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| A brief history of Redbridge Brass...
Formed by John Ridgeon under the name Redbridge Brass Ensemble, the band actually started life as part of the Redbridge Music School (in the London Borough of Redbridge) and was the top band of four at that time. The band started entering contests as 'Redbridge Youth' and in 1970 became National Youth Champions of Great Britain, then won the 3rd Section National Finals in 1971 and in 1972 came 3rd at the Grand Shield Spring Contest, an astounding performance for a youth band! The band members being too old to remain in the music school reformed as Redbridge Brass Ensemble in 1972 after being promoted to the 2nd Section. Most of the players were taught by John Ridgeon in the use of his own brass playing technique. The fantastic sound that this produced and talent of those young musicians was captured on an LP recording called 'The Redbridge Phenomenon'. After several changes of leadership, one of whom was Ray Farr, the band again won the 2nd Section Area title in 1985 (and came 4th in the Finals) under the baton of Graham Chambers. Shortly afterwards the band entered the top level Championship Section in 1986 where it has remained ever since. In 1988 the band won the Area title and gained some sponsorship under the name 'London Electricity Redbridge Brass' until 1993 when the band's name became 'Redbridge Brass' to the present day. The band won the Area title twice more under the direction of John Clarke in 1991 and 1992, and produced a ground breaking CD called 'Close Enough for Jazz' in 1994. Graham Wilson conducted the band in 1996-97 and led them to two Area title wins. Then in 1998 Melvin White became the band's MD and stayed with the band until 2007, the longest tenure of all the band's conductors. In that period the band achieved five Area wins, four of which were in succession (2002-5), a feat not achieved by any other band in the Area contest, ever. The band also recorded a triple CD of marches, show music and film themes, which has proved very popular indeed. 2008 sees the band win the Area contest under the baton of Rob Wiffin, and has performances in Trafalgar Square and Dubai. Then with the arrival of MD, Jeremy Wise the band gained personal bests Grand Shield Spring Contest and at the invite only All England International Masters contest held in Cambridge's Corn Exchange (also the highest placing any London and Southern Counties Area band has achieved in this contest so far). Rounding off the 2008 summer the band had a debut at the Glastonbury Festival in front of 40,000 people on the 'Other Stage' with chart band 'Hot Chip'. 2009 sees the band win the prestigious Mineworkers Open National Brass Band Festival and again win the Area contest. The band is now looking to record a new CD later in the year and capture some of the magic of their recent successes. |
| Links to some more about us - Musical Director - Jeremy Wise a short biography - Players and vacancies - current band personel - Audio recordings - buy a CD of the band - News - the latest on the bands activities - Concerts and Contests - where you can hear the band |
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| A brief history of the band plus information about the range of engagements the band has provided music for. |
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| Redbridge Brass in 1975 - Chris Giles (aged 16) after performing the Gregson Horn Concerto and MD John Ridgeon |
| What the band also gets up to...
Contests The band are the current holders of the London & Southern Counties region championship contest and have now won this contest 7 times in the past 8 years (12 times in total). The band competes in several other main contests in the year that take us across the country to contests at Skegness, Stevenage, Blackpool, and Cambridge. We shall also be entering the English National contest as reigning champions for our area. Theatre When the stage adaptation of the film Brassed Off came to London – at the Olivier Stage at The National Theatre – Redbridge Brass was chosen to perform and manage the on stage live music for the entire 21 night run. The Shaw Theate, London provides the venue for a production of Maggie's End marking the 25th anniversary of the miner's strike. The band were chosen to provide music for the grand opening and close of the play's run in April 2009. Sport The band has provided pre-match entertainment for sporting events such as a corporate screening of the England vs Sweden football World Cup match at Shepherds Bush Empire theatre which went down an absolute storm. Supporting England again, but this time for rugby, the band provided pre-match entertainment on the pitch at Twickenham RFU for the Powergen Cup Final to a crowd of around 60,000 and a few weeks later provided a 'band in the stand' for the IRB7’s. In fact the band are no strangers to Twickers – a few years ago the band played there for the England vs South Africa match to a capacity crowd of 75,000. On Screen As film extras, the band played and appeared with Bob Hoskins and James Fox in the BBC two-part adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s book 'The Lost World – an adventure based around the discovery of living dinosaurs on a plateau in South America. As the explorers return to England by ship the band are playing on the docks as part of a heroes' welcome as they disembark. The scene was shot at Pinewood Studios. As television extras, the band featured in an ITV drama called 'Promoted to Glory'. It starred Kevin Whately and Ken Stott in a story based on the 'dreams' of a dying tramp who has fallen in love with a Salvation Army worker. The band did three all-night shoots near Spitalfield market in London plus day shoots at other locations in the capital. The band also recorded the film's title music. Most recently the band played in a comedy sketch item for Channel 4's The Friday Night Project in an episode hosted by Joanna Lumley. Radio The band has featured on Frank Renton's BBC Radio 2 show 'Listen to the band' on several occasions and in March 2009 recorded another session for the show. It has also been one of the few brass bands to have be invited to perform in the radio concert, Friday Night is Music Night at Watford Coliseum with the BBC Concert Orchestra. The band was recently featured again on 25th July 2008. The band first appeared on the show when it was recorded at the Golders Green Hippodrome, the original and much loved radio recording venue. Recording A Triple CD boxed collection entitled Music from the Bandstand is now available featuring 50 tracks of around three and a half hours in total. The band have recorded some fine music here on these CDs which includes 20 Marches, 20 Movie sound tracks and 10 Musicals selections. These are on sale via the shop page. In the Concert Hall The band regularly perform in theatres and churches around London and the South East. The band has a large repertoire and regularly present popularly themed concerts such as: A Night at the Movies; Songs from the Shows; Stars and Stripes; Scary Brass; Hollywood Legends; Glenn Miller & 1940s favourites; and of course Last Night of the Proms. A Selection of Other Events The band opened the BBC Proms 2006 at an event in Trafalgar Square for BBC Live Events, and performed as part of the day's live concert of multi-genre music. In 2008, again at Trafalgar Square, the band formed part of the entertainment at the Beijing Olympics Torch relay event when it came to London. In 2007 the band played for a private function hosted by the Lord Mayor of London. The band combined with additional players to perform the spectacular 40 part motet 'Spem in Alium' by Thomas Tallis conducted by Frank Renton. Another high profile event was the 2008 trip to Dubai to provide music at the Group4Securicor Annual Conference. A main feature was the focus on the company's sponsorship of Olympic athletes for the Beijing games and on to the London 2012 games. The event was so successful the band was re-booked to do an identical event in London at the Old Billingsgate venue. In 2008 the band featured at the Glastonbury Festival with two appearances, firstly with top chart band Hot Chip, in front of 40,000 fans, and then in concert at the festival’s new Park Stage. This follows on from a similarly successful gig with Hot Chip at London's Brixton Academy in front of 5000 screaming fans! Most recently in Sept 2009 the band made a guest appearance at the Riverfront Cafe on the Southbank to launch the opening of the British Film Institute’s project ‘This Working Life – King Coal’ which explores a century of British industry on screen. An impromptu crowd of about 150 developed who cheered the band as they performed a rousing finale of the music to ‘River Dance’. Amanda Nevill, Director of the BFI, said “I’m really impressed with the band and would love to work with them again”. |
| Redbridge Brass in 2008 at the Grand Shield, Blackpool with MD Jeremy Wise |