"Our experience with Spectrum was first-rate. These are some of the most beautifully-set, clever arrangements of perhaps America's finest contribution to music history, all played with sensitivity, personality, and integrity that it would be hard to match. I wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone looking for a sure fire, audience-pleasing concert experience."
- Chris Ludwa
Artistic Director- Bay View Music Festival
www.bayviewfestival.org
Conductor- Bloomington POPS Orchestra
www.bloomingtonpops.org
Artistic Director- Encore Vocal Arts
www.encorevocalarts.org
Bay City State Theatre
Bay City, Michigan
"From start to finish of the show, you were wondering how they make such great music with so few instruments"
"This group is an amazing group of musicians and singers, that appeals to any audience"
- Mike Bacigalupo
Executive Director
State Theatre, Bay City
http://www.statetheatrebaycity.com/
Dogwood Center for the Performing Arts
Fremont, Michigan
Dear Jacob, Scott, Brian, Eric and John of the Spectrum Brass Quintet…along with special guests Alex, Tony and Elizabeth…
It is with profound professional pride and pleasure that we thank you for your stellar performance this past Friday here at the Dogwood Center for the Performing Arts. We strive to bring artists of the highest quality to our community and Spectrum fit right in! You are as exceptionally talented, individually, as you are as an ensemble. Your performance and style was impeccably ‘first class’ and your mastery of your art was flawless!
We appreciate the time you spent after your performance with our guests. Your warmth and genuine kindness did not go unnoticed.
We are immensely grateful to you for your support of the work we do here at Dogwood Center to keep the arts growing strong in our Community. We now consider you part of the Dogwood Center family of entertainers and we wish you great success.
Positively,
Diane Yonker
Program Manager
Dogwood Center for the Performing Arts
http://www.dogwoodcenter.com/
American Record Guide MAR/APR 2010
Rhapsody
GERSHWIN: Rhapsody in Blue; Porgy & Bess Suite; American Song Suite; Strike Up the Band; Walking the Dog; Fascinating Rhythm; I Got Rhythm
Spectrum Brass Quintet
Brassjar 2--69 minutes
The only way this kind of brass quintet program sounds good is if the players have terrific skills and play with abandon--not to mention with all the basics of good tone, blend, and intonation. And of course, it helps if the arrangements are imaginative. Each of these elements is most definitely true of this recording. Spectrum Brass Quintet makes spectacular things happen, individually and collectively.
The big piece is Rhapsody in Blue, arranged by ARG's own Brian Buerkle, with Israeli piano soloist Aviram Reichert (now a piano professor in Seoul, Korea). His reading is excellent, and the work sounds very good, even with none of the string and woodwind timbres Gershwin had in mind. Spectrum gives a wonderful account of a suite from Porgy and Bess, and a close-miked Elizabeth Stoner is the fine soprano whose tone ranges from breathy to brassy in American Song Suite (`But Not For Me', `Embraceable You', `How Long Has This Been Going On?', `The Man I Love', and `'S Wonderful').
Most of the arrangements are by composer James Stephenson, whose trumpet works I have praised before (SEP/OCT 2009: 247, JAN/FEB 2008: 203, MAR/APR 2005: 210). There is nothing average about them; they capture the original Gershwin while adding his own personality, and they challenge the players.
I am rarely excited about this kind of brass quintet program, but this is one of the best. The group consists of trumpeters Brian Buerkle and Scott Thornburg (his solo album is one of my favorites, JUL/AUG 2003: 202), horn player Eric Reed, trombonist John Rutherford, and tuba player Jacob Cameron. They are assisted ably by drummer Alex Trajano.
- Barry Kilpatrick
American Record Guide
http://www.americanrecordguide.com/
