Tuesdays on the Tube: Valor Brass
While developing this website, you get to come in virtual contact with many artists. One such person was Chris Clark, the Trombone Section Leader of “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band. A while ago, Chris started a website called The Virtual Trombonist. As our paths crossed through the fibers of the internet, I began to learn more about Valor Brass, ensemble in which he was a member.
Recently, Valor Brass ran a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for a recording project. The members of Valor Brass are all members of the United States Marine Band. This quintet has been together for over 10 years and have performed all over the country. This was the first Kickstarter campaign that I have given a contribution, and was very pleased with the result of the process (plus I got a t-shirt!). For me, the project came full circle when I finally got to meet Chris at the 2015 International Trumpet Guild Conference in Columbus, Ohio this past summer. “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band Brass Ensemble gave a resounding performance of a wide variety of repertoire.
The members of the quintet are Matthew Harding (Trumpet), Michael Mergen (Trumpet), Hilary Harding (Horn), Chris Clark (Trombone), and Christopher Tiedeman (Tuba and Cimbasso). The tracks from Inaugural are the following:
Chase Sequence – James Stephenson
Four Monteverdi Madrigals – Claudio Monteverdi/edited by Raymond Mase
Si ch’io vorrei morire
Non piu guerra, pietate
Ah, dolente partita
Quel augellin che canta
Suite Francaise – Darius Milhaud/arranged by Tom Holtz
Normandie
Bretagne
Ile de France
Alsace-Lorraine
Provence
Colonial Song – Percy Grainger/arranged by Tom Holtz
Quintet No. 4 in A-flat Major, Opus 8 – Viktor Ewald
One of my favorite things about this recording is that Valor Brass offers a new take on standard repertoire and transcriptions. With the “old standards” also comes a good balance of new material, specifically the Stephenson and the Percy Grainger pieces. All in all, this recording reminds me of the smaller ensemble recordings of the famed Philip Jones Brass Ensemble. It is good to see an established brass quintet such as Valor Brass produce a stellar recording. While so many up and coming brass ensembles are focused on new compositions (nothing wrong with that), this quintet brings many of the standards back to life while acquainting the listener to new original music as well as transcriptions. I hope to hear more from Valor Brass in the future.
If you would like a copy their recording (I receive nothing from your purchase), you can visit ValorBrass.com, CD Baby, or iTunes.
Below is a video recording made by Valor Brass. Enjoy this rendition of J.S. Bach’s Fantasia in G arranged the group’s own, Michael Mergen. Side note – anytime you add a flugelhorn to an arrangement, you have done a good thing.
