Brass
Monkey
Wednesday 13
February 7.45pm
Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury
Martin Carthy –
vocals, guitar, mandolin
John Kirkpatrick – vocals, button accordion, anglo
concertina, melodeon
Martin Brinsford – mouth-organ, saxophone,
percussion
Roger Williams – bass trombone, tuba,
euphonium
Brass Monkey have reformed as a
four piece band featuring Martin Carthy, John Kirkpatrick, Martin Brinsford and Roger
Williams.
Messrs Carthy and Kirkpatrick naturally lock into one
another’s playing with an ease and precision that can only come of playing
together for over thirty years. Sharing the vocals, and sometimes singing
together in unison, they bring the fruits of years of experience to this band
with an explosive freshness that is clearly driven by the excitement they all
feel by playing together.
Roger Williams, who has already proved his insanity by
tripping effortlessly through the fastest of tunes on the bass trombone, also
brings along the euphonium to add a softer melodic touch to the gentler
pieces. Martin Brinsford can add sweetness or punch on his mouth-organ as
required, and amongst his numerous accomplishments on the various instruments
of percussion, he can create more drive with the knuckle of one finger than
most drummers can muster on a whole kit.
Don’t miss this rare treat to see four masters of
their art combine with such open hearted enthusiasm to reach such tremendous
heights, at the Gulbenkian Theatre.
Tickets
£15 Concs £13
Booking Office 01227
769075
Brass
Monkey – the five-piece band that started in 1980, sputtered to a halt in
1987, and burst back onto the scene with renewed vigour in 1997 – looked all
set to build on the buzz of a re-energised come-back with regular new albums
and annual tours. They had a unique sound, nobody else remotely resembled
them, every live appearance was a wonderful success, and every new recording
was greeted with joyous
appreciation.
Tragedy
struck when trumpet player Howard Evans was taken ill on stage during the
band's tour in May 2004. The band continued the tour as a four-piece,
hoping that Howard's illness was temporary and that he would be back in the
fold at any time, but the eventual diagnosis was cancer, and he never played
again. After a couple of years of intensive treatment, when occasional
rehearsal sessions always had to be postponed, Howard passed away in March
2006.
To honour Howard's musical legacy, and to keep his
memory alive, Brass Monkey will tour again as a four-piece band. Nobody could
replace that wonderful trumpet playing, and it would be mad to even try. But
to the band's relief, and the audience's delight, they discovered on that last
tour that, with a bit of tweaking, the arrangements could still work, and that
they could still make a more than reasonable noise.