Program No. 96 - 30th March 2014

Hour 1 (Jazz and Contemporary Brass)
Trumpet Magic - A Tribute to Rafael Mendez

For the first time on Brass Monkeys we will be featuring one album.

This album was released in 2006 and is a tribute to the legendary Mexican trumpet player Rafael Méndez.

The trumpet player is the current principal trumpet player of Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Geoffrey Payne, and he is more than ably backed by said orchestra, under the direction of Jean-Louis Forrestier.

Sadly we cant play the entire album due to time considerations, but the tracks that we will be playing are:

1.     Hejre Kati
2.     Dance Of The Comedians
3.     Bell Song From Lakme
4.    Habanera from Carmen
5.     Dance Boheme from Carmen
6.     Czardas
7.     Zigeunerweisen
8.     Canto Moro
9.     Plegaria Taurina
10.   Farewell My Grenada
11.   La Virgen De La Macarena

Next week, we will start our series looking at brass playing in popular songs of the last 30 to 40 years. We'll begin with brass used by American singer Billy Joel.

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Hour 2 (Movie Scores)
John Williams and Steven Spielberg in the 1990s
 

 About 6 weeks ago we looked at the collaboration between John Williams and Stephen Spielberg in the 1980's which included the Indiana Jones movies, as well as E.T., Empire Of The Sun and Always.  This week we look the continuation of this partnership in the 1990's.

1.    The Banquet Scene
2.    The Ultimate War
     - Hook (1991)

3.    Journey to The Island
4.    T-Rex Rescue & Finale
     - Jurassic Park (1993)

5.    Main Theme
     - Schindler's List (1993)

6.    The Long Road To Justice
     - Amistad (1997)

7.    Hymn To The Fallen
     - Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Next week, we take another look at the works of Michael Giacchino, as we explore his works away from Pixar.

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Hour 3 (Brass Bands and Ensembles)
Philip Wilby (Part II)

Last week we looked at three major works composed by Philip Wilby that incorporated music from composers such as Paganini, Vivaldi and Mozart.  This week we continue through his catalogue of major works for brass band.

1.    Dove Descending (Yorkshire Building Society Band)
     - Kings of Europe (2004)

2.    The New Jerusalem (Tertnes Brass)
     - Norwegian Brass Band Championships (1999)

3.    Jazz (Grimethorpe Colliery Band)
     - From Sonnets to Jazz (1997)

Next week we are going to be looking at some of the test music for the upcoming Australian National Brass Band Championships, to be held in Brisbane over Easter.

Program No. 95 - 16th March 2014

Hour 1 (Jazz and Contemporary Brass)
Maynard Ferguson

Maynard Ferguson was one of the most adaptable trumpet players, being one of the few to readily change with the times during his long career, from the 1940s to the 2000s. Whilst not the first to utilise the upper register, he came to own that territory.  He released well in excess of 50 albums over his lifetime, with seemingly dozens of compilation albums that have been put together after his death.

Tonight's show seeks to only scratch the surface of his works (as a lot of the tracks tonight have been taken from compilation albums, and could have come from one of 5 or 6 different albums, I have left that information off. But we'll be discussing albums on the show).

1.    Gonna Fly (Theme from Rocky)
2.    Birdland
3.    Sesame Street
4.    The Girl from Ipanema
5.    Eleanor Rigby
6.    Star Trek Theme
7.    MacArthur Park

Next week we'll have our feature of a single album, that is Trumpet Magic: A Tribute to Rafael Mendez, performed by Geoffrey Payne on trumpet with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

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Hour 2 (Movie Scores)
Elmer Bernstein

Elmer Bernstein is one of the legends of score composition, having composed for more than 200 movies over his 51 year career. two of his scores (The Magnificent Seven and To Kill a Mockingbird) were listed in the top 20 of the 100 greatest movie scores of all time, compiled in 2005. He was nominated for 17 Academy Awards (and won only one), as well as five Grammy Award nominations.

His first score was for Saturday's Hero in 1951 and his final score was in 2002 for Far Fro Heaven (which was nominated for an Academy Award).

 1.    Main Title
     - The Great Escape (1963)

2.    Sky Hi
     - Thoroughly Modern Mille (1967)

3.    Finale
     - The Black Cauldron (1985)

4.    Main Title
     - To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

5.    Main Theme
     - Ghostbusters (1984)

6.    Airplane Suite
     - Airplane (aka Flying High)(1980)

7.    Walk on The Wild Side
     - Walk on The Wild Side (1962)

8.     Suite from The Ten Commandments
     - The Ten Commandments (1956)

9.    The River Crossing
     - Zulu Dawn (1979)

10.   Main Title
     - Wild Wild West (1999)

11.   Main Title
     - The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Next week we revisit the collaboration between Steven Spielberg and John Williams as we look at the 1990s. Think Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List, Amistad and Hook.

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Hour 3 (Brass Bands and Ensembles)
Philip Wilby

Philip Wilby is a British composer, and whilst he composed for a wide variety of instruments it is his brass band music that we will obviously be looking at closely tonight. In particular we will play 3 of his major works for brass band that have been popular over the last decade or so. The three works share a common theme as they relate to, and include theme and variations of works from well known composers.

1.    Paganini Variations (Grimethorpe Colliery Band)
     - Paganini Variations (1999)

2.    Vienna Nights (Lyngby-Taarbaek Brass Band)
     - European Brass Band Championships 2012

3.    Red Priest (Oslo Brass Band)
     - NM Brass 2012 (Elite Division)

Next week we continue to look at the works of Philip Wilby.

Program No. 94 - 9th March 2014

Hour 1 (Jazz and Contemporary Brass)
Wynton Marsalis

photography: Jost L. Knaepen

Wynton Marsalis is a trumpet player who is equally at home in both jazz and classical music genres. He has been awarded 9 Grammys in both and has also been awarded for a Pulitzer Prize For Music.

Born in New York City in 1961, Wynton is part of a gifted music family that includes his father, Ellis Marsalis Jnr (pianist) and brothers Branford (saxophonist), Delfayo (trombonist) and Jason (drummer).

Wynton Marsalis has been featured as a soloist or jointly with other artists in over 100 albums. This first program on Marsalis' music seeks to only dip into the different genres that he plays. Later in the year we will look at Marsalis's works in a bit more depth.

1.    Tiger Rag (with Mark O'Connor's Hot Swing Trio)
     - In Full Swing (2003) 

2.    Hickory Dickory Dock
     - Winton Marsalis The Majesty of The Blues (1989)

3.    Pachelbel: Canon In D (with English Chamber Orchestra)
     - Baroque Music For Trumpets (1990)

4.    Arban: Fantaisie Brillante (with Eastman Wind Ensemble)
5.    Rimsky-Korsakov: Tsar Saltan - The Flight Of The Bumblebee (with Eastman Wind Ensemble)
     - Carnaval (1990)

6.    New Orleans Bump
     - Standard Time, Vol. 6: Mr. Jelly Lord (1999)

7.    Layla (with Eric Clapton)
     - Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton Play the Blues (Live from Jazz At Lincoln Center) (2011)

Next week, another we turn our attention to another trumpet player - Maynard Ferguson.

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Hour 2 (Movie Scores)
Miklós Rózsa

Miklós Rózsa was born in Hungary, trained in Germany and lived in England, USA, Italy and France. Whilst he has composed a substantial body of "serious" and concert works, he is best known for his work in cinema, having composed scores for almost 100 movies, including a number of blockbusters in 1940s, 50s and 60s.

He was nominated for 13 Academy Awards, and won 3, with Spellbound (1946), A Double Life (1948) and Ben-Hur (1960).

1.    El Cid - Fanfare & Entry Of The Nobles
2.    El Cid March
     - El Cid (1961)

3.    Overture
     - Ben-Hur (1959)

4.    Triumphal March
     - Quo Vadis (1951)

5.    Challenge & Finale
     - Ivanhoe (1952)

6.    King of Kings
     - King of Kings (1961)

7.    Suite from "Sahara"
     - Sahara (1943)

8.   The Thief of Baghdad Suite: I. Overture
     - The Thief of Baghdad (1940)

9.   Tribute to a Bad Man: Suite    
     - Tribute to a Bad Man (1956)

10.  Finale
     -  Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)

Next week, another composer of legendary status. Elmer Bernstein, with a look at some of his best known movies scores over his 51 year career. with over 200 films and TV shows to choose from, the selection will be difficult. I think Ghost Busters, The Magnificent Seven and To Kill a Mockingbird will feature on the show.

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Hour 3 (Brass Bands and Ensembles)
Kenneth Downie

Kenneth Downie has composed over 50 pieces over the last 40 years. Born in Glasgow in 1946, he was started his working life as a musician before going into the jewellery business in 1976.  22 years later he returned to his musical  roots with the acceptance of an invitation by David King to become the first ever composer in residence to the Yorkshire Building Society Band.

His piece St Magnus was recently chosen as the test piece for both the 2014 Australian National Brass Band Championships (A Grade) as well as the 2014 UK Regional Contests (Championship Section). St Magnus will be featured on our show in a few weeks' time.

1.    The Victor (Melbourne Staff Band)
2.    The Joy of Loving Hearts (Melbourne Staff Band)
     - Chronicles (2011)

3.    King Of Heaven (Melbourne Staff Band)
     - Fiesta! (2007)

4.    Dance Fever (Yorkshire Building Society Band)
5.    My Father's World (Yorkshire Building Society Band)
      - Vitae Lux (1999)

6.    Rhapsody on 'The Isle of Mull'  (Yorkshire Building Society Band)
     - Hymn of the Highlands (2002)

7.    The Piper o' Dundee (Sheona White with Yorkshire Building Society Band)
     - The Voice of the Tenor Horn (2000)

8.    Spirit of Celebration (Yorkshire Building Society Band)
     - European Championships 1998

Next week we look at some of the major works of another celebrated composer of brass band music, Philip Wilby.

Program No. 93 - 2nd March 2014

Hour 1 (Jazz and Contemporary Brass)
Nils Landgren

Last week we introduced the versatility if Swedish trombonist, Nils Landgren, through recordings of the Nils Landgren Funk Unit. But Nils enjoys performing in a variety of genres, not just funk. Tonight, we look at some of his other recordings, as a a soloist as well as collaborating with others.

1.    Love The One You're With (with Joe Sample)
2.    Get Out Of My Life Woman (with Joe Sample)
     - Creole Love Call (2005)

3.    Sentimental Journey
4.    I Will Survive
     - Sentimental Journey (2002)

5.    Backpolska (with Jonas Knutsson)
     - New Eyes on Baroque (2013)

6.   Den Blomstertid Nu Kommer (The Flowerseason Is Coming)
     - Gotland (1996)

7.   Eleanor Rigby (with Johan Norberg)
8.   Stomp (with Johan Norberg)
     - Chapter 2 (1989)

9.    Norwegian Fox Trot (with Esbjörn Svensson)
10.   The Farewell (Esbjörn Svensson)
     - Layers of Light (2001)

11.   Red Horn
     - The First Unit (2001)

February almost seemed like the month of trombone music, with both Nils and Wycliffe Gordon previously. We'll move back to the trumpet next week, with a versatile American who plays in a variety of genres, and a member of a very talented musical family, Wynton Marsalis.


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Hour 2 (Movie Scores)
Video Games Music by Score Composers

Having two boys interested in all the latest offerings from X Box (and getting involved in some of the games myself), you can't help but notice the significant production values of some of these games. An no wonder, as video games is big business, with some games achieving greater sales than most movies released. Grand Theft Auto V, released last year, grossed over $1 billion in sales in its first 3 days.

Given that the purpose of music in these video games is the same as for movies (to enhance the emotional journey of the participant), the producers of these block buster games bring on some of the best composers to write music for them.

Tonight we will feature 5 composers that have successfully composed for both movies and for video games.

Hans Zimmer (with Lorne Balfe)
1.    Opening Titles
2.    Deadline
     - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)

Brian Tyler
3.    Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag Main Theme
4.    The High Seas
5.    Men of War
6.    Batten Down The Hatches
     - Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag (2013)

7.    Need For Speed: The Run
8.    That Is Impossible
     - Need For Speed: The Run (2011)

9.    Far Cry 3
    - Far Cry 3 (2012)


Michael Giacchino
10.   Operation Market Garden
     - Medal of Honor: Frontline (2002)

11.   MoH: Allied Assault (Main Theme)
     -   Medal of Honor: Vanguard (2007)

Ramon Djawadi
12.   Heroes Aboard
     - Medal of Honor (2010)

I think there is still a lot of area to explore with this particular genre, but we'll let it go for the moment.

Coming up next week, we're going back in time to feature some of the works of one of the legendary score composers of the 1930s - 1980's, Miklós Rózsa.

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Hour 3 (Brass Bands and Ensembles)
Classical and Operatic Overtures (Part II)

As mentioned last week, when researching music for last week's show about Classical and Operatic Overtures arranged for brass bands, I found music to cover at least two shows.  So here is Part II.

1.    Festival Overture (CWS Glasgow Band)
     - European Championships (1998)

2.    Nabucco Overture (Fodens Courtois Band)
     - Centenary Brass (1999)

3.    Academic Festival Overture (Black Dyke Band)
     - Symphonic Brass (2007)

4.    Overture - Le Corsair (Leyland Band)
     - Master Brass Vol 14 – 2003 All England Masters Champions

5.    The Bartered Bride - Overture (The Black Dyke Mills Band)
     - Slavonic Brass (1992)

6.    Henry V Overture (Fairey FP (Music) Band)
     - Enigma (2004)

Next week we look at works by composer Kenneth Downie.