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Canadian Brass just wants to have fun -
and does so
Roger Lelievre - News Arts Writer, Ann Arbour
Ensemble combines great musicianship with
good humor
The five musicians who make up the Canadian Brass really put
their hearts into Saturday night's Valentine's show in Hill
Auditorium. The program was perfect mix of light classics
(Handel's Suite from "Water Music"), big band (a
swinging Glenn Miller medley), opera (highlights from Bizet's
"Carmen") and more.
Anyone who's seen the Canadian Brass - (Stuart Laughton and
Josef Burgstaller on trumpet, Jeff Nelsen on French horn,
Eugene Watts on trombone and Charles Daellenbach on tuba)-
knows this is an ensemble not content to just sit in a row
of boring old chairs and toot their horns. Besides the music,
there was plenty of humor thanks to witty, between-song patter
delivered mostly by Daellenbach and especially thanks to the
theatrics of "Carmen," which closed the show.
Overall, the concert, presented by the University Musical
Society, was marked by an extraordinarily clear sound and
some delightful solo turns, particularly from Burgstaller
and Nelson.
The program began with the band members, clad in black except
for their signature white tennis shoes, slowly making their
entrance from the back of Hill, playing "Just a Closer
Walk With Thee." From there, they launched into "Toccata"
by Frescobaldi, featuring Burgstaller on piccolo trumpet.
As the evening progressed, Burgstaller would continually delight
the audience with his musical dexterity. He was featured yet
again in the J.S. Bach/Vivaldi Concerto in G Major for Piccolo
Trumpet, a highlight in a program that seemed full of standout
performances. Nelson got his turn in the limelight with a
brilliant solo during Mozart's Rondo.
The first - and comparatively more serious - half of the show
concluded with four jazz/blues pieces - "Lookin' Good
but Feelin' Bad," "Loungin' at the Waldorf,"
"Black and Blue" and "Handful of Keys."
"Waldorf" was particularly evocative of its title,
thanks to the Brass' ability to combine expressive music with
body language and simple choreography.
Those looking for romance found it in the second half of the
show, when the Brass tore up the joint with "Glenn Miller
Songbook," featuring such Miller standards as "String
of Pearls," In the Mood" and "Moonlight Serenade."
Folks may not have been dancing in the aisles, but that didn't
mean they didn't want to.
After the Canadian Brass-commissioned "Quintet"
(by film-score great Michael Kamen), band members proved that
fun is just as important as the music as they acted out a
"vastly shortened" version of Bizet's opera "Carmen"
that even included a bull (Daellenbach) and bullfight. By
the time the "Toreador's Song" rolled around, even
the reserved Hill Auditorium audience was clapping along.
An encore, Duke Ellington's "Echoes of Harlem,"
again featuring the indefatigable Burgstaller, ended the program
literally on a high note.
Saturday's show was the Canadian Brass' 11th Ann Arbor appearance.
Anyone ready to make it an even dozen?
FOR REFERENCE ONLY. NOT TO BE
REPUBLISHED.
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