CD review: The Bay Brass, 'Sound the Bells'
featured in SFGate.com
Joshua Kosman
Sunday, March 6, 2011

The Bay Brass Classical

       This ambitious debut release by the Bay Brass, an ensemble made up of most of the leading local brass players, is an exciting triumph on many levels. The programming is smart and varied, featuring a range of new pieces by American composers, and the level of execution is nothing short of remarkable. It is, in other words, a disc designed not just to tickle the fancies of brass lovers, but to persuade listeners who might assume that a full helping of brass music would not be to their liking - a much more challenging task. The disc leads off with three lightweight but seductive curtain-raisers by John Williams, all written for celebratory occasions, before getting into more serious but no less alluring fare. Michael Tilson Thomas' "Street Song" gets a fluid, punchy performance under the composer's baton, the music alternating between jazzy expostulations and winsome lyricism. Bruce Broughton's "Fanfares, Marches, Hymns and Finale" offers just what its literal-minded title promises - all of them vibrant and alluring - and there are fine new works by Morten Lauridsen, Kevin Puts and Scott Hiltzik. The playing is pungent, tender and finely tuned throughout.

SOUND THE BELLS!
AMERICAN PREMIERES FOR BRASS
THE BAY BRASS
HARMONIA MUNDI