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rssuE 29TOrfE R BRIDGE, IOI{ DOI,I AUG. 1987

Courtesy o/ Musical Instrument Division, Yamaha Music Corporation, USA

ATLANTIC CROSSES THE ATLANTIC'Tt h" New Jersey-based AtlanticI Brass Band recently completed

an 8 day tour of England as part of areciprocal hosting arrangement withthe Jaguar Cars and BrodsworthColliery brass bands. The band creditsa large portion of its success in theNABBA contest this year to exposureto the playing of the British bands.Recordings aren't enough.

The band arrived in London by 9 (!)different carriers which were smoothlycoordinated by Murray Booker, theJaguar band manager. After spendingthe first day in London, the groupboarded a coach graciously sponsoredby MacKechnie Metals, a major sup-plier for Jaguar. The sponsorship wasarranged through Mr. John Butcher,one of the Ministers for Trade and

Jaguar band member David Govier, left, with Lucy and Herb Roselle, Anthony Guerereand members of the Atlantic Brass Band in front of the Jaguar factory.

Industry. He represents Coventry inParliament. The band arrived at theBrodsworth band room in Yorkshire,and walked off the bus into a rehearsalll

After rehearsal, the band was takenby hosts to freshen up, and then takento a hall for a get-together with the"Broddies." The next day had the bandtreated to a reception by the LadyMayoress of Doncaster followed by atour of the mansion house. "lvanhoe"readers will remember Conisbroughcastle. It is in this area of Englandthat the band gave its concert withBrodsworth. The Atlantic Brass reliedheavily on the gifted arranging of MarkFreeh while Brodsworth producedbrilliant solos by cornetist Philip Chalkand hornist Miles Davison, amongothers. The band also played a won-

derful arrangement of James Bondthemes which the At lant ic bandpromptly procured.

After the concert, which was Broad-cast by Radio Sheffield, the band wentto York for some sight-seeing, followedby a trip to the Midlands where theymet with their old friends, the JagsThe two bands were hosted in awonderful garden party by MP Butcherand his wife Anne. Needless to say, asthe pints flowed, the horns came outand the party evolved into a dixielandjamboree.

The following day it was back towork again. After a daytime tour of theDerbyshire Peak District arranged byMr. Stephen Shimwell, the residentconductor of the Jags, the band went

-Cont inued on Poae 2

2

rBridfeOfficial publication of the North AmericanBrass Band Association.

For. obout and by British-type bross bondsthroughout North Americo.

Editor . . . . . Koren D. KneeburgAssistonf

Ed i to r . . . . . Don W. Kneeburg17304 [-ynnene Dr., Lutz. FL 33549

(813t 949.1022

MEMBERSHIP DUES:I n d i v i d u a l . . . . . $ 2 0 . 0 0Associate 10.00Member bandCorporateSustainingPatronLeadership

50.00100.00250.00500.00

1000.00

Moil to-

Mr,ke Suollor. Treosurer N.A.B.B. A.225 r,U. tr1apie At<: . Loncoster, KY 40441 LISA

The North American Bross BandAssociofion proudly recognizes thefollowing for their support:

LEROERSHIP MEIUBENS:Musical Instrument Division

Yamaha Music Corporation, USAGRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN

CoRponRTE MEMBERS:

Studio Music CompanyLONDON. ENGL.AND

The Getzen CompanyELKHORN, WISCONSIN

Boosey & Hawkes Band Festivals

The Selmer CompanyELKHART. INDIANA

UPCOMING DEADLINES

October 31.7987 ,January 31, 1988

April 15, 1988

c'5EWs

THE NATIONAL BRASS BANDFESTIVAL 1986Massed bands: Desford, Britannia, Brighouse& RastrickConducted by Howard SnellChampions: Williams Fairey Engineering(POLYPHONIC DPRLOOlD)

This excellent recording from the 1986Nationals in the United Kingdom includes some-thing for €veryone. Howard Snell's superbarrangements of orchestral repertoire, Gregson'snew euphonium showpiece, Fairey's champion-ship performance, and a recording by thewinning Youth Band. Symphonic Rhapsody lorEuphonium ond Bond by Gregson is given afine reading by Desford soloist, Stephen Mead.Another solo that is included is Nopoli played byJohn Hudson, cornetist. The 1986 Test PieceDiuersions by Derek Bourgeois sparkles underFairey's grip with Roy Newsome at the helm.Jomes Cook, Circumnauigotor by Gilbert Vinteris another well-known test piece included in thisrecording by the massed bands. The highlight ofthe orchestral transcriptions is the contest win-ning Dophnis ond Chloe (2nd Suite) by Ravel.This is one of those recordings that should be inevery brass bander's library.

_D,K.

TIRED TROMBONES by Charlie Chesterarranged by Darrol BarryStudio Music Co. f6.50

lf you are looking for a novelty number foryour trombone section, this is it. With mostlyunison playing for the bones throughout thepiece, there is one short legato section whichdivides into three parts. In the coda sectionthe tune played by the trombones gets slowerand slower until the performers are fast asleepafter a long fall off. This is a medium easy pieceand could be used effectively with a youth band.

-D.K.

THE RAKEWAY BRASS BANDYEARBOOK 1987Allan Littlemore, EditorRakeway Music (about $8.00)

Over 300 pages in this book contain theessential information about banding activitiesaround the world. This is a comprehensiverelerence to the year's activities in the brassband world. With a foreword by Harry Mortimer,the yearbook contains a section on Archives,it has articles by leading figures in the brassband movement, information on broadcasting,contest results listed in detail, a directory of musicschools, professional cards and contest organi-zers and bands, a discography, informationabout contest information from around the world(including the USA), and other importantinformation.

The special reports and special featur€smake for interesting reading. There are profilesof the top 20 British brass bands, as well asarticles by Derek Broadbent, Roy Newsome,Peter Wilson, Walter Ainscough, and FrankAndrews. Many details have never been pub-lished before.

This is an excellent book for anyone who isvaguely interested in any details concerningbrass bands and their many activities. lt ishighly recommended.

-J. Perry Wotson

ATI.ANTICContinued from Page 7

to Heanor. There, a massed bandconcert with Orion Airways, JaguarCars, and the Atlantic band brought astanding ovation from the capacitycrowd. Playing Land ol Hope & Glorywith two top British bands brings thegoosebumps right out.

The playing obligations over, theband was treated to a reception andfactory tour of the Jaguar assemblyplant. No free samples, but what a car!

The band also had a chance to seethe great Major PeterParkes in action,taking the Jags through their paces inpreparation for the Albert Hall in thefall. Conductor Anthony Guerere ofthe Atlantic band was very high in hispraise of Parkes.

The last night of the tour broughtJaguar and Atlantic together for afarewell bash, and of course, promisesto keep the special relationship goingin future years.

As for the new friends, the Brods-worth band has been invited to NewJersey next April for a tour with theidea that they will be in the neighbor-hood foTNABBC 1988. Sofar, itlooksvery promising.

Thanks are in order to Don Stine,NABBA board member from theEastern lowa Brass Band, and KimBonsante, from the Danbury (Connecti-cut) Brass Band, and a few othersoutside of NABBA for covering ab-senses from the Atlantic ranks.

In retrospect, the exchange idea is afeasible project for any active brassband; the benefits, both musically andsocially, are inestimable. Thanks to thespecial nature of brass bandsmenthroughout both our nations, the spiritand co-operation make the visit muchmore meaningful than any tour opera-tor could hope to match. Start writingletters!

This article would not be completewithout thanking The Jaguar CarCompany, MacKechnie Metals, MurrayBooker, PaulRodgers, lan Scott, ChrisLeggett, Stephen Shimwell and thecommittees for all their hard work onour behalf.

-Herb Roselle

Bandsacr0ss

sdiiThe KEW CITIZEN'S BAND from

Australia is planning a tour of theUnited States during June/July 1988.The band visited San Francisco andLos Angeles in 1984 and although theywere well received at their venues, theywere unable to connect with anyNABBA associated bands. Their con-cert schedule for their previous tourwas mostly for shopping centers andresort areas. This tour they hope toarrange more concert type perform-ances. Their trip coordinator Jack Kellywould like any brass bands interestedin sharing or hosting a concert tocontact him as soon as possible. He willprovide interested groups and/orindividuals with information about theband and its activities. Contact JackKelly at 9 Mary Avenue, HeidelbergWes. Victoria 3031. Australia.

ffi^^Europea','WLP^H?,lXti'"Brass bands from Belgium, Switzer-

land, England, Scotland, North Ireland,Wales, Holland, Norway and Finlandgathered for the f987 EUROPEANBRASS BAND CHAMPIONSHIPSwhich took place on Saturday, May 2at the Royal Concert Hall in Notting-ham, England. The winning band wasJOHN FOSTER BLACK DYKEMILLS (Major Peter Parkes) with 195points. WILLIAMS FAIREY ENGI-NEERING (Roy Newsome) took thesecond spot with 189 points. Scottishband MURRAY INTERNATIONALWHITBURN (Anthony Swainson)placed third (188 points) and last year?swinner DESFORD COLLIERY DOW-TY (Howard Snell) followed fourth(187 points). The test piec e was Frontierwritten by Michael Ball who was alsoan adiudicator at the event.

FESSIONAL'SORNER

ffi PLAYS To TEN MtLuoNT;il;' River city Brass Bandperformed for its largest-ever audiencewhen it appeared on "The TodayShow" several months ago. The popu-lar NBC-TV morning program, whichhas a daily audience of 10 millionviewers, originated from Pittsburgh onMonday, May 18 in recognition of thatcity's designation by Rand-McNally as"America's Most Livable City."

The RCBB appeared three timesduring the program, playing abbreviatedversions of 76 Trombones, PhilipSparke's Fanfare, and Elgar Howarth'sPel Mel (joined in'the latter piece byWillard Scott "playing" cornet).

RCBB music director Bob Bernat

observed that performance on the showrequired some unusual preparations,including a rehearsalwith the NBC-TVsound crew that started at 5:00 am!

The NCB-TV performance is oneof three television projects in whichthe RCBB has recently been involved.Crews from Group W station KDKA-TVand PBS station WQED-TV have beenfilming RCBB performances for thepast six months in preparation fordocumentaries about the band whichare scheduled to air in early fall. Inaddition, for the past eight months,the local NPR affiliate, WQED-FM, hasbeen broadcasting recordings of theband's Carnegie Music Hall concerts.

GROWARCHIVES CONTINUE TO

There is a rich and varied assort-ment of memorabilia being depositedin the North American Brass BandAssociation Archives. These archivesare located at North Carolina StateUniversity in Raleigh.

Baseball caps, video tapes, record-ings on cassette and long playingdiscs, specially designed patches,photographs, printed programs, post-ers, etc., have been deposited in thearchives. These materials come fromall across the country and from Canada.There is a rich assortment of printedprograms which will give the viewer anice cross section of the music per-formed by brass bands in NorthAmerica. Additional materials includeall information, results, etc., having todo with all competitions since theChampionships I was held in Raleigh,

Is there any truth to therumor that Championships IVwill be held in New Jersey?

North Carolina in April of 1983. Thisin itself makes for interesting readingand a synopsis of the development ofbrass band competition on this side ofthe Atlantic.

Other materials include the pub-lished books and printed materialswhich provide a handy reference ofbrass band activity around the world.Also included in this are the com-mercialrecordings from the British Islesand other recordings from this country.

All brass bands are encouraged toappoint someone to see that infor-mation about their band and theiroperations is sent to:

Brass Band ArchivesCampus Box 7311

North Carolina State UniversityRaleigh, NC27695

Rumor also has it that aband from Great Britain willperform at the gala concert.

N/9,BA-pBULLETTCongratulations to the followingmembers who were recently elect-ed to the Board of Directors ofthe North American Brass BandAssociation:

Alan Raph, ConnecticutPaul Droste, OhioDon Stine, Iowa

K.D. Kneeburg, FloridaBernard Mackey, Florida

Michael Swaffar, KentuckySince there were only six

nominations and up to elevenvacancies, the Executive Com-mittee voted to accept all nomina-tions by acclamation.

* SPECIAL NOTE *The NABBA Board of Direc-

tors will meet on Saturday,September 72, L987. Membersof NABBA having any businessto be brought before the Boardshould send this informationimmediately to:

J. Perry WatsonNABBA ChairmanNSCU Box 7311

Raleigh, NC 27695

How To PnncTrcEby Don W, Kneeburg

ractice can be divided into twobasic sections: warm-up and work

on exercises and music. The warm-upis not only to prepare the muscles ofthe embouchure and breathing mecha-nisms for performance, but to establishproper muscular habits. During thewarm-up, concentration should bedirected to consistent tone quality,proper breathing, correcttongue place-ment, and facile slide and fingermovement. Since the player is notburdened with reading music, all thesenses can be at work helping to pro-duce the desired result . Havingestablished proper habits, the per-former is now ready to rehearseassigned music and exercises.

In working on a piece of musicit is of primary importance to under-stand the rhythm. Without this frame-work upon which to build, all elsewillbe of little value. With the rhythmestablished, attention should be givento playing the correct pitches withproper fingering and slide positionsthat are convenient and practical (use

of altemate positions and fingerings).Care must be given in this processbecause it is at this level that theplayer begins to program the rightside of the brain for future performance.With rhythm and pitch secure, properstyle and articulation should now beconsidered along with tempo, phrasingand dynamics. Attention to the musicalline and written instructions (andante,leggerio, etc.) are of utmost importance.The muscles of the body and the rightside of the brain must gradually absorbthe information being entered. Afterthey absorb this information, perform-ing will flow almost effortlessly. Practiceprovides the muscles and brain withthe proper information. Careless andhaphazard practice provide little orfragmented information to the senses.Careful, consistent practice pays off inconsistent performance. Setting asidea regular hour in which to work un-disturbed is very important. Strive forrelaxation with concentration. Taperecording practice sessions will provideadditional feedback for the musician.

Editor's Note-Don Kneeburg is holessor olTrombone ond Euphonium ot the Uniuersityof South Florido, Tompo

University of South FloridoDeportment of MusicTompo. Florido 33620

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