Another in a spunky and unique series of albums from Cala in which the label’s Artistic Director, Geoffrey Simon, brings together multiple British performers on one particular instrument for a wildly varied crossover-ish collection of arrangements for a same-instrument orchestra. In this case it’s some top trumpet players, rounded out on some of the selections by various percussion and even on a couple by electric bass. The entire trumpet family is used here, ranging from bass trumpets all the way up to piccolo trumpets. The genres encompass classical, jazz, Latin and pop, and while the pop numbers were recorded in a studio, the classical used a church venue which provides a wonderfully rich and natural surround field.
The arrangements are a kick. The program is bookended with the more popular selections, which include Louis Prima’s Sing, Sing, Sing, The Beatles’ Penny Lane, and Erroll Garner’s Misty. Rossini’s Thieving Magpie Overture is heard in its entirety, and the creative arrangement makes you not miss the rest of the normal orchestra in the least. The movement from Rodrigo’s Concierto Aranjuez works beautifully and unexpectedly with just trumpets. Handel’s Royal Fireworks is reduced to three movements, sparked by tympani and other percussion, and sounds fresh and sparkling – especially in Cala’s enveloping surround mix. One gets one’s money’s worth of trumpeting here – this is actually a double album mixed for surround, marrying together two previous London Trumpet CDs which were not SACDs. If you share my penchant for same-instrument aggregations of all sorts, you’ll have to hear this fun SACD.
– John Sunier
