Big Band sound was just amazing
One of the many treats on offer during the Perth Festival of the Arts is the opportunity to hear young musicians perform in a series of lunchtime concerts in St John’s Kirk.
Friday’s Festival performance came courtesy of the Perth and Kinross Big Band, a group of around thirty secondary school pupils.
Under the amiable direction of music instructor Philip Alexander they presented a programme combining youthful energy and enthusiasm with skilled ensemble playing.
The concert opened with a toe-tapping arrangement of Lennon and McCartney’s ‘Daytripper’, featuring an engaging solo from Joe Pickering on the alto sax, followed by a taste of summer in Louis Armstrong’s‘Struttin’with some Barbecue’.
‘Virtual Insanity’was deliberately unsettling, with a throbbing bass line and the first of two accomplished trumpet solos from Tara Hamilton.
After such a high-octane start, the mellow mood of jazz classic‘Moonlight in Vermont’was very welcome, whilst‘Every Little Thing She Does is Magic’and the Jackson Five classic‘I Want You Back’gave us swing , swagger and plenty of dynamic variation.
The Pharrell Williams hit‘Happy’was appropriately upbeat and joyful, featuring brief solos from each member of the saxophone section, and rhythmic clapping from the trumpet section.
‘Count Bubba’allowed each section to demonstrate their virtuosic skills and the final piece‘We’re all in this together’from High School Musical typified the team work evident throughout the concert, as well as allowing the hard-working percussion section of Peter Mattner and Tom Cahlin to shine.
Unbelievable as it might seem, the Big Band does not meet throughout the year, but comes together at the annual Senior Music Camp in April, rehearse intensively, put on a concert, then they are able to come back six weeks later (many in the midst of SQA exams) and present another starry performance.
Such commitment and musicianship is surely a testament to the value, both musical and social, of such camps. We are fortunate to have such talent in our midst, and must not let it go to waste. JENNIETURNBULL