Northgate Brass Take On A Whole Set Of Motown

Northgate Brass Take On A Whole Set Of Motown

Northgate Brass are playing a full evening of Motown arrangements at the Bandstand next month, which is not a sentence anybody expected to write about them.

The band, which is older than the town hall and has the paperwork to prove it, has spent the last two years quietly commissioning arrangements from a former player who now writes for a living.

How this happened

Badly, at first. The musical director told us the attempt three years ago was a medley that "sounded like a brass band playing Motown", which he did not intend as a compliment.

The difference this time is that the arrangements were written for this band and these players, rather than bought off a shelf. There are parts written for specific people in it. One of the tenor horn parts exists because of one player's habit of adding things.

What is in the set

Twelve numbers, none of them announced, though the band has confirmed that the obvious one is in there and is not the closer.

There is also a section in the middle where the band plays three of its own standards, which is partly a rest for the lips and partly a point about what a brass band is.

The date

Saturday 15 August at the Bandstand, from seven, free, and no tickets. Bring something to sit on and bring something waterproof.

If it rains it moves to the Corn Exchange, which is a better room and a worse night out.

Playing with them

The band rehearses on Tuesday evenings and is short of two cornets and a trombone. They will teach somebody who has not played since school. They say that every year, and every year they mean it.

We are recording the evening and playing highlights the following Sunday.