In their London Sound
Series, Cala Records (www.calarecords.com)
say that they seek "to bring together
numbers of virtuoso performers on a
given instrument, aligning them with
talented and sympathetic arrangers."
They have certainly achieved that here.
The list of performers reads like a
roll of honour of the top, in many cases,
legendary, names of the British brass
scene. Maurice Murphy, for years principal
trumpet of the LSO, now in semi-retirement
(accent on semi-); Rod Franks,
Murphy’s successor in that hot seat;
William Houghton, principal trumpet
of the BBC Symphony Orchestra; there
are top session musicians such as Tony
Fisher and Paul Newton, and players
who stretch with ease across all musical
genres such as Henry Lowther. The distinguished
list continues, and it goes without
saying that connoisseurs of brass playing
will be queuing up for this superbly
produced disc.
But, with no disrespect
meant to these wonderful performers,
the real stars of the collection are
the arrangers. Paul Sarcich’s version
of the Superman music is a riot
– see how many of his sly references
you can spot; there are allusions to
Also Sprach Zarathustra, Fanfare
for the Common Man, Beethoven 9, Short
Ride in a Fast Machine, just for
starters! The same arranger’s glorious
take on The Carnival of Venice
plays the same game.
You might naturally
expect, when pressing the start button
for a disc like this, to be immediately
blown out of your seat by the sound
of massed trumpets. Which is why the
very quiet percussion that begins Tony
Rickard’s impressionistic arrangement
of Mambo Caliente is so effective.
This and the succeeding Dos Gardenias
acquire a delightfully slinky Latin
feel, while the jazz-rock number Heard
it through the grapevine contains
some stunning solo work from Patrick
White. Indeed the only arrangement I
wasn’t quite sure about was Daryl Runswick’s
rather over-elaborate version of Amazing
Grace (a pity, because I’m a great
admirer of Runswick’s work).
If you are trumpeter,
this CD is downright compulsory – beg,
borrow or buy it, and that’s an order!
For all other music-lovers, you really
should do so too, because it’s simply
a huge treat.
Gwyn Parry-Jones
see also review
by Jonathan Woolf
