New York Snapshots review
1989-1999

by Peter Wilson for the British Bandsman

Compiled from a decade of NYSB recordings, this desirable disc opens with Ray Steadman-Allen's march, The High Council (named after the top brass who elect each new General) - a breezy start with RS-A at his most inventive.

Bruce Broughton's The Good Old Way has all the hallmarks of this highly gifted composer - punchy driving rhythms, crunchy harmonies, colorful scoring, catchy motifs and strong melodic lines.

Bruce's talented brother Bill is represented by his Count Basie-style Deep River and jazz-oriented Swing That Door, in which he is featured on trombone. Soloists abound, notably the great Philip Smith, whose sublime playing in Stephen Bulla's Blessed Assurance is inspired and worth the price of the disc on its own. The late Al Honsberger is the tuba soloist in Les Condon's Celestial Morn, while Britain's Dudley Bright brings all his orchestral clout to Brian Bowen's The Noble Trombone.

Earlier SA composers are represented by Leidzen's quickstep Manhattan and Ball's Resurgam, the latter...technically sound and expressive. The most recent track is Joseph Turrin's deeply felt Hymn for Diana, recorded this year

Peter Graham contributes Shine as the Light, the amusing collage New York Snapshots - Wonderful Town! and his arrangement of Respighi's The Appian Way, which pounds to the disc's dramatic conclusion.

Copyright © The Salvation Army. All rights reserved.