Ipswich and Norwich Website

Christmas is always a busy time in the brass band world and it was no exception for us as we embarked on a round of Christmas concerts across the region.

Sunday 18th November saw the band heading off to Woodbridge for a concert organised by our sponsors, East of England co-op which involved several of the musical organisations sponsored by them . Although not a Christmas event as such, the junior singers were in early festive mood and contributed some seasonal numbers, along with contributions from the ladies choirs.

The offerings from the band were on the lighter side of the repertoire and included some big band numbers such as “Birdland” and “Bugle-call Rag”, with other favourites such as “Peanut Vendor” , “Pirates of the Carribean” and “River Kwai March” also featuring. Trevor Laird and Helen Petter shone in a fantastic rendition of Philip Sparke’s “Euphonism”.

1st December, and we headed off to Norwich to more or less repeat the programme, again with the co-op choirs although this time round the band featured a few more Christmas numbers and carols, including Phil Harper’s “Yuledance” and Paul Lovatt-Cooper’s “Christmas Finale”. Both concerts played to good crowds and were well appreciated by the audiences.

Thursday 6th had us appearing at a corporate function much closer to home in Copdock , providing seasonal sounds as the punters arrived for their Christmas shindig at the Elizabeth Hotel and then playing a few numbers as they sat down for dinner. The band had a brush with stardom, providing accompaniment to Laura Wright from “All Angels”, a local lass done good from Framlingham! The early finish allowed a number of us to seek liquid refreshment in a local hostelry afterwards although your humble correspondent nearly came a cropper on the low roof beams!

Finally, off we went to Hessett church on 15th December. Truly in the depths of rural Suffolk, in the region on the maps marked “Here be dragons” it took some finding but the band arrived in good time in order to experiment with unorthodox seating plans due to the restrictions caused by pews and pillars. The Church is an ancient building of 15th century origins, which was about the time they put the heating system in by the feel of it !

The band again presented favourite carols and lighter Christmas works whilst still finding time for “Yuledance”, “Christmas Finale” and the slightly darker “Christmas Overture” by John Golland. Helen got to strut her stuff again, this time in a Solo arrangement of “O Holy Night” which she carried off in fine fashion . Not to be outdone, Andy Shipp’s slide was sparkling in an appropriately festive rendition of “Frosty the Snowman”, following on from Ian Burton’s bluesy offering of Barry Gott’s “Silent Night”. The rest of the band all got to contribute in “Santaclaustrophobia” ( Sandy Smith ), with your roving reporter and his comrades laying down some phat bass grooves in “When Santa got stuck up the chimney”!!

Despite a late finish after packing up, a number of us then headed into Bury St Edmunds for a late curry and several pints of Cobra where the world was put to rights over the chicken dansaks and Danny regaled us with tales from his time spent playing with the Berlin Philharmonic!

So, a merry Christmas to all our readers (both of you). Thanks to all the members of the band and deps that have put the time and miles in, and especially to Ian, Robin and the committee members that do all the organising. We hit 2008 running, ready to scale the heady heights of Skegness representing the proud East-Anglian coal-mining tradition (??!!) at the Mineworker’s Open at Butlins.

The new Ipswich and Norwich co op Brass Band website is here! Thanks to Just Brass for hosting the last site.

“Come and join our band”, your humble roving reporter was asked some months ago , and glad of the chance to join his good lady in a band going places he was happy to accept . However, did Messrs Burton or Norman mention the fact that there were jobs lined up to clash with both the semi-final and final of the Rugby world cup? Did they ********?!!!

Anyway, nervous as I was about the outcome of the game in Paris, my nerves were as naught when compared to a certain front-row cornet player who had made a significant bet about the result (based, it saddens me to report, on a great lack of faith in the abilities of our boys) and was potentially only 80 minutes away from having to deal with the consequences of her foolish ways!!!

And spare a thought for our erstwhile MD, who travelled straight from the rarified atmosphere of the Royal Albert Hall and theNational Championship Finals to be confronted on stage by an assortment of Bavarian serving wenches, lederhosen-clad chaps, Crocodile Dundee, Indiana Jones and a boy scout of left wing persuasions!

Suffice to say it was a very different night to the previous week’s concert, but good fun was had by all and the audience were treated to some fine renditions of suitable music for a night of drinking, carousing and general merrymaking. Special mention must go to Phil Gurney, promoted from the cornet section to the bass department for the night, who made his presence felt in unique fashion!!

The dream was not to be, our brave boys were well beaten by the boks in Paris, but yours truly was able to console himself in a night spent with friends, a certain amount of strong drink and another enjoyable night of banding . Just a word for t’committee – check your dates in four years time!!!

The band gave up a Thursday night rehearsal and headed off down to Essex to perform at a concert organised by the Music Department of The Mayflower School, organised by a certain Miss Frewin of that ilk. Directions were ably provided, and the ladies of the band instructed to wear their best white stilettos so as to fit in better with the natives!

The first half of the concert featured various ensembles from the school performing music in a variety of styles from classical trumpet duet, jazz saxophone and african drums to contemporary pop songs. Those members of the band that were present at this stage would have seen Kim doing her thang with groups and choirs, and the jazz trombone skills of Ian Burton. A certain Eb bass player was also due to feature with the school orchestra but his debut was sabotaged by a dodgy part of sheet music and a shortfall of transpositional skills!

The size of the stage presented something of a challenge to the band when setting up , but we were soon off and presented a mix of items including “The Peanut Vendor” , “Born Free” and “Pirates of the Caribbean”. The aim here was to offer a lighter programme to an audience probably unfamiliar with the brass band sound, and all the feedback afterwards suggested that we were very successful in this regard. The band’s offerings were enthusiastically received by the audience of young musicians and their parents .

As well as providing entertainment , the concert perhaps more importantly sought to offer encouragement and enthusiasm to the children at the school , and the youngsters thoroughly enjoyed the chance to join with the band in playing “Hootenanny” , before forces were combined with the choir , African drums , band and orchestra for Jan Fordes’ “Ejala” .

Hopefully the memories of the night will stay with the children and enthuse them in their musical development, whether they are brass players or not. The impact of the band on the young people was perhaps best illustrated by a young trumpet-playing pupil who was heard eagerly enquiring of his teachers after the concert how he could develop a sound like Georgie, a soloist on the night. Success on the contest stage and high profile concerts is a great thing to be aimed for, but making this kind of impression on a young musician also counts pretty high in the great scheme of things for this writer!

After a summer programme of the lighter side of brass band repertoire at traditional venues such as seaside promenades and village greens, it was a complete change of content and style as the band headed into deepest Norfolk to present a programme of music in tribute to Malcolm Arnold, possibly Attleborough’s most famous resident. Weeks of hard work had gone into the concert, ably prepared by Robin, a self-confessed fan of Arnold’s works and the programme featured not only original brass band compositions but also new arrangements transcribed especially for the occasion.

Augmented by guests in the percussion department from Polysteel band and additional reinforcements to the bass section, the concert commenced with the rousing “Fanfare for a Festival”, and the declamatory nature of the work was perfectly suited to the acoustic of the church. This was followed by two of Arnold’s better known compositions, “Little Suite for Brass No.1” and “Four Scottish Dances”, featuring a convincing rendering of inebriation by Bass Trombone Andy Shipp in the second movement. Next up was a premiere of Robin’s arrangement of “Prelude, Dance and March” from “Little Suite for Orchestra”, which was well received by the knowledgeable audience.

The First half closed with the tour-de-force that is “Fantasy for Brass Band”, originally written as a Test piece for the Nationals but one that stands up as a powerful work in its own right. From the back row, this writer was particularly impressed by the lyricism displayed in the “Elegy” section by Principal Cornet Georgie Hawkes and Solo Euphonium Trevor Laird.

Events in Paris were very much on your humble correspondent’s mind, so the interval allowed for a catch up with the score of England V France and a quick nebuliser or two before heading back to the second half, which opened with “The Padstow Lifeboat”, swiftly followed by “Grand Grand Festival Overture”, where the band were joined by guest soloists on Dyson cleaners and floor polisher. The pressure was then on a white-tie and tailed Robin , who essayed a flawless performance of “Fantasy for Solo Tuba”, played from a copy signed by the composer.

Two more favourites in the form of “Four Cornish dances” and “Little Suite for Brass No.2” led on to the finale for the night , Andrew Duncan’s powerful arrangement of “Peterloo Overture”, in which the percussion section took their chance to make themselves fully heard! An encore of “River Kwai March” allowed for audience participation and bought a very successful evening to a close, with many members of the audience seeking out the band to pass on their thanks and appreciation for the nights work .

The success of the concert was crowned by news of St Jonny’s golden boot bringing us success in Paris, and having sought to dispel a few brass band stereotypes in the course of the evening, many of us reinforced a hoary old cliché by heading straight to the pub next door for some much needed refreshment!!

So a very successful night, with the band receiving many plaudits for the standard of musicianship displayed. Just like the fifteen guys in Paris, it was the teamwork that pulled it off.