Enthusiastic patriots down the row from Eileen and me.     Summer Stars 7/5/18. All photos and videos by Paul Goldfinger.

By Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor at Blogfinger.net

Another season of Summer Stars unfolded with the Imperial Brass, a world-class group of 30 musicians who traveled to Ocean Grove to present a marvelous concert to 425 enthusiastic folks in the Great Auditorium on a hot summer July evening.

This was a special occasion for the group, because joining them was Phil Smith of Ocean Grove and the World.  Phil has a summer cottage in the Grove and he has played here before.   For  40 years he was principal trumpet with the NY Philharmonic.  And sometimes he plays during Sunday services in the Great Auditorium

In addition, our own Gordon Turk participated on the Hope-Jones organ, and there was another special guest:  Warren Vaché, jazz cornettist.

Probably the most impressive part of the concert was when Gordon Turk conducted an ensemble of 10 brass players to do a brilliant piece called “Grand Choeur Dialogué”  I was mesmerized.

The three soloists were amazing  with gorgeous tones and technique, so we have some video clips.—turn up your volume.     And the Imperial Brass were absolutely the best. To hear such an accomplished group perform within the acoustics of the GA was a great privilege.

I cannot express how wonderful this concert was. Our tickets cost $29.00 for two. Sitting near me was Congressman Frank Pallone.  We talked music for  about 30 seconds after the concert ended—he stayed for every note.  I’ve seen him there before.   Don’t miss all the Thursday Summer Stars  concerts coming up. The seats are not reserved.