Band cautiously lives up to reputation

Press, 26 February 1986, Page 14

Band cautiously lives up to reputation

By

ALLAN FRANCIS

NATIONAL BAND OF N.Z. Concert Spectacular, conducted by Ken Smith. KIWI PACIFIC SLC-184.

“Aotearoa” quietly warns us that the National Band is serious in its intentions here. Indeed, the only signs of levity on side one are the xylophone solo (shades of Walter Sinton), in “Intermezzo” and the short Rossini "Scherzo” at the close of the first half.

Perhaps the policy of better to do well in the sober moments than fall flat with musical jokes

that fail to come off might have guided the talented Ken Smith with his selections. It paid handsome dividends as it turned out, and reserving the laughs and the fireworks for the second half was good programming.

The band has not always been immaculate and In concert has been guilty of roughness that is certainly not evident here. Taken for better or worse in concert, with carefully edited applause, the recorded sound is sharp and clear, if one can cheerfully overlook some of the notes in the solos being

taken not quite cleanly.

Those who contributed to the compositions have obviously held Tchaikovsky in high regard, with snatches of T 812” and the “Fifth Synphony” inspiring parts of the “Land of the Long White Cloud” and “Impromptu.” Ross McGavln’s trombone exhibition in “Dance Sequence” is noteworthy, as is the trio of brass in “Tropical Trumpets.”

In the inevitable Russian bits — all three of them — the band shows the uninhibited side of the repertoire, the crispness of articulation that one expects in a top band. The whirling rhythms that worked so well for Brahms with his “Slavonic Dances” do equally well here in brass band medium. "Slavonic Rhapsody Number One” builds up nicely to the exciting climax, and the final number, Gllere’s “Russian Dance,” provides a logical

The glitter that side two creates is spectacular. If one finds little actual brilliance of the same substance on side one it is merely providing a wide area for the band’s virtuoso qualities to probe and bring to prominence.

This is the National Band at its careful best, a little cautious, self-con-scious even, but determined to live up to its good overseas reputation. FRANCK POURCEL. “In a Nostalgia Mood.” Thirteen tracks of standards, including one original by the Franck Pourcel Orchestra. WORLD RECORDS WP 0288 from EMI.

I would have thought that any direction from a musician of Pourcel’s standing exhorting listeners “to dance to this music until the squares upstairs pound on the ceiling” is a bit old hat in the 1980 s.

His arrangements are also taken from the fifties, so this is an old-fashioned party, with old-fashioned tunes (“I’m Getting Sentimental Over You,” “Fascination,” “All of Me”) and horribly old-fashioned sentiments.

As expected, the arrangements are mostly straight up and down, with solos which are blowsy and pedantic. A wonderful string line develops In “Unforgettable” (this is more like it). It may not make one feel like dancing, but' it would be second to none as a dining accompaniment. One of the few signs of modernism is the presence of a saxophone that breathes a hooting flatness in the mistaken impression it is recalling Coleman Hawkins or Lester Young. This is reserved for the up-mar-ket numbers “Cry Me a River” and “Answer Me My Love.”