Preludes, Rags And Cakewalks

Symphonic Brass of London, The; Crees, Eric

Debussy and other French colleagues became fascinated by the ‘ragtime’ music and ‘cakewalks’ beginning to be performed at the end of the 19th century by negro minstrel groups and which gave birth to jazz. The now acknowledged master of ragtime was of course the American composer Scott Joplin, many of whose compositions are featured on this brilliantly performed and recorded album. World famous trombonist, composer and arranger Eric Crees has researched the performance style of Joplin’s music and its influence on Debussy and other French composers. He has arranged eight of Joplin’s piano pieces for 10 brass players and two percussionists and has similarly arranged a selection of thirteen ragtime and jazz-influenced piano pieces by Debussy, Auric, Milhaud and Satie, providing a highly entertaining and virtuosic series of performances, which often makes one wonder whether this music could ever have been composed in any other way! The Symphonic Brass of London are a hand-picked group of London’s finest brass players whose virtuosity and stylishness has been excellently recorded for MPR by Tony Faulkner (Recording Engineer) and Mike Purton (Producer) in the splendid acoustic of Henry Wood Hall in London. These performers are a must not just for brass players, for lovers of both classical music and jazz but also for audiophiles.

Price: $27.98