Birmingham Citadel Band was founded in 1893 to lead the congregational singing and to provide suitable music in weekly Sunday Services. The Bandmaster is Gavin Lamplough who has been innovative in his leadership since 2011, starting with open rehearsals and now the first SA band in modern times to record with saxophones, I say modern because Chalk Farm Band regularly had Saxophone players in the early 20th Century, leading to a recording on a 78rpm record!
From a chance request to play with her local SA Band, commissioned Soldier and Saxophonist Saira Clegg sowed the seed that led to the making of this CD. The choice of repertoire seemed to naturally lean towards a light swing style. Composers/arrangers were sought and consulted, then a section of professional Saxophonists came on board, ending up with 14 tracks by Leonard Ballantine (1) Sam Creamer (3) Ian Robinson (1) Adreas Holmlund (1) Stephan Bulla (1) William Broughton (1) Barrie Gott (1) Kevin Larsson (1) Andreas Mackereth (2) and Paul Sharman (1).
With a mixture of arrangements and original compositions there’s a familiarity of tunes to like and some fine playing from many musicians. The band is a particularly well rehearsed ensemble. The Saxophones fit smoothly into the mix , seeming more at home with jazzier solo lines whereas the featured brass players played scripted breaks. But who knows? This could be the ‘way to go’ to becoming the Swinging Citadel Band.
Philip Biggs