Grimsby Concert Review

We enjoyed playing to a packed Grimsby Town Hall on Thursday January 11 as part of the Grimsby Concert Society.  Here is a recent review of the concert:

Grimsby Concert Society enjoyed a veritable music-fest brought to them by 5StarBrass in a varied programme ranging from Baroque to Bare Necessities, from a range of genres and styles including classical, folk, musical, folk, blues and jazz. The 6 piece ensemble is led by Tony Turner on Trombone, who also arranged many of the pieces heard. The ensemble included: Flugel horn, French horn, Tuba, Trumpets and Cornets–a great evening for lovers of music and of brass, enhanced by the wonderful acoustics in the Assembly Room of Grimsby Town Hall. 5StarBrass opened with four movements from Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks, immediately showing ability and depth of the ensemble. Of particular note were the baroque trills played by Richard Wood on Trumpet. Nigel Blenkiron treated the audience to a wonderful Flugel solo in Concerto de Aranjuez, Rodrigo. Sleepers Awake by Johan Sebastian Bach was played with great warmth and a joyous interweaving of parts. An exciting jazz/Mariachi arrangement of Carnival of Venice featured Richard Wood in a brilliantly executed and phrased cornet solo. Mozart’s mournful Lacrimosa provided a dark contrast to the jazz. The beautiful tones of the French Horn, where heard as Geoff Bellamy took the solo leading Ye Banks and Braes. Por Una Cabeza (By a Horse’s Head), Gardel, was a fun piece– Argentinian tango with a hint of spaghetti-Western. The first set closed with a medley from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story–a lovely ensemble arrangement full of contrast, great dynamics and brilliant Piccolo-Trumpet played by Richard. Dance of the Rose Maidens, Khachaturian was quite refreshing, and contained an interesting contrast as muted instruments could be heard clearly cut through the louder unmuted instruments. Kevin Moxon on Trumpet was brilliant as the soloist in Stanley’s familiar Trumpet Voluntary; the ensemble dynamics were excellent, well controlled crescendos were particularly satisfying to experience. Dark humour was enjoyed with Goundod’s Funeral March of a Marionette, excellently arranged by Tony Cross and Tony Turner. The Sicilienne mischievously attributed to Madam Paradis was a great choice to arrange for Trombone solo, Tony Turner produced a lovely smooth tone and perfect slide-vibratos against a gentle ensemble background. An evocative arrangement and performance captured the essence of Blues Themes, Gershwin– An American in Paris; great trumpet work against the ensemble. Tony Cross featured in a gentle arrangement for Tuba of the classic The Sound of Silence, Simon & Garfunkel, which ended on a seemingly impossibly low note–what a delight! Rich mellow tones of the cornet were enjoyed In a Mendelssohn Song Without Words,“Sadness of the Soul”. Projecting that classic brass-band sound, a reflective performance of the beautiful tune Every Time We Say Goodbye, was an appropriate to signal that it was nearly time to say goodbye to the group. Gilkyson’s Bare Necessities was a great finale piece that brought the concert to a brilliant close. Rather like a good magician, the audience were left wanting more!