Jack Stamp: Music for Brass Band
Born in Maryland in 1954, John Stamp – universally known as ‘Jack’ – is a well-known figure, both as conductor and composer, in the symphonic wind-band movement that flourishes in US universities. But the sound of the brass band familiar in the UK has long been an enthusiasm, and his involvement with brass bands on both sides of the Atlantic – particularly the Minneapolis-based Lake Wobegon Brass Band, which takes its name from Garrison Keillor’s fictional Minnesota town – has generated a number of works which bring elements of the British brass tradition to audiences in the US Mid-West, imbuing them with a catchy rhythmic swing.
Steve Ecklund, horn
Bill Chouinard, organ
Lake Wobegon Brass Band
Michael Halstenson, conductor
Listen To This Recording:
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- Mill City Flourish (2019, arr. 2021) (3:34)
From Concrete to Cobblestones: Impressions of England (1996) (14:26)
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- I. Fanfare for the Rock (1:06) Audio Player
- II. The County of Dorset (4:09) Audio Player
- III. Mind the Gap (2:50) Audio Player
- IV. Hymn to Dunblane* (2:23) Audio Player
- V. The City* (3:58)
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- San Luis Snapshots (2016, arr. 2020) (5:34) Audio Player
- Scarborough Fair (2022) (3:39) Audio Player
- From a Distant Hill (2023) (5:25) Audio Player
- Bare-Ass Funk (2024) (3:57) Audio Player
- Cuban Stingers (2017) (3:03)
Six Hymn Tune Settings
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- Psalm 150 (2012, arr. 2018)* (2:38) Audio Player
- Fast Falls the Eventide (2024) (4:27) Audio Player
- For the Beauty of the Earth (2020, arr. 2021) (5:08) Audio Player
- Infamy (2016)* (3:04) Audio Player
- Memories on Crimsoned (2022) (3:44) Audio Player
- Grace and Glory (2009) (3:59)
Two Christmas Settings
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- Infant Holy, Infant Lowly (2022) (3:44) Audio Player
- Bring a Torch (2017) (2:26)
All Except * First Recordings
MusicWeb International :
‘It is, for me, fascinating to hear an American’s take on what is so indigenous to Britain. Dr Stamp clearly has such a vivid inner ear and has made such a detailed study of the repertoire that all of the works sound idiomatically perfect. Michael Halstenson is clearly a great band director, and I was sorry to read he has now retired. The American engineers have done a great job in capturing the sound world and the whole production is up to Toccata Classics’ usual high standards.’
—Paul R W Jackson, MusicWeb International
American Record Guide :
‘The music impresses me. Jack Stamp is a very good composer whose tonal harmonic language is spiked with doses of dissonance. Kudos to the band for conquering it’
—Barry Kilpatrick, American Record Guide, February 2025