Back to Brass In Concert
In recent weeks, my oldest son has begun to take a real interest in learning to play a brass instrument and has just joined a training band. To help nurture this enthusiasm I have dug out my old Brass in Concert DVDs (2006 to 2013) and spent time sitting with him, and his younger brother, watching them together. These recordings have a special place for me as I was bought them (and then bought them for myself) at a time when I was beginning to rediscover brass bands and understand what they can be. The recordings sparked something within me that brought me back to playing and has endured, more or less, ever since. At that point, banding felt quite small, quite routine, something I did because I had to, because my parents went and I had (it felt) very little choice. Suddenly though I was watching these performances and realising just how much more it could be. I was hooked. Hooked by the creativity, the enthusiasm and sheer sense of occasion. It felt like a different world, f...
