Product Description
Level of difficulty: difficultProduced by The Salvation Army - Canadian TerritoryThis piece was written for the Canadian Staff Bandﾡﾯs tour of Australia and New Zealand in the summer of 2001.The first part is written for a quintet of two comets, horn, trombone and tuba, and is a mix of slow blues and gospel. This section segues into the main ﾡﾮstraight aheadﾡﾯ part of the piece which is for the full band and is an evocation of the big-band styling of the great ﾡﾮCountﾡﾯ Basie. I use an old tune by Gosta Linstrom which goes to the words O happy day that fixed my choice, and the old Army benediction Praise God, Iﾡﾯm saved. Those who know their Salvation Army band repertoire will detect an affectionate, if ﾡﾮtongue in cheekﾡﾯ, reference to The Scarlet Jersey by the doyen of Salvation Army composers, Ray Steadman-Allen. I publicly crave his absolution now!The piece presents opportunity for some creative performance options. For instance, the quintet could begin alone ﾡﾮfront of houseﾡﾯ and the rest of the band could be in position by letter A. There are plenty of places for sectional and soloist ﾡﾮstandsﾡﾯ. I intended this piece to be enjoyable for the performers and audience ﾡﾪ have fun with it!
