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| (© Russell) |
A band well-named. Bold as brass is an old saying meaning, among other definitions, 'audacious' and they are all of that and more. From the opening Barnburner they hit the deck running. The power of the brass overwhelming, the precision of the sax section awesome. Crissi on tenor, Pippa on alto and Sam on trumpet had the solo spots on this one. The whole shebang driven along by Dan Arenstein, Joe Sharples, Ben Davies and Alex Ngeyu.
After a piano intro from Alex there was more tenor from Crissi on Sandunga with Billy Bradshaw hitting the screamers. Ifede Osiyemi played bass guitar and sang back in the band's early days and he returned to sing Straighten up and Fly Right as well as taking over on bass for the second set. Lucy took the tenor solo on the King Cole classic.
Another member of the band multi-taxing was Conor Polley who, when not playing bass trombone sang Just One of Those Things (complete with scat chorus), Bare Necessities (à la Harry Connick Jr.) and Brazil (à la Frank).
As well as Conor, all of the trombones were interesting. Alex Utting had a fine solo feature on Dream of the Return, Bertie had a blast on the cleverly titled Toccata and Fudge while Fiona did sterling work in the section and also told a joke.
There were lots of jokes inflicted upon the audience most of which were rewarded with groans rather than laughter. The exception was Billy Bradshaw's which I won't repeat in case he tells it again to a different audience who might know the punchline in advance. As well as his joke his trumpet solos also hit the spot.
Guitarist Ben Davies, riding high on his recent Adjudicators' Award at the GNBBJF, demonstrated just why he'd caught the judges' eyes and ears with solos on The Incredibles and, at length, on Friday Night at the Cadillac Club.
Lead alto Pippa switched to soprano for Beulah Witch. This was the first time I'd heard Pippa with the band and she seems to have slotted in nicely.
Giddyup! had Crissi and Alex Utting galloping along, The Party's Over wasn't the finale but a cool foxtrot (remember them?) that had Crissi once more soloing along with Andrew Marshall who had his first bite of the cherry.
The actual finale was Pat Metheny's Minuano. Minuano is described as a 'cold southwesterly wind that blows in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul' although, to my ears, the 6/8 rhythm gave it an inexplicable Irish lilt! Sam Armstrong took the solo honours.
Of course none of this would have been possible without the organisational skills of baritophonist (I think I've just invented a new word) Brian Wicks who apart from his 'jokes' kept it all together.
Catch them when you can although don't expect to split your sides. Lance
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