Hearing this competition performance by Cory from the recent British Open I was struck by the level of playing our top bands acheive. http://youtu.be/NoLWbSWLwdo" target="_blank" target="_blank
(Maybe someone could imbed this - I always stuff it up)
Am I right in thinking Brass Bands are maybe gaining in popularity in the US?
Orchestra is great, so is quintet and wind band but I do like me a good quality brass band...
I recently joined a brassband, its been a lot of fun so far! the music is much more spectacular and challenging then what I am used to in the community band I also play in. (and not worrying too much about woodwinds not being heard is nice too )
Soon we are having an rehearsal weekend with some players from Brassband Willebroek (which actually placed 4th in the British Open where the video you posted was recorded) and a rehearsal with their conductor, really looking forward to that!
One of the best bands is the Fountain City Brass Band based in Kansas City, Missouri. They have won not only USA competitions, but they also won the 2009 Scottish Open as well. Not bad for only being around since 2002! Link: http://fcbb.net/" target="_blank
Well... sort of. I see that the US Open is opening the instrumentation to include ALL brass instruments. Maybe NABBA will too. I personally don't care. But... it is a bit of a variation on the traditional British style.
Last edited by Dan Schultz on Wed Sep 21, 2016 10:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Dan Schultz
"The Village Tinker" http://www.thevillagetinker.com" target="_blank
Current 'stable'... Rudolf Meinl 5/4, Marzan (by Willson) euph, King 2341, Alphorn, and other strange stuff.
We have had a British style brass band in Tucson for quite a few years. It just changed conductors due to retirement and is yet to settle out in terms of its future.
Dan Schultz wrote:Well... sort of. I see that the US Open is opening the instrumentation to include ALL brass instruments. Maybe NABBA will too. I personally don't care. But... it is a bit of a variation on the traditional British style.
Do not count on NABBA going in this direction. I'm surprised to read that the US Open is making this change. NABBA is very much in the British Brass Band style and I cannot see them changing. Only cornets and Eb tenor horns, no trumpets or French Horns.
As far as the OP's questions on the BB movement in the US, you only have to look at NABBA and US Open participation to know that it has exploded in the last 30 years. As mentioned, Fountain City is a top notch band as are all competing at NABBA in the Championship section. The First Section test pieces are as hard as the Championship was 10-15 years ago.
Brass band, via the Salvation Army, has been in the US for many, many decades, well before NABBA came into existence.
Personally, I have played in a Brass band (quite possibly one of the first non-SA ones here in the US) since 1982 - in fact we won NABBA two years in a row, way back in the very early days.
I like to think that we were one of the bands that was instrumental (please pardon the pun) in a small part, in introducing the concept to a wider audience than just the SA. I would also have to say that people like Phil Smith (who started in a S.A. band) brought a good deal of awareness here, too.
My info is a few years old but I think the US Open is allowing all brass instruments because they ran into problems with their old rules. They were originally written to stop french horns instead of tenor horns and jazz trumpet instead of jazz cornet. Things got weird when a band brought in a slide trumpet/soprano trombone. By the letter of the law, only one of those two instruments was allowable.
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