+ REVIEW musicians but Salvationists from all over the world was a fantastic thing to be part of.’ Derick is keen to point out the underlying spiritual purpose of the ISB. ‘We’re trying to influence people,’ he insists. ‘We’re trying to help and encourage people through our music, which has something to say and a story to tell.’ And while the ISB is highly regarded in the wider brass band world Derick believes that many non-Salvationist musicians understand what’s different about Salvation Army banding. ‘There are a good number of them who respect our music and respect the reasons why we do it. It’s different from their perspective. They recognise that we are, in essence, a band from the Church.’ The ISB also provides an important link for former Salvationists, as Derick explains: ‘One thing that’s noticeable about a staff band weekend is the number of people who come to our concerts who used to be in a Salvation Army band, who used to be part of a Salvation Army fellowship. That gives the staff band a big responsibility in what it plays and what it says. So the spoken word before a concert, the spoken word at an interval, the Bible message given in a concert – they all become very important alongside the music. ‘Now and again we’ll go to a rehearsal and Steve Cobb will say he’s
METICULOUSLY THRILLING PERFORMANCES
Dudley Bright (Regent Hall) reviews the CD My Journey by euphonium soloist Derick Kane
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Derick with his first staff bandmaster, Lieut-Colonel Ray Bowes, pictured in 2002 had an email from someone who’s been touched by the music or was led to think about what they’re doing, and they’re now attending a corps again. Those opportunities to get alongside people because of what we are and what we’re doing are important for the staff sections.’ Although no longer in the ISB Derick continues to be busy. ‘I still feel good about my playing and about what I’m doing,’ he says. ‘I look after the corps band at Bexleyheath, I’ve got a few solo engagements coming up and I’m going to be a tutor on the Easter course of the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain. So already there are new opportunities opening up.’ Staff band members are also corps band members and Derick has words of encouragement for fellow corps musicians: ‘Make the best of all the opportunities. It’s easy to think, “Oh it’s another band practice night or it’s another songster practice night”, but you will get to a point when all of a sudden you are looking back on things. So it’s important to look at today and be part of a group that’s encouraging others through your music-making. Salvation Army sections are great for making music and great for putting forward a message. And there’s also a very important social aspect: being with other people. I’d encourage everyone to make the best of every moment.’
OR more than 40 years Derick Kane has been one of the principal ‘corner men’ of the International Staff Band, a fact celebrated with this compilation of euphonium solos that he has recorded with the ISB over the years. Many of them were written especially for him, ranging from longer, bravura type items, through expressive lyrical solos, to lighter fare. Derick gives meticulously thrilling performances with his unique, hallmark sound and style that have remained amazingly consistent through the years, as has the accompanying ISB – and that’s not through the magic of the recording engineer! Some of Derick’s live recordings elsewhere show him just as engaging and consistent with the pressure of a live audience, so it is a shame that one or two of these tracks are not included here. Derick’s ‘journey’ is reflected at various levels: an interesting survey of Army musical styles through the years, his personal ISB journey and the Christian pilgrimage. The various solos put us on the path to ‘The Better World’ and ‘We’ll All Shout Hallelujah’ while bound for ‘Canaan’s Land’ during our ‘Journey Into Peace’. The message is certainly there but perhaps it would have been clearer if a few supporting lyrics had been included in the otherwise interesting and informative CD booklet. My Journey is a fascinating representation of what must be some eye-watering statistics that have mounted up. How many festivals, how many solos, how many miles, how much practice – how many bottles of valve oil? What we are told is that he recorded more than 50 solo titles, including 27 premieres. That this album shows no diminishing of Derick’s virtuosic and expressive powers, suggests his journey is not over, but with perhaps a change to a different, more leisurely path. My Journey is available from SP&S priced at £9.99 (plus postage and packing)
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Salvationist 23 March 2019
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