A tenor horn gallop?
Not quite, but “frolicking trombones” (Reginald Heath’s “Frolic for Trombones”) were in action on Saturday 25th July at the Thames Ditton Regatta (right) as The Cobham Band accompanied the races along the river to the excited cheers of the club members.
And the Cobham Band’s irrepressible trombones were frolicking again on Sunday 26th in Greenwich Park to mark the Royal Park’s three year countdown to London’s 2012 Olympics.
The band was straight out of the blocks on the downbeat of their Musical Director, David Ruel, with a blistering rendition of “Westward Ho!” which got the crowd’s feet tapping.
And during their two sets as part of a well-organised world musical “Heatwave” event in Greenwich Park, the band took the audience to South America (‘Gabriel’s Oboe’, from the Mission), New Zealand (‘Hine-e-Hine’), America (‘Flashdance – What a Feeling’), Spain (‘Amparito Roca’), Germany (‘Beethoven’s Romance’) and Africa (‘Zambezi’) and back home again with plenty of British brass band classics; a truly Olympian programme as a prelude to London 2012.
Canon Jane Hedges welcomed The Cobham Band back for a second year to play as part of the season of free summer band concerts in Westminster Abbey’s college gardens.
But as a number of dark clouds loomed ominously, she warned “Today, 15th July, is St Swithin’s day; if it rains, legend says that the rain will continue for forty days”. The crowd of lunchtime picnickers fearfully looked up at the skies as the band struck up with the rousing Spanish march “El Abanico” under the baton of their Musical Director David Ruel.
Perhaps this Mediterranean opener encouraged the sun out, or maybe the band’s blowing parted the clouds just long enough for the concert to be untroubled by rain, so when “Cliff” made an appearance in the programme (in the form of Derek Broadbent’s arrangement of some of the singer’s popular hits), thankfully it wasn’t against a backdrop of rain and umbrellas (remember Wimbledon in 1996?)
The band have already been invited to play again as part of next year’s season in 2010 and have enthusiastically accepted for what has become a popular fixture it seems with audiences and certainly with the band who delight in playing in such an historic and beautiful venue.
The Cobham Band has purchased a hexagonal gazebo which bears the Bands logo, name and website address on the front three pelmets in blue. The gazebo is designed to be erected by no more than two people and was used for the first time on Saturday 4th July at Hersham Village Fayre. The gazebo is more than just a marketing tool as it provides the Band with a platform to perform; contains the sound of the Brass Band which is often lost on “soft” surfaces; shelters its members from the sun and helps protect the Band’s assets (Music, Uniforms, Instruments etc.) from adverse weather, but most importantly enhances the Bands overall presentation at outdoor engagements.
