The Georgia Brass Band

The first weekend in May was a busy one for the members of the Georgia Brass Band.  The band gave three performances as part of the the 2nd annual Deep South Brass Band Festival (DSBBF), held in Pine Mountain, GA - about 90 minutes south of the GBB's home city of Atlanta.  In the festival's two-year history, the GBB has already established itself as a crowd favorite and hopes to help the DSBBF become established as a yearly "must-see" for brass afficianados.

At 3:00PM on Saturday, May 1, the band presented the day's final performance at the festival's downtown venue, entertaining a crowd that was still somewhat soggy from earlier rain showers.  Apparently, the GBB pleased the rain gods, however, and the wet stuff stopped as the band took the stage.  Conditions remained windy as the band blasted its way through an hour's worth of selections, such as American Civil War Fantasy, Stars and Stripes Forever, Londonderry Aire, Slaidburn, and other pop favorites.

After taking a break for a few hours, the GBB reconvened at 9:00PM on the stage at the beach at Callaway Gardens, just outside of town, and performed for a large and enthusiastic crowd to end the festival.  The evening's selections included Russian Circus Music, Summon the Dragon, Cute, Li'l Darlin', and a raucous and crowd-pleasing rendition of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, along with a few requested repeats from the afternoon performance.

Other ensembles performing at the DSBBF were Ft. MacPherson's "Brass Brigade," (with the GBB's own Bobby Gorbet) the Charlotte Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble, a quirky Balkan-style brass band called "Mercury Orkestar," (with a number of moonlighting Georgia Brass Band performers) and the Harris County High School Marching Band.

In spite of the early-afternoon rains, the festival was a blast and, one hopes, a resounding success.

On Sunday morning, May 2, the band presented 45 minutes' worth of sacred arrangements for an appreciative congregation at Pine Mountain's 1st United Methodist Church, while the Charlotte Tuba/Euphonium Ensemble performed just down the street at the 1st Baptist Church.

For more information about the DSBBF, visit the official website or check out the festival's Facebook page.

The GBB's next scheduled concert is set for 4:00PM on May 16th at the Chamblee United Methodist Church, and will feature a number of the arrangements performed during the DSBBF.  We hope to see you there!

On the morning of Monday, March 22, 2010, euphoniumist John Caputo had this status update on his Facebook page:

"Ugh.  Brass band hangover."

A lot of the members of the Georgia Brass Band probably shared John's sentiments.  After nearly 13 hours of playing over the previous 3 days, most of the group was waking up with sore chops, bleary eyes, stiff backs - and perhaps a wee bit of pride stemming from the results of their marathon weekend.  If the audience's reaction to the band's Sunday evening performance was to be believed, then that pride was well-deserved.

On Friday night, the GBB kicked off the much-anticipated weekend with a three-hour rehearsal under the baton of Dr. Joe Parisi, musical director of the internationally-respected Fountain City Brass Band out of Kansas City, MO.  This was Parisi's first time working with the GBB, but he was quickly able to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses around the group,  to create the blend that he wanted, and to put his own stamp on the interpretation of the band's two NABBA selections.

The band reconvened at 9:00 Saturday morning and continued to work on their NABBA selections until 4:00 that afternoon.  Dr. Parisi concentrated on balance between the sections, helped individuals locate similar parts in other sections, pushed the band to perfect the "handoff" of musical lines and pointed out chord structures and intonational tendencies within them, which really helped the musicians in the band hear how their parts fit into the overall pieces.

"The opportunity to work with GBB was wonderful," Parisi said afterward.  "I felt that everyone was invested and focused in the artistic process.  The level of musicianship and committment were evident from the very first rehearsal.  I hope I was able to provide an opportunity to collectively grow, and celebrate the level of performance they have come to appreciate. Joe [Johnson] and the group have done great work and I know they will provide an exciting performance this year at NABBA."

Joe Johnson spent the day learning as well.   "It's always good to be able to sit back and just soak in the sound of the group," he said.  "I took a lot of notes while Joe was doing his thing, but I also tried to assume the role of a spectator or concertgoer and imagine what it is like to hear the music for the first time. The band and I have the benefit of weeks and months of detailed practice and analysis to come to terms with a piece of music. Our audience will hear it once. We need to sell it the first time, and I was trying to sit back and listen with fresh ears."