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The New Columbian Brass Band. Music from America's Golden Age. George Foreman, conductor; Vincent DiMartino, cornet soloist; Earle L. Louder, euphonium soloist; Lydia DiMartino, piccolo soloist; Marty Erickson, tuba soloist. E. E. Bagley. National Emblem. Henry Fillmore. Teddy Trombone. Walter Emerson. Carnival of Venice. F. W. Meacham. American Patrol. C. L. Barnhouse. Ben Buxton's Two-Step. Franz von Suppe. Light Cavalry Overture. Victor Herbert. Encore. Karl L. King. The Melody Shop. Simone Mantia. All Those Endearing Young Charms. Arthur Pryor. An Arkansas Huskin' Bee. John N. Klohr. The Billboard. Henri Kling. The Elephant and the Fly. Lee E Johnson. The Death of Custer. John Philip Sousa. Stars and Stripes Forever. Liner notes by George Foreman. 1995. Walking Frog Records WFR 111.
Concerts by brass bands of every description were once the mainstay of American musical life, from about the time of the Civil War until the dawn of the era of new technology in the 1920s, but current commercial band recordings are a rare find. So encountering a CD that so lovingly remembers and recreates the wide range of music that typified concert band performances of long ago, and finding that recording produced with such spirit and beauty of sound by a new American brass band of note, is cause for joy.
The New Columbian Brass Band, according to the notes, was founded in 1992 by trumpeter Vincent DiMartino and its conductor, the renowned bandmaster George Foreman. The band performs authentic arrangements from America's Golden Age, in original instrumentation, in homage to the music presented on the programs of brass bands throughout America, amateur and professional, surrounding the turn of the century.
Amateur bands in America, representing business, civic, police, sanitation, fire, educational, social, and military organizations, flourished during the period and provided a rich heritage of live entertainment as well as early musical education. With varying degrees of competence, these bands were a great source of pride and even competition among similar groups. Typical programs treated audiences to a vast assortment of musical styles that sought to please any taste. Professional concert bands provided similar, albeit more accomplished experiences, with endless arrangements of music from the symphonic canon: opera and operettas (with tuneful overtures especially popular); cakewalks, two-steps, rags, waltzes, and other dances; instrumental and...