Fulham Brass Band

Fulham Brass Band on THE ONE SHOW

ljackson — Thu, 03 May 2012 22:11:53 +0000

Members from Fulham Brass Band made their way to the BBC Studios this evening in White City to play The Floral Dance with Sir Terry Wogan singing as part of The One Show LIVE on BBC 1. We enjoyed hanging out in The Green Room and meeting Matt Baker (particularly for our Sop player Mat Baker) and Alex Jones!

Although this was a trip down memory lane for Sir Terry, its all very current for the band as we are currently rehearsing to perform the piece amongst many others as part of a production in The Questors Theatre, Ealing of the popular film adaptation Brassed OffThe performance runs from 12-19 May in The Playhouse, The Questors Theatre, 12 Mattock Lane, Ealing, W5 5BQ

Book your tickets: www.ealingtheatre.com

Box Office: 020 8567 5184

More info can be found here

Exciting opportunities for Fulham Brass Band!

ljackson — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 22:46:49 +0000

There are only TWO WEEKS left until the deadline for our applications for new Musical Director! We are hoping to find the right person to work hard with the band and continue our upward climb!

To apply for the post please send your Banding CV and covering letter in confidence to enquiries@fulhambrassband.co.uk. Please use the same address if you have any questions or would like any further information! Deadline: Monday 30th April

We are also looking forward to two exciting projects coming up in the next few months: we will be featuring in the Questors upcoming production of Brassed Off from 12-19 May 2012 in The Playhouse, Questors Theatre, Ealing – more details over the next few weeks!

Finally we are pleased to be able to confirm attendance at this year’s Whit Friday marches in Saddleworth on Friday 1st June – as a sociable and friendly band we accept any players that would like to come and join us! If you would like more details about joining us on this then please contact Lucy on publicity@fulhambrassband.co.uk. It will certainly be a great day out!

Fulham members to hit the small screen once again!

ljackson — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:21:02 +0000

Last Thursday, a small selection of Fulham members went up to Southgate to film an advert for a well-known high-end supermarket chain. The line up for the day was ex-MD Simon Jones on cornet, Chairman Steve Carney on horn, Band Manager Simon Keen on baritone, Contest Secretary Guy Dawes on bass trombone and some help from friend of the band from Avelely and Newham Ed Ashby on Eb Bass. Read on to find out what they got up to on filming day….

‘It was on Thursday. We convened at a Walker Cricket Club in Southgate, on the north east end of the Piccadilly Line. It was 7.30am but the blow was softened by a marvellous fry-up courtesy of the catering double-decker bus.

After a swift pass through make-up (we’re either close to perfection or beyond hope, you decide) we made our way to the set just down the road. The filming was performed in the gardens of a house down the road. They had been setup for a summer garden party, so marquees, trestle tables, cucumber sandwiches, etc.

The morning was spent on the first shot which focused (no pun intended) on the preparations for the party, so waitresses laid tables and musicians prepared themselves. Only three of the five players from Fulham were needed so two of us had a welcome chance to get a bit of extra sleep. Simon Jones was in the first take but was quickly substituted due to some overacting Jack Nicholson would be proud of.

Over lunch the crew worked on the second shot which featured the arrival of Heston. A double was used for the first dozen takes to get everything setup but then the man himself arrived. He seemed like a decent chap and had a quick chat with the band.

The third shot, filmed during the afternoon, featured the party itself where Heston dishes out his creation to the assembled guests. FBB looked very dapper, seated behind the guests with their antique music stands. We were only required to mime so with nothing to coordinate our efforts the end result, if shown at all, could be interesting.

We think the dish is called Strawberry Cream Crunch but are not sure whether it’s a dish you can buy from Waitrose or just a Heston recipe that uses Waitrose’s ingredients. It’s all tied into the Jubilee weekend and should be broadcast in three weeks time.’

Words by Simon Keen

Applications invited for new Musical Director

ljackson — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 08:48:53 +0000

Fulham Brass Band are seeking a new Musical Director to lead this ambitious and sociable 2nd section band. We welcome applications from motivated individuals who want to work hard to maintain the band’s upward direction.

As a central London Brass Band based in Fulham (rehearsing on Monday nights), we have a large group of players from around the world, and are a young, hard-working team with a strong desire to succeed in national competitions plus a busy calendar of exciting projects!

Deadline for applications: Monday 30th April
For more info on the band please email enquiries@fulhambrassband.co.uk

MD Simon Jones discusses Fulham Band LIVE on BBC Radio London

ljackson — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:55:22 +0000

This morning the lucky listeners of BBC Radio London woke up to hear our very own MD Simon Jones talk about Fulham Brass Band and our upcoming contest in Stevanage this Sunday 18th March LIVE on The Breakfast Show hosted by Gaby Roslin and Paul Ross. It’s fair to say he gave listeners a bit of background about the Regional Brass Band Contests that are taking place all over the UK during Feb/March and the Brass Band movement in general.

There was even a couple of sound clips of the band playing, prodominently featuring Mick Dawson, Ally Crowther and Clare Jenneson

Well done Simon! Listen to the recording live at the following link - skip to 17 mins and 17 seconds

Open Rehearsal with Staines Brass

ljackson — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 11:06:56 +0000

Fulham Brass Band and Staines Brass will be holding an open rehearsal on Thursday 15th March at 8pm.

Entry: FREE

Both Staines Brass and Fulham Brass Band have a very important competition in Stevenage during the weekend 17th/18th March and are opening the doors to their rehearsal preparations.

Fulham will be performing their Second section piece ‘Cross Patonce’ by Goff Richards and Staines will be performing Championship section piece ’The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea’ by Derek Bourgeois.
The idea of the exercise is to perform the contest piece to an audience prior to the contest. The bigger the audience the better, so please feel free to call in and have a listen.
It will be a very relaxed and informal occasion, giving you a chance to listen to the bands, meet the players and have a fantastic insight into how two high class brass bands rehearse!
Tea, Coffee & Biscuits will be supplied.

Venue:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
41 Kingston Road,
Staines,
Middlesex.
TW18 4LH

Nearest rail station: Staines

Fulham working hard for the Area contest!

ljackson — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 14:36:58 +0000

There is only ONE MONTH to go until Fulham Brass Band perform in the second section of the L&SC Area contest on Sunday 18th March at Stevenage Arts Theatre.

The piece is Cross Patonce by Goff Richards, which is a tricky but beautiful piece divided into 3 movements that will put all of the bands to the test on the day! Fulham have plenty of rehearsals and sectionals coming up and look forward to the challenge over the next few weeks under the direction of our MD Simon Jones.

STOP PRESS… Fulham are recruiting!

ljackson — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:57:59 +0000

We are currently looking for a Bass player (either Eb or Bb) and a Trombone player to complete our line up for the L&SC Area Contest in Stevenage on Sunday 18th March and beyond! As a central London brass band based in Fulham (rehearsing Monday nights), we welcome players from around the world to join our ambitious, friendly and sociable 2nd section band!

Contact:

For further information, please contact our Band Manager Simon Keen on enquiries@fulhambrassband.co.uk if you are interested.

Fulham return from Butlins weekend in Skegness…

ljackson — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:43:06 +0000

Fulham Brass Band have just about recovered after a fantastic weekend in windy Skegness for the 2012 Butlins Mineworkers Championship!

This annual event is an important and fun part of the brass band calendar where almost 5,000 brass players descend upon Butlins in Skegness to compete against each other in competitions over 6 sections spanning the entire weekend

We were drawn number 10 on the day which gave us just enough time for an impromptu rehearsal in one of the chalets! At around midday we headed over to the Second Section venue and put all our hardwork into practise by giving a good final rendition of ‘The Frogs of Aristophanes’ by Granville Bantock. After an afternoon of bowling and socialising we all piled into the results hall to find out we had been placed 10^th out of 19 bands! Although it would have been good to have been placed higher, the piece certainly caused problems for some bands and we gave it a good stab against some very good Northern bands. Most of the band will certainly be glad to get the tricky rhythms out of our heads!

Full results and details of the weekend can be found at the following link: http://4barsrest.com/news/detail.asp?id=14562

The band had a fantastic weekend and although we didn’t get the result we were after, we look forward to working hard for our next outing… The London & Southern Counties 2^nd section Area Contest on Sunday 18^th March!

Fulham preparing ‘The Frogs’ for Butlins

ljackson — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:32:10 +0000

Fulham are busy rehearsing their test piece for one of the most significant and fun events in the brass band calendar; The Butlins Mineworkers Open Brass Band Festival! This is taking place on the 21st and 22nd January in sunny Skegness and we will once again be competing in the Second section …

The piece that is occupying our efforts at the moment is by Granville Bantock, entitled: “The Frogs of Aristophanes”, written in 1935. It is a comedy overture, but I’m not sure that anyone in the band gets the joke at the moment.

Indeed, the play itself is not a barrel of laughs (although supposedly a comedy), with the God Dionysius having to be ferried across the Styx by Charon to bring Euripides back from the dead, which is the only place in the play where the frogs feature as a chorus. Bottom line is that people on the other side of the Styx are somewhat antagonistic (compare with a trip from modern day Liverpool to Birkenhead) since people had been nicking two headed dogs and causing no end of aggravation. Anyway, after a bit of discussion on torture and some ever-popular Greek debate, Dionysius leaves Hades with Aeschylus instead of Euripides. Showing he’s not all bad, Pluto allows Aeschylus to return to life so that Athens may be succoured in her hour of need, and invites everyone to a round of farewell drinks.

Strange that 1500 years on, Fulham are parallelling the journey of Dionysius in trying to revive a piece of music from the dead and after some torture and debate will hopefully return triumphant from Hades (well, Skegness anyway) after much celebration! We’ll keep you informed of the outcome of our travels in future posts…

(Many thanks to Steve Carney for taking the time out of our busy rehearsal schedule to research the meaning of The Frogs of Aristophanes)