German brass in a panyardBy ANNE HILTON Thursday, April 8 2010
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Exodus playing Kitch's "Sugar Bum Bum"....
STILL photos can never do justice to a marching band like IG Blech. Say the words “marching band” and most Trinis have visions of ranks upon ranks of US high school students marching along in identical uniforms in step at the Rose Parade, or before an American football match.
Idiosyncratic is the best way to describe the various items of clothing donned by band members for their concert in Exodus’ panyard on the night of April 1. One trumpeter wore a long blue cotton nightgown; the saxophonists (of which there were several) sported a variety of pants, skirts and footwear (note the lady saxophonist in the pink plastic overshoes at right on one of the photographs) while headgear and hairstyles ranged from the ordinary everyday to the frankly lunatic.
Although they appeared undisciplined (compared with US marching bands), coming out into the audience, one lady saxophonist polishing the medals on the trombonist leader of the group, and generally clowning around, their antics were choreographed to entertain the eyes as well as the ears of the spectators on the chairs, seated on the slopes and crowding the pavement on the Eastern Main Road.
The music, though unfamiliar to most ears, nevertheless caught the imagination and enthusiasm of the audience. The leader of IG Blech gave a very brief German lesson, teaching the audience to say “more!!” (one presumes the German version of “encore!”) that soon had the audience crying out for more — in German.
Most were impressed when the drummers, the only professionals in IG Blech played unaccompanied by the brass and woodwind.
IG Blech’s final number, “Samba de Orfeo” brought their performance to an end. It was now time for Exocats (the Junior branch and winners in a festival in Vienna, Austria) to take the stage and impress with an arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s “Marche Slave”.
Exodus proper were the last band on stage — with Pink Panther performing as the late Lord Kitchener — and a very attractive young lady pannist taking the microphone, dancing and singing to end an evening of invigorating live music by showing members of IG Blech how to “palance”.
Our thanks to IG Blech, to the German Embassy and last, but by no means least to Exodus for a truly memorable musical evening.
www.panapparels.com
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