Facebook: Imperial Brass
By Paul Goldfinger, music editor @Blogfinger.net. Eileen Goldfinger video clips
July 6, 2017 in the Great Auditorium of Ocean Grove:
We enjoyed this concert by the Imperial Brass very much, as expected, but there were some “knock your socks off” special moments.
As many of you know, the famous trumpeter Phillip Smith has a summer place in Ocean Grove. His tone and technique are so good that it makes you want to jump up and cheer, which is what happened. Phil Smith played an intricate duet with Mitch Brodsky called “Deliverance.” In the second half he soloed on an amazingly complex piece called Scherzando.
Phil told the audience that he has missed playing in the Great Auditorium and how much he loves the salt air and the pleasures of being back in his little cottage on Pilgrim Pathway. Phil retired from his long-term position as principal trumpet with the NY Philharmonic and now he is on the faculty at the University of Georgia.
Other highlights included a lovely trombone solo of an African American spiritual “Swing Low” by Robert Tiedemann. (We have a brief video from that below.)
We have been attending musical performances in the GA for years, but my greatest wish, until now ungranted, was to hear authentic live jazz in that terrific venue. Tonight the Imperial Brass granted that wish in what I suspect was the first time a real jazz man played, without amplification, on our stage.
Warren Vaché is an acclaimed jazz cornetist from New Jersey who had two beautiful solos with the Brass, but the one that I savored was his rendition of Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile” Vaché delighted the crowd with a vocal chorus as well as a jazz solo. Hopefully we can get some more jazz players at the Grove.
If you like jazz, check with the Axelrod Theatre in Deal where they often feature first rate live jazz. Last year they had John Pizzarelli. Also, Shanghai Jazz in Madison is a fine restaurant that features jazz and has done so for years. It is worth the trip.
The Imperial Brass is such a fine ensemble, and they vary their content so that you never get bored. The instrumentation is thrilling for you brass fans–a diverse collection of horns— baritones, French, euphoniums, trumpets, and more that I couldn’t identify. But the end result is a magnificent sound where the components come together in a remarkable way.
They have a web site if you want to sign up for their mailings or buy their recordings:
The group astonished the crowd with their last number, a most unusual rendition of the “Stars and Stripes Forever” by John Phillip Sousa whose premier march is often played in the Great Auditorium, but it is always done “straight.” However tonight the Brass astonished us with a raucus, jazzy, 21st century version of this piece including the classic piccolo solo done tonight by a marvelous soprano cornet player. I wish Sousa could have been there. Below is a bit of that march:
But there was an actual composer present–Joseph Turrin, who got to have a standing O because some of his brass compositions were performed tonight including a marvelous tribute to New York City called “Landmarks.”
Here is a brief segment of Robert Tiedemann’s trombone solo: “Swing Low” Video by Eileen Goldfinger
And here are two selections from the Imperial Brass & Friends CD.
PHILIP SMITH (Trumpet) with a hymn that he loves (he introduced it and played it tonight.)
WARREN VACHE´ (Trumpet) “April in Paris.” ( I could not find a recording of “Smile”)
