British and American Band Classics

I have ejoyed listening to this album and would recommend it to anyone with and interest in big brass military band music.

This is from the renowned 'Living Presence' series of recordings made some 50 years ago and it has stood the test of time very well. One can still appreciate the freshness and clarity of the playing, all brilliantly captured by Mercury's recording team. It has lost nothing in the transfer to CD. It seems Fennell always managed to get the best out of his players and the Eastman Wind Ensemble is clearly at home in this compilation of 20th century works. We hear the British composers first- Gordon Jacob, Walton and Holst- followed by two lesser-known Americans Robert Russell Bennett and Clifton Williams. It is difficult to pick a 'favourite' from them; the show is excellent throughout.Reasonably-priced copies of this CD are not always advertised on this site, so you may like to try elsewhere. (I found mine on the German Amazon site- cheap even with the extra postage charge.)