I Can’t Wait!!
As I write this, there are 4 weeks to go until the 2023 National Band gets together again for our first-ever tour of Australia, and I can’t wait! 28 years after my first National Band tour, I still look forward to getting together with the finest brass players in Aotearoa and sharing the stage with this wonderful group of human beings.
My first National Band tour was back in 1995. The band was directed by Mr. Kevin Jarrett, was managed by the late Tony Lewis, and Ray Russell was his assistant. I remember this as very much a happy and fun-filled tour, with some very memorable moments. The ‘95 band rehearsed at RNZAF Base Ohakea and gave a concert in Auckland prior to departure for Los Angeles. What followed was a 13,000 km coach tour that took us from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Idaho, then down through Colorado to Texas, across to Louisiana, up the Mississippi River all the way to the Great Lakes, then down to Washington DC to complete the tour. I remember particularly the concert in Salt Lake City at the Mormon Tabernacle, where we were so popular that latecomers were unable to get tickets for the concert! On our way back to NZ, we had a 2 day stopover in Honolulu, then we rounded it off with concerts in Palmerston North and Christchurch.
A fun fact about the 1995 band was that we had two sets of three brothers in the band (Logan [Tenor Horn], Kent [Tuba] and Andrew [Baritone] Ballantyne from Invercargill and Graham [Cornet], Kevin [Cornet] and Murray [Percussion] Hickman from Whanganui. We also had two father-and-son combinations (Dave & Phil Johnston, and Kevin & Shaun Jarrett) and a married couple (John & Tina Everitt). The main featured soloists were Clyde Dixon, who played Herman Belstedt’s Napoli, and Murray Hickman who wowed the crowd with his flamboyant performance of Goff Richard’s Russky Percussky. On alternate nights, Logan Ballantyne was featured playing Higgy Jig, Principal Cornet Kerry Garrett played Dark Haired Marie, and I played Over the Rainbow.
Mainly because of work and family commitments, I didn’t tour again until 12 years later in 2007, when I was selected by Howard Taylor as Solo Horn for the band’s New Zealand tour with James Morrison as guest soloist, and then for the trip to the World Music Concourse in Kerkrade in The Netherlands in 2009, where we were placed 4th overall. One of the highlights of my playing career was playing the opening of Philip Sparke’s Music of the Spheres in the Rodohal, which was the venue for the contest.
In 2014, I was again in the Solo Horn seat for the National Band tour of China and South Korea, this time under the directorship of Nigel Weeks. Three years later, Nigel took the band to Kerkrade again, and this time we were placed 2nd overall. I fondly remember our performance of Oliver Waespi’s Tracing Time as one of the best band performances I’ve ever had the pleasure of being a part of. The opening Baritone solo was played by my award-winning duet partner, Ross Gerritsen, who is also the Solo Baritone for the 2023 Australian Tour.
The few times the National Band has been able to get together since 2020 have been bright spots on my calendar. Under David Bremner, the band is a fantastic brass ensemble, bringing together a wonderful bunch of players who just happen to make up the best brass band in this part of the globe. And yes, there are still some family ties in the 2023 National Band. Brothers David & Fraser Bremner, Luke & Mitchell Spence, Kevin & Graham Hickman, and father and son Mike (yes, me!) and Logan Ford. Another really cool thing is that 5 members of the 1995 National Band will be touring with the 2023 band, including Graham & Kevin Hickman, Grant Myhill in the Percussion section, myself on Solo Horn and Phil Johnston on Tuba. I know that we are all looking forward to taking our unique brand of music to the Australian public, and I know that they will love it.
As I said, I can’t wait!
