikely collaboration.
Heading 2014's eclectic lip-puckering, horn-polishing
line-up are indie rock legends British
Sea Power, who will be giving the world premiere of their Sea Of Brass show at Gala Theatre, a purpose-built
venue on the banks of the Wear, on Thursday 17th July. The
Cumbrian-reared, Brighton-based band are something of a unique national
treasure, and have become known for their unusual concert locations (from the
Sealand fortresses to the Natural History Museum), their inspired
collaborations (from The London Bulgarian Choir to The Wurzels) and their off-kilter
projects (re-scoring the 1934 film Man
Of Aran to recording a
soundtrack for a documentary about Britain's coastlines), and Sea Of Brass
follows in that singular lineage. With the NASUWT
Riverside Band, and the help of arranger Peter Wraight (Matthew Herbert Big
Band), BSP will perform favourite selections from their back catalogue
reinvented for brass. This event has been co-commissioned by BRASS in
partnership with the Quad in Derby ,
Barbican London, and De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill, with grateful support from
the Arts Council England, PRS for Music Foundation and New Music Plus.UK.
If you've ever gazed at the spectacular Norman
architecture of Durham Cathedral from the window of the East Coast Mainline and
wondered what it's like inside, then Fractal
Sparks is probably the most
thrilling way you could possibly find out. The cathedral - part of a World
Heritage Site (along with the nearby Castle) and a prime location in the 1998
film Elizabeth - will play host to an innovative new
commission from Brass. This stunning live music and multimedia event, on Friday
18th July, will showcase ground-breaking visual effects accompanied by
specially-arranged songs from Jo
Hamilton with musicians from the Corps
of Army Music. Set to live performances of Jo's forthcoming second album
'Fractals', the show will feature 'force of nature' full-height visual effects
that explore the theme of perspective; that our lives continually repeat the
same patterns in different contexts and on different scales. Hamilton, a
product of the Birmingham Conservatoire (which has also given us Laura Mvula,
Rhydian Roberts and Jim Moray in recent years), released her acclaimed debutGown in 2009, which earned comparisons to
the likes of Bjork and Sigur Ros, and has become renowned as the first artist
in the world to use an Airpiano (a non-contact instrument which has often been
compared, albeit inaccurately, to a theremin). Also performing at Fractal
Sparks will be Lanterns On The
Lake, the Newcastle-based, Bella Union-signed indie band whose most recent
album Until The Colours Run was hailed as "one of the best
records of the young decade" by Drowned In Sound, and who will be
performing with the Durham
County Youth Big Band.
The BBC Big Band have played with 'em all, from Van Morrison to Tony
Bennett to Ray Charles, and are best known for appearances on BBC Radio’s Big
Band Special and Jazz Line Up. At the Gala Theatre on Friday 18th July, the
internationally-acclaimed band and conductor Barry Forgie will celebrate the
music of the great swing bands including Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Glenn
Miller and Benny Goodman.
The rest of the festival programme features some familiar
names, such as reigning National Champions Of Great Britain, the legendary Brighouse & Rastrick Brass Band,
known affectionately as 'Briggus', who made it onto Top Of The Pops in 1977
with their No.2 hit "The Floral Dance" (which was only held off the
top by Wings' "Mull Of Kintyre"), as well as The Stars From The Commitments, John Kefala-Kerr, Jon Faddis with The Andy Champion
Quintet, two fascinating art/film installations Cycles Of Brass and Hjem (Hyem), and an interactive
exhibit called Connections.
There will also be a number of Streets
Of Brass free events which
will bring the atmospheric narrow terraces and alleys of this historic city
bursting into jubilant life.
For further information, visit www.brassfestival.co.uk
1 comment :
Hope you didn't miss the preview of the highlight of the festival (in our eyes) that of the gig by American trumpet player Jon Faddis with the Andy Champion Quintet (July 15). This was squeezed in at the bottom when, in truth, it should have been headlines. Then on July 18 the BBC Big Band play at Gala Theatre. On the same day King Bee are down the road at Barnard Castle. July 18 is also the opening night for the Jazz Co-operative's jazz pub - the Globe in Newcastle with the Strictly Smokin' Big Band and the Americana Festival at Sage Gateshead also kicks off that night!
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