Review: The Saturday Brass Quintet

A tremendoously talented group of young brass players, The Saturday Brass Quintet, made their debut on Musical Heritage Society with a disc containing arrangements of the finale from Rossini's overture to William Tell plus shortened versions of the composer's overtures La gazza ladra and Barber of Seville, Suppe's Poet and Peasant overture, a suite from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, and a transcription of "Desperavi: by early baroque cmposer Michael East. Although this recording mrks the group's first commercial release, they have been heard in sound track music for the television series "The Equalizer." I suspect they'll be making more recorded appearaces.

They're not quite on par with Canadian Brass or the peerless Philip Jones Brass Ensemble, but they are young and immensely gifted, and they will go far. I look forward to more recordings by them, and commend the MHS engineers for capturing the quintet in especially bright, biting sound.