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.

Program No. 89 - 2nd February 2014

Hour 1 (Jazz and Contemporary Brass)
Vince Jones

Photo courtesy of Fairfax

I first became a fan of Vince Jones in the late 1980's thanks to a couple of friends of mine. This Australian singer, trumpet/flugel player, composer was probably at the height of his career at that stage. With a number of great CDs having been released, he and James Morrison would have been the two highest profile Australian brass players (of any genre) at that time.

Jones still performs regularly, as his website indicates, and also teaches part time at the Australian National University, according to Wikipedia.

1.   Watch What Happens
2.   When I Fall In Love
     - Watch What Happens (1982)

3.   On The Brink Of It
4.   Boys On The Corner
     - On The Brink Of It (1985)

5.   If You're Goin To The City
6.   Jettison
     - It All Ends Up In Tears (1987)

7.   You Go To My Head
8.   Mood Indigo
     - Come In Spinner (1990)

9.   Big City
10. Trustworthy Little Sweethearts
11.  My Only Friend  
     - Trustworthy Little Sweethearts (1988)

Next week we stay local, but change genres, as we feature the 5 man combo Oxo Cubans.

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Hour 2 (Movie Scores)
Ramin Djawadi

Djawadi is an Iranian born, German composer who was brought to the attention of acclaimed score composer Hans Zimmer shortly after Djawadi graduated from Berklee College of Music in 1998.  Since that time Djawadi has composed music for movies, TV series and video games. We'll be sampling music from each of these sub genres tonight.


1.    Driving With The Top Down
2.    Iron Man
3.    Arc Reaktor
     - Iron Man (2008)

4.    Main Title
5.    The King's Arrival
6.    Finale
     - Game of Thrones - First Season (2011)

7.    Heroes Abroad
     - Medal of Honor - EA Games (2010)

8.    You Can't Hide From Hades
9.    Release The Kraken
10.  Scorpiox
     - Clash Of The Titans (2010)

11.  2500 Tons Of Awesome
12.  Cancelling the Apocalypse
13.  Pacific Rim (featuring Tom Morello)
     - Pacific Rim (2013)

Next week we be looking at all the film scores that have been nominated for an Academy Award at this year's event.

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Hour 3 (Brass Bands and Ensembles)
Brett Baker

Brett Baker is a world renowned trombone player known mainly, but not exclusively for his work in and around the brass band world. Whilst based in England, Brett has been to Australia often, and has been known to play with local bands during national contests.

Baker has released, or been featured as a soloist, in dozens of CDs since the mid 1990's. Tonight's program list barely scratches the surface .

1.   Brasilia
2.   Cavatine, Op. 144
3.   Wind Beneath My Wings
     - Bone Idyll (1996)

4.   Atlantic Zephyrs
     - Soloist Showcase (2012)

5.   Sarah
     - Boscombe & Foden's LIVE (2008)

6.   Tango
     - Rathamataz (2009)

7.   Something
     - Black Dyke Plays Beatles (2012)

8.   Radio City       
      I. City Noir
      II. Cafe Rouge
      III. Two Minute Mile
     - Electra (2013)
  
Next week we will revisit a topic I featured back in 2011. The 5th Anniversary of the Black Saturday Bushfires is the Friday 7th February, and we will feature 3 works written about bushfires. This will include Barry McKimm's Ash Wednesday as well as parts of Lamentations, written about Black Saturday.

Program No. 87 - 12th January 2014

Hour 1 (Jazz and Contemporary Brass)
James Morrison - Live Albums

Of the 26 albums Wikipedia show that James Morrison has released, the live albums are only a small minority. This show will feature those albums that I have managed to track down on that list (plus another one not on that list).

1.   The Flintstones Theme
    - James Morrison At The Winery (1984)

2.   The Opener
3.   Mack The Knife
    - Live At The Sydney Opera House (1996)

4.   Light Walk (with Melbourne Staff Band)
    - Fiesta (2007)

5.   Holy Holy Holy (with Edge Church International)
6.   Were You There / How Great Thou Art (with Edge Church International)
    - James Morrison Live At Edge (2012)

7.   Blues For Judy
    -  Swiss Encounter: Live at the Montreaux Jazz Festival (1989)

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Hour 2 (Movie Scores)
The Best of 2013

I thought 2013 was a good year for movie soundtracks. Given my leaning towards blockbuster and action movies I thought that in pretty much all cases the music scored did the movies justice. All the top composers had been busy during the year with Zimmer, Elfman, Shore, Newton Howard, Djawadi, Giaccino and Tyler featuring high on the list of my best scores for 2013.

I have limited my choice to movies I actually saw in 2013 (Unfortunately John Williams doesn't get a look in this year, because of this restriction).

1.   Marvel Studios Fanfare (Brian Taylor)
2.   Thor: The Dark World (Brian Taylor)
    - Thor: Dark World

3.   Un Monumneto (Ennio Morricone)
    - Django Unchained

4.   Star Trek Main Theme (Michael Giacchino)
    - Star Trek Into Darkness

5.   Pacific Rim (Ramin Djawadi and Tom Morello)
    - Pacific Rim

6.   Horn of Plenty (James Newton Howard)
    -  The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

7.   Love Is The Drug (Bryan Ferry & The Bryan Ferry Orchestra)
    - The Great Gatsby

8.   Look To The Stars (Hans Zimmer)
    - Man Of Steel

9.   The Main Titles (Danny Elfman)
10.  The Munchkin Welcome Song (Danny Elfman)
    - Oz the Great and Powerful

11.  Epic Final Confrontation (Danny Elfman)
    - Epic

12.  The Forest River (Howard Shore)
    - The Hobbit - The Desolation of Smaug

13.  Can You Dig It (Brian Tyler)
    - Iron Man 3

14.  Finale (Hans Zimmer)
    - The Lone Ranger

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Hour 3 (Brass Bands and Ensembles)
Cory Band

2013 saw Cory Band again dominate the contesting scene, winning,National Championships of Great Britain, Brass In Concert Championships and European Championships. They also toured Australia, as well as released Words and Music (judged by Brass Band World as the best brass band CD of 2013). Here is a selection of their performances during the year.

1.   Fanfare and Celebration 
     - Perihelion: Closer to the Sun - The Brass Band Music of Philip Sparke

2.   King's Messenger
    - Words and Music

3.   Los Hermanos de Bop
4.   La Fiesta
5.   My Way (with Dave Mitchell)
    - The Nationals 2013

6.   Perihelion
    - European Brass Band Championships


The show will be having a sort break next week, so join us back on 26th January for a special Australia Day edition of Brass Monkeys