Pitch Black - Brass United
Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant gave 5 stars out of 5 in its review of Pitch Black, the new and first CD of Brass United, calling it: '...amazingly lyrical with rhythmical precission, a whirlwind of sounds...'
'...This Cd is an instant hit...' wrote newspapare NRC and '...the brass quintet you would dream off makes you happy...'
Het Parool wrote: '...fenomenal ensemble playing by Brass United...'
Brass United is an ensemble consisting of five brass players from different backgrounds and countries who got to know each other in various occasions and became good friends over the past decades:
Alexandre Baty, trumpet (principal trumpet of Orchestre Radio france)
Wim Van Hasselt, trumpet (trumpet professor in Freiburg)
Jasper de Waal, french horn (principal horn Chamber Orchestra of Europe)
Jörgen van Rijen, trombone (principal trombone Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra)
Stéphane Labeyrie, tuba (tuba of Orchestre de Paris)
After discovering their initial joy of making music together, they felt united in their desire to promote their instruments and create a bigger audience for great brass chamber music.
The Cd Pitch Black is named after a piece by Jacob TV for brass quintet and soundtrack about the famous jazz trumpet player Chet Baker. Besides that there is a great variety of music with different accompaniments:
- Baroque music by Pergolesi a.o. accompanied by harpsichord
- Three Spanish dances by Albeniz with percussion
- A New Song by James macMillan with organ
- Rumanian Dances by Bartok
- The Call by Luciano Berio
Except the Call by berio, which is an original composition by him for brass quintet, all other pieces are newly written or arranged for this CD.