IT WAS billed as a "gala concert" so it was a double delight to have two of Scotland's foremost brass bands playing a pleasing selection of music at the Howden Park Centre last Saturday.
By sharing two specially invited guest soloists, both West Lothian Schools Brass Band (WLSBB) and th
e Co-operative Funeralcare Brass Band offered a varied, first-class choice of programme and proved that practice does make perfection.
In the first half, conductor Nigel Boddice MBE gave some of his young WLSBB players an opportunity to step into the spotlight and play solo pieces, superbly backed by a well rehearsed and enthusiastic band.
Susannah Downs and Hayley Edmond can take a well deserved bow, and the same accolade goes to the five bonny cornet players who were allowed to play alongside the virtuoso Roger Webster, whose effortless rendition of Georgia was out of this world.
And watch out for a Buddy Rich of the future. The cool guy on drums is a star in the making, and in subtly introducing some atmospheric background singing and a touch of choreography in the trumpet section.
Boddice exploited the hidden as well as apparent talent of the band who played some rousing music perhaps not all that familiar to many people.
They then set the joint jumpin' with Caravan and a rousing finale from Cry of the Celts which ended in Victory – appropriately.
This was yet another victorious performance from WLSBB, who held yet one more ace up their sleeves when they produced star guest Neil Gallie and his trombone to solo on In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning.
Think satin smooth, seemingly effortless technique and a superb arrangement which allowed every member of the band to shine. Music to one's ears.
For the second half of the show, conductor Gavin Lindsay had undertaken to produce a scintillating programme from champions the Co-operative Funeralcare Brass Band, and whilst one could say they put the fun back into funeral, one must not.
Their new sponsors, the Co-op, will reap dividends as this mega-talented brass band will go on to win further awards in the future.
In a varied programme ranging from The Corsair, made famous by the great dancer Rudolph Nurayef to a twinkle toes Fred and Ginger Cheek to Cheek, once again the magnificent Roger Webster showed how the infamous and testing cornet solo Hejre Kati (yes, you know the tune) should be played. In a word? Perfection.
However, it is not solo performances that makes a brass band sound great. It is team work and what a team of first-class musicians this group of ladies and gentlemen is.
Wisely, they also invited trombone player Neil Gallie to play in a concerto for trombone and brass band entitled Poem a la carte, which had a distinctive leaning towards the modern jazz sound of the Sixties, and proved that the trombone can handle classical music provided someone like Gallie is blowing it.
For their finale, Gavin Lindsay ended on a high note, Bolero, immortalised by Torville & Dean and now by the performance of this champion band.
One small word of complaint, however. Encore! None of the two bands included such an eventuality in their otherwise inspiring programmes. Maybe next time?
