London and Provincial Music

Today is the day that my great run comes to an end. I have now heard at least one band playing on a bandstand every day for the last sixteen days, which for me is an all-time record. The run will end with a visit to my own local season of one of my absolute favourite bands.

Abington Park has been a desolate and squalid sight for most of this year, not that I have often been here to witness it. The structure in the centre of the park which we look at is known as a BANDstand. That is because it is supposed to have BANDS playing on it. It is not a “jazzgroupstand”, or a “popgroupstand”, or a “malevoicechoirstand”, it IS a BANDstand. It is the responsibility of Northampton Bummer Clowncil to book a season of BANDS for their “BANDS In The Park” season. For some reason, they have chosen to renege almost totally on that responsibility.

We are now into August, and this is only my third trip to my own home season. I will leave the matter there to concentrate on more positive things, but you know where the Clowncil is should you wish to add your voice to the many complainants who have already made their views amply known.

Bedworth Brass is one of my favourite bands. I make no bones about that. They would rate in my top three over the last ten years, and there is no sign that they are going to let the standard slip any time soon. Last year, ironically on the very day that Councillor John Gardner passed into the next world, Bedworth produced a performance which would rank among the best ever in this park. Remember, I have heard a brass band play in a park somewhere every Sunday in the summer for the last nineteen years. Never missed a single one, and the vast majority of them have been here in Abington Park. I have a database of knowledge from which to form a judgment.

Today, the weather is thankfully different from yesterday’s heavy rain, and even different from the biting cold and very strong wind which blighted most of the Legion week in Eastbourne. For the first time in a long time, it actually feels like summer again. I have to say that, for all the joys that the seaside can bring, if I was organizing a “super band season” with the intention of making it the best in the country, I would locate it inland in a still gardens.

Historians will note the mixed portents for this event. Last year, this second weekend in August was the best of the year, with a brilliant sun shining in a clear blue sky over the bandstand in Hunstanton as the Rushden Mission Band played. It was unusually still for a coastal region, and I still think Hunstanton is the best location of all for band music when the weather is perfect.

This date, though, will bring an ominous chill to anyone with a memory, as August 8th 1999 was the very worst weather day we have ever endured in Abington Park. The Gresley Old Hall Band, as it was then, sat in a coach for three hours while the torrential rain brought visions of a tropical monsoon. I spent those three hours praying for a miracle which was never going to happen, in the wonderfully uplifting environment of the dilapidated public conveniences. By 6pm, when the event was finally abandoned, the rain had flooded the area in front of the conveniences to such an extent that it was virtually impossible to escape and begin the long trek home, soaked to the skin and as miserable as sin after a totally wasted day with not a note heard. Why the hell didn’t they book a pop group for that day? Then we would all have been bloody relieved to bugger off drowned having heard nothing.

I should make a mention here of the importance of having a back up wet weather venue, something which was offered to the Clowncil at the start of this season, but of which nothing came. The political arguments will have to wait for another day, but let no-one believe that the dry summers of 2009 and 2010 mean that we will never face another 2002 or 2000. We will, as sure as night follows day.

The programme selected by Bedworth Brass is probably not quite in the same ultra high category as that of last year. There is no “Poet And Peasant” or “Slavonic Rhapsody No. 2”. This is a lighter programme, but by no means superficial or unsatisfying. The band itself is a full one, with no holes or gaps, which is sadly not that common any more. Sit back, concentrate and relax, and expect to hear one of the best performances of the season.

I wish I could stop bringing up negative subjects, but there is something else which needs to be said here. Northampton Bummer Clowncil promised two years ago to reinstate the signs saying “No Ball Games”, and this has not happened. Remember, when the Rushden Windmill Band played here in 2008 three people were hit on the head by flying footballs in separate incidents, and a rock hard frisbee went flying into the bandstand at high speed, where it could have caused serious damage.

Today, there was a gang of cretins playing a very dangerous ball game right next to the bandstand, and a disaster was just waiting to happen. Miraculously, it didn’t, although the oxygen wasters inevitably created enough noise to disturb those trying to listen to the band which the Clowncil has spent public money on. I do sympathise with the lack of money and the lack of park rangers and every other problem they are facing, but I don’t sympathise with the old signs not being replaced, nor with the bands not being given any contacts where a serious nuisance can be reported and dealt with. There is a very serious incident just waiting to happen in this park if someone doesn’t wake up.

The biggest miracle we could be grateful for is that the vermin did at least crawl back into their sewer before too much of the event had elapsed. For most of the day, we were able to concentrate on Bedworth Brass and the highly satisfying programme of music they had brought to Abington Park. I normally try to get to hear the best bands twice in a season, and I had intended to hear Bedworth Brass in Kenilworth. I had to divert to Leamington Spa at the last minute on July 18th because of weather risk, so I never got to hear Bedworth perform. (For those who don’t know, Leamington has weather protection, Kenilworth does not.)

I have been informed that the band did indeed get away with the weather on July 18th, but there was no way I could predict that at 12pm when the sky in Coventry was pitch black and the rain was falling hard. Diverting to Leamington was the only sensible option, and it gave me the chance to hear another different band for the season, Bilton Silver from Rugby. Anyway, back to August 8th. Bedworth Brass sets a very high standard to maintain every year, and somehow they always do manage to maintain it.

There was plenty of variety in this programme, and some interesting solos and features. The excellent Mr. Lilly on Principal Cornet performed once again with no music sheet in front of him. I never did get the chance to ask him if he comes from a jazz background, as there are very few brass soloists who don’t read from the sheet. It has been a great weekend for Eb bass solos, with “Bass In The Ballroom” yesterday in St. James’s Park and “Nellie The Elephant” here today. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this is a children’s solo – there are plenty of difficult bars for the soloist to negotiate.

The cornet feature was a year and forty nine days late. Leroy Anderson’s “Bugler’s Holiday” had been on the programme for June 21st 2009, but had been omitted to save time. Some of us did actually hear it last year in a rain soaked Nuneaton, but the Northampton faithful got it at last today! Very good it was too. For some extraordinary reason, two of the pieces on the intended programme were omitted, yet there was time for one of the extra pieces listed to be played! “Hootenanny” was heard yesterday courtesy of Fulham Brass Band, and now again today from Bedworth. It does create an interesting finish to the programme.

Bedworth Brass are as close as you can get to a banker bet for a Bands In The Park event. They would have been the first name I would have added to the sheet this year following last year’s imperious performance, and I would not have been let down or disappointed. I would rotate most of the good bands, but there are some exceptional ones which I would engage every year. This is definitely one of them. Only time will tell what next year brings, but I’m sure I will make an effort to get somewhere to hear Bedworth Brass.

The party is over. The two glorious weeks which saw the 75th anniversary of the Eastbourne Bandstand celebrated in style with live band music every day have ended. It is now back to what may be described as “normality” if anything in human existence can ever be so described. It is back to a “standard” Saturday with only one band in the afternoon, and the evening in St Martin-in-the Fields.

There was only one unusual feature of today for me, and that was the direction from which I approached London. Normally, I am heading south to Euston or Victoria Coach Station, today I was heading north after taking my last stroll along the seafront. There is always regret at having to leave a place which has given so many highlights, but at least I was heading for another one. St. James’s Park has delivered a very good standard of band music this year, no matter what may be going on behind the scenes.

Last year, due to competing fixtures in other towns, I only managed to hear three bands play in London. Two were entirely predictable, East London Brass and Fulham Brass, but the third would take some guessing. It was Portishead Town, from west of Bristol. Today, it is one of these three who are due to appear again, Fulham Brass Band, now the most local band to this prestigious and sought after venue.

We have been extremely lucky with the weather in 2010. Today was not one of the better days, and it is to the great credit of Fulham Brass Band that they carried on through these extremely challenging conditions to bring us the music we had come to hear. It was not easy. Even at the start when the rain was not as heavy as it was to become, the trombone section in particular were getting severely wet. St James’s Park has covering, but it is not adequate at dealing with any wet conditions where there is wind as well.

Fulham Brass Band is on a high at the moment, having qualified for the national finals and achieved a promotion which will be effective from the start of next year. I never pay much attention to contesting results when selecting bands to go and hear in parks, as I find they have little relevance. I have heard some seriously dreadful performances from Championship Section bands, and some extremely good ones from bands in section four. What does seem to work, though, is “trending”. If a band is moving up through the sections, it is usually putting in the effort which will produce a good result in the parks.

Although the rain decided to start falling at exactly 3pm, there was no disruption to the event in terms of the printed programme. I do like Fulham Brass Band, as they put a lot of effort into these performances, and into the preparations as well. They come with a printed programme, which makes a huge difference, and they produce a very well thought out and varied selection of music. There are always plenty of solos and features with Fulham Brass, and so it was today.

There were a couple of unusual spots as well. The test piece for the Nationals contest, “The Willow Pattern”, was given a public airing. I like bands to do this, as it makes a pleasant change from the light programme they are often ordered to play, and it gives members of the public an insight into what goes on in the more private world of brass bands. After this, we had the unique sight of a vocalist standing in front of the bandstand, in a very large public park, singing with no microphone. It was a brave move, and it worked for me, but then I was right in front of the bandstand. Whether it worked for anyone further away, I wouldn’t like to say. The song was “Rusalka’s Song To The Moon”, erroneously listed as being by Bizet, but most definitely by Dvorak.

The rain did stop during the first half, and conditions remained dry until just before the end when the rain fell harder than at any time this season. The one thing I was sure of was that the encore would not get played, as the water was now encroaching well into the area underneath the cover, and was causing serious problems for the players. Guess what? Fulham Brass, like the great troopers that they are, finished their excellent programme right to the last note. This is exactly the kind of effort which we, as brass band fanatics, love to see. This is why we travel miles to hear these bands play. This is why we sit in freezing cold parks when we could be sitting by the fire with a mug of Ovaltine. This is why we get our own clothes soaked while we try to listen. Great effort, everybody. You have made it more than worth our while coming here, and I sincerely hope the Royal Parks retain you for next season.

There were honestly too many highlights for me to list, which is a very nice problem for a reviewer to have. I did especially like the Eb bass solo “Bass In The Ballroom” which was played with skill and not inconsiderable expression. There were no weak pieces or fillers, and the whole of the long playing time was used constructively. No, the playing wasn’t perfect, and this is not a Championship Section band, but it was a superb effort in horrible conditions, well planned and well executed. Fulham Brass Band has delivered in style two years in a row now, and they are fast becoming one of my favourites.

At the end, I headed straight to St. Martin-In-The-Fields, where they have a nice large shelter in front of the church. There was no telling whether the rain would return or not. The evening programme was Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”, but I had no idea what the supporting music would be. Lo and behold, after about three notes I recognized Mozart’s Divertimento in D Major K136, one of my favourite pieces for strings and one of the most significant compositions in the career of the greatest musician of all time. These evenings in St Martin’s really are great value for £6.

The Mozart statue in Ebury Street, opposite the house where he composed his first symphony, is very close to the coach station, so I was able to visit it again before finally going home to sleep in my own bed for the first time in over two weeks. Tomorrow, Bedworth Brass will be playing in Northampton’s Abington Park, to complete a run of sixteen consecutive days where I have heard at least one band play on a bandstand. This has been the greatest summer ever. Today, we didn’t get the weather, but we did get 100% satisfaction from the truly excellent effort given by Fulham Brass Band.