March 20, 2019

  • Dallas Winds Go to the Movies

    John Williams at the Movies
    Christopher Martin, trumpet.
    Dallas Winds/Jerry Junkin
    Reference Recordings 1425
    Total Time:  75:43
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    If you had the opportunity to play in a wind ensemble or concert band, this new Reference release will certainly be worth your time.  The Dallas Winds are the premiere professional wind ensemble in the country.  Under their music director, Jerry Junkin, they perform a variety of concerts exploring the vast symphonic wind band repertoire.  They also do a very popular John Williams program each year.  Transcriptions of Williams’ music for band have begun to improve tremendously over the past decade with “official” suites in Signature Editions from Hal Leonard.  Unlike some of the versions of Williams’ music in band versions, these tend to be far closer to his original orchestral intent.  The ensemble includes your traditional concert band instrumentation complete with string bass and a battery of percussion.  Harp, piano, and organ are added in as needed for color.

    After an exciting beginning with the Olympic Fanfare and Theme we move into the excellent overture from The Cowboys.  Hearing the articulation here in the rapid passages, often transferred to the saxophone section, is simply amazing.  Often one forgets that there are no strings present—that is a mark both of the excellent transcriptions and the assured performances.  The same can be said for “Adventures on Earth” from E.T.: The Extraterrestrial  which appears later on the album.  Some pieces like the Superman march, the “Imperial March” from The Empire Strikes Back, the theme from J.F.K., and the march from 1941 are perfectly captured in these performances and are spot on parallels to their orchestral versions.  Most fascinating though is the way the “Excerpts” from Close Encounters is organized.  This is similar to the one Williams programs in concerts, but with the woodwind texture, the fascinating clusters and textures are quite fresh and even more intriguing—especially when the alto saxophone takes on the primary theme (in place of what would be violin).  It makes this a particular highlight for that reason.  The central part of the album does focus on Star Wars music including the original “Main Title” (which is remarkably close to the real thing, with excellent wind writing and playing here) and the aforementioned march.  But. It also includes two selections from The Force Awakens: “Scherzo for X Wings” and “The Jedi Steps and Finale”.  These fresh versions arranged excellently by Paul Lavender are truly “hot off the press” with the first of the selection still not in a “final copy”.  So that makes this release even more compelling.  Special guest trumpeter Christopher Martin, who was featured on the soundtrack to Lincoln, appears here for a selection from that score, “With Malice Toward None” in a beautiful performance.  Also interesting is the little “encore” of The Star-Spangled Banner arrangement Williams did for the 114th Rose Parade when he was also that year’s Grand Marshall.  It is another of the gems on this very rich album

    Reference recordings is at the top of industry standards for stellar sound and imaging of performances and the release here does not disappoint.  Toss it into your multi-channel system and you will feel like you are there in this 5.1 stereo imaging that perfectly captures the Myerson Hall, Dallas.  It is no wonder then that the album was up for a Grammy this year.  The performances are really amazing.  When you realize that wind instruments tend to need to work a bit differently for all those runs that seem so effortless on a string instrument (though they can be just as difficult), it is even more impressive what the members of Dallas Winds are capable of technically.  The brass shine throughout this release and have an excellent full sound that is marked with superb, crisp articulation as well.  If you missed, or overlooked, this release, rest assured it is certainly among the finest collections of Williams’ music.