Monthly Archives: May 2020

An update has been made to my collection of brass band poems. Now totalling 99 odes on various brass banding topics from the players to contests, of various lengths and styles, by bandsmen themselves or fans of the band, from … Continue reading →

Where’s the brass band you ask? Well it is actually within the roped enclosure in the foreground, playing suitable martial music to accompany the biennial Gibsthwaite Athletics, Sports, Horticultural and Industrial Show in September 1905, where the highlight of the … Continue reading →

Originally known as the Brompton Boys’ Institute Band, from the New Brompton Orphanage in Kent, its proprietor Henry Allen developed the band from its formation in 1896 into a touring set of brass ensembles – the “Lads of Kent” that … Continue reading →

In December 1937, James Southern, band manager of the famous St Hilda’s Professional Band, announced it would be disbanding. In an article he outlined the history of the band from its earliest days in South Shields attached to the local … Continue reading →

In 1937 Charles Ingles, of the Metropolitan Police Central Band, was invited to produce some cartoons for the Musical Progress and Mail magazine. He delivered a dozen pictures which were then published each month. Although they clearly represent military band … Continue reading →

Brass bands have been very thin on the ground in the highlands of Scotland, indeed Inverness-shire has only seen two bands at Fort William and one at Tarbert, outside Inverness itself. The current Highland Brass, which was formed in 2013 … Continue reading →

What do a brothel madam in New Orleans and a comic actress in Paris have in common? Not a lot you’d think, but they were both accomplished brass players. Antonia Gonzales duetted on her cornet with Tony Jackson and Jelly … Continue reading →

The Douglas Colliery was sited at Rigside on the banks of Douglas Water in Lanarkshire. The band was active from 1883 through to the late 1950’s. Its conductor was Mr Paterson in 1886. Secretary W.W. Muir, treasurer John Hunter in … Continue reading →

Prior to 1913 music for brass band had consisted largely of arrangements of classical or popular music. Although there had been a long tradition of composers (usually bandmasters) writing original marches and light music, there certainly had been no original … Continue reading →

The Iles Medal is named after John Henry Iles (1871-1951) who was the founder of the National Brass Band Championships in 1900 – an extraordinary and flamboyant entrepreneur who virtually controlled the brass band movement for the first half of the 19th … Continue reading →