Alternative Brass just keeps coming. . . Blast!

Blast!

I guess one could argue if Blast is or is not a brass chamber group.  It is an brass ensemble with percussion and  color guard. But the brass line is usually around 36+ members. Well, I'm going to act like it is a brass chamber group and talk about the types of  and arrangements they play.

But first, a description of Blast. Blast is an combination of many elements. 

1) Marching Band/Drum corps element.

-marching

-all brass horn line (trumpets, mellophones, french horns, trombones, marching baritones, euphonium, and tubas)

-battery (snares, tenors and basses)

-colorguard (flag, rifle, sabre and other equipment)

-pit (usually keyboards, tympani, various other non-pitched percussion) 

2) Broadway Show element

-stage/theatre

-lights and special effects

-two acts with an intermission

3)  The Show

Act One

• Bolero - (M. Ravel)
• Color Wheel - (J. Lee)
• Split Complimentaries - (J. Talbott)
• Everybody Loves the Blues - (M. Ferguson/N. Lane)
• Loss - (D. Ellis)
• Simple Gifts/Appalachian Spring- (A. Copland)
• "Battery Battle" - (T. Hannum/J. Lee)
• Medea- (S. Barber)

Act Two

• Color Wheel Too - (J. Vanderkolff)
• Gee, Officer Krupke! (from West Side Story) - (L. Bernstein/S. Sondheim)
• Lemontech - (J. Vanderkolff)
• Tangerinamadidge - (B. Epperson/J. Vanderkolff)
• Land of Make Believe - (C. Mangione)
• Spiritual of the Earth
• Marimba Spiritual/Earth Beat - (M. Miki)/(M. Spiro)
• Malaguena- (E. Lecuona) 

Take a look at the music they play, it's all over the place: Classical, Jazz, Musicals, Ballet, etc.

All of these pieces are arrangements, I don't think there is a full version of any of these pieces, 

however I think most of these arrangements could be played by a brass band in a concert setting. 

Listen to Simple Gifts, I could easly hear a Brass Choir do it (actually I have, and I did the arrangement).

What makes this alternative is that they play at such a high level while marching, dancing and moving

around. I think one could almost think of this as a larger Boston Brass or Mnozil, Blast does the

same type of entertainment, just on a much larger scale.