TRACK OF THE WEEK
Every week Frank selects his own favourite track of the week from our weekly Music Podcast, and it's completely free to listen too, here on Frank Renton on Brass. As he says this week,
"December 1995 and I was in Michigan to conduct the Christmas Concert by the Brass Band of Battle Creek, brought together by the Gray brothers Bill and Jim, and to record an album of Christmas Music. It was an incredibly talented ensemble. Principal Cornet was Woody English, also principal Cornet of the United States Army Band in Washington, with a quite wonderful sound. Principal Horn was our own Billy Rushworth and Principal Euphonium Steven Mead and lurking in the bass section the outstanding Marty Erikson and Pat Sheridan, everyone in the band a real star.
My track of the week is an arrangement by William Himes of an old French Carol given the upbeat treatment, and the stars of the show are trumpet soloist Vincent di Martino, a delightful cornet player who sat Number 2 in the solo cornet section, but is an absolutely blazing jazz player too, and driving the whole thing Tom Prince, a great big band drummer, but also a member of the United States Marine Corps Band with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the marches of John Philip Sousa.
The whole two days of recording were great fun but recording this was utterly joyful - so my Track of the Week is the Brass Band of Battle Creek playing Three Kings Swing, and it’s brilliant."
We hope you’ll enjoy our free track of the week that's below - and then will join us to hear all our many programmes, interviews and music podcasts. It’s a lot less than a cup of coffee a week!
