Spass mit Brass - Brass Band Berlin

Thomas Hoffmann & his
BRASS BAND BERLIN
"Classic, Jazz & Comedy" - "Music with wit, charm and tailcoats"

Since 1989, Brass Band Berlin has been a reliable guarantee of a top-class, thoroughly entertaining concert evening.

The ten outstanding musicians led by bandleader Thomas Hoffmann - in their "day jobs" members of Berlin's major orchestras - are all exceptional soloists who consistently draw thunderous applause. They have no qualms about jazzifying Wagner or Bach. Each performer shows up as a perfectionist and master of multiple instruments: sometimes playing it straight, sometimes sideways, or even on a sawn-in-half trombone. The concert is packed with gestures, facial expressions and unexpected gags.

What this sharp ensemble delivers is almost impossible to describe. It tends to reveal itself as a breakneck high-performance show, crammed with music, humour and cabaret. Bandleader and founder Thomas Hoffmann in particular races from xylophone to microphone, dashes back for a quick gong strike or bell toll, steps forward to deliver a joke, then fires a blank shot or perhaps produces a squeaky rubber duck, an air horn, a whistle or whatever else comes to hand. He presents himself as a comedian and percussionist in endless variations, wielding a seemingly bottomless arsenal of instruments. The bright-red sweat rag is an absolute fixture.

In "Light Cavalry", a neighing trumpet rings out alongside a perfect clarinet solo by Oliver Link. Compositions by Henry Mancini, Count Basie, Benny Goodman and others follow - rousing, brilliant, one of a kind. From 21 hours of Wagner's music, 4 minutes and 30 seconds of gripping, colourful "Bayreuther Festspiele" emerge in swing style, drawing on familiar themes from "The Valkyrie, Tannhauser, Siegfried, Parsifal, The Flying Dutchman and Lohengrin". For "Typewriter", the bandleader sits down at an orange Privileg 72 - the only model with a silky-smooth keystroke and a phenomenal "tick" and "tack".