by Stan Ewing
The Hannaford Street Silver Band (HSSB) presented their Mid Winter concert titled ‘Salvation’s Blast’ on February 17th 2008 at Toronto’s Jane Mallett Theatre. A big crowd was in attendance, mostly comprised of Salvation Army band supporters, as one might expect considering the guests for the concert. Colonel Robert Redhead was the guest conductor, along with the now famous trombone ensemble, Spiritual to the Bone. Unfortunately Steve Bulla, who was to share some of the conducting duties with Redhead, as well as participate with the group, was unable to attend due to family reasons. So instead of the two Bulla items that were to kick off the program, Col. Redhead steered the band through Leslie Condon’s fine march, ‘Celebration’. It was evident that the band was in fine form, and that we were in for a good afternoon of music making.
As mentioned, Steve Bulla’s absence meant the scrapping of the next item on the program, which was to be a new work from his pen titled ‘To World’s Unknown’. This was unfortunate, as I was looking forward to hearing this. However, we were then treated to a sensitive rendition of Redhead’s own ‘Reflections in Nature’. The composer gave the audience an interesting explanation to the concept behind the piece, which made it all the more enjoyable.
The principal cornet of the HSSB, Bob Venables, needs no introduction either as an active S.A. bandsman or professional musician, and the crowd warmly welcomed him as he stepped forward to present the challenging solo ‘Life Abundant’. Again, Redhead gave a gave us the background to the music; how it was written for Deryck Diffey when Redhead was the Bandmaster of the Canadian Staff Band some thirty years ago now. Not written in the traditional variation solo style, Redhead suggested that the music was intended to convey the idea of a life’s journey; from the opening statement representing the heartbeat, through to adolescence and adulthood, all the while grappling with the spiritual challenges that come along the way. Venables gave an outstanding performance, pretty well note perfect, along with confident accompaniment from the band. This elicited prolonged applause from the appreciative audience, which interestingly enough, included Deryck Diffey!
For the bands major offering, Redhead had chosen ‘Corpus Christi’, written for the International Staff Band’s visit to Canada in 1994. Based on St. Paul’s exhortation to the young Church at Ephesus, the music attempts to convey the message that the Church is ‘one body, made up of many parts, each member dependant on the other’. The main songs employed are ‘Dry bones’; ‘Bind us together’; and ‘Give thanks with a grateful heart’. The piece presents many challenges with its intricate rhythmic figures, and sostenuto passages, but the band rose to the occasion and gave an inspired performance. Mention should be made of the fine work of Linda Bronicheski on horn, and the tuba section, for their playing in the soaring tuba quartette in the middle of the piece.
To end the first half, the band presented Redhead’s ‘Fanfare of Praise’ which features the hymn tune ‘Ascalon’.
The second half was slated to feature only Spiritual to the Bone, and the stage was cleared to accommodate this excellent ensemble. But first, we were treated to an unprogrammed number which featured Herb Bruce, accompanied by electric guitar, string bass, and drums. Bruce has to be one of the finest exponents of the jazz trombone to be found anywhere on the planet, and he quickly demonstrated in this number why he is regarded as such. His range and pyrotechnics on the instrument are amazing.
The rest of the group then joined the quartette on stage to present their program. Original members Herb Bruce, Eric Alexander, and Dorothy Gates were supplemented by HSSB’s trombone section, along with Curtis Metcalf and Moe Wozniak. Special guest players were Kevin Hayward, formerly of the CSB, and local jazz trombonist Al Kay, who is no stranger to the music scene in Ontario.
Most of the arrangements for the group were done by Eric Alexander and Steve Bulla. Alexander acted as compère, and gave informative background info on the music. Titles included their signature tune ‘Dry Bones’; ‘Roll Jordan roll’ featuring Al Kay’; ‘Walk together children’; ‘Listen to the Lambs’, and ‘Go where I send thee’. Most of the solo work was shared by Bruce and Alexander, except for ‘All over God’s Heaven’ (arr. Bill Broughton), which featured the HSSB’s own David Pell on bass bone. Kudos also to Brian Barlow of the HSSB for some superb kit work. Those of us who remember the Doc Severinson band would recall Ed Shaughnessy on drums. Barlow struck a strange resemblance to Shaughnessy both in his looks and his playing. No small compliment indeed!
To conclude the concert, the HSSB came back on stage and joined the trombonists in a very fine arrangement by Dorothy Gates of the old hit song, ‘Bridge over troubled water’, conducted by Bob Redhead. After sustained applause, Redhead returned for an encore by Len Ballantine: Namely, his swing arrangement of ‘Shall we gather at the River’. A most apropos way to finish the concert, before heading out into the rainy Toronto streets, but with lots of good musical memories to return home with.
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