STARS AND STRIPES: CANADIAN BRASS SALUTE AMERICA CD

Excelllent

great cd

excellent compositions of traditional patriotic music. Nice mix of songs.

This is without a doubt the most inspired music by the Canadian Brass I have listened to. A must for my Independence Day celebration!

Great CD. Great variety. Loved the last one: O Canada!

On this disk, the CB have captured the essence of American patriotic composers such as George M. Cohan and John Philip Sousa et al. Very tight and concise. It's always a joy to hear this music played properly with the correct dynamics. You continue to be my favorite musical group. Bravo!

Wow, who knew the Canadians felt this way about us? Here are 16 over-the-top tracks, featuring replica drums from the Colonial and Civil War eras, all toasting America. The drums were custom-made in Vermont, and you hear them to best advantage in “Drums of Liberty,” a salute to the drummers on the battlefield over the centuries. (Our own Father Baker was one, as a teenager, at Gettysburg.) The notes have all kinds of trivia. Who knew that an early advocate for “The Star-Spangled Banner” as our national anthem was Buffalo Bill, who played it at all his Wild West shows? Or that the jaunty, likable “Dixie” was originally an anti-slavery song by a Northerner? The themes all get impressive, imaginative treatment with their dashing fanfares and imaginative touches. The flat-footed “My Country, ’Tis of Thee” gets a burst of panache from a few bars of Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man.”Hmm. All this is making me uneasy. They must want something from us.

Is there anything more American then patriotic music and marches? Here are three albums that will help you celebrate the American experience while you ring in liberty and hammer out freedom!
Our friends to north, Canada Brass, honor America with Stars & Stripes – Canadian Brass Salute America, an album of patriotic and American classics featuring the brass supported by a battery of drums and percussion. The album is pure Americana – with the classic Sousa march Stars & Stripes Forever kicking off the celebration, followed by Military Might, a rousing parade of the five military branch anthems. The album has a historical feel to it with stops in colonial times – Chester, Hail Columbia (the first National Anthem!) and My Country, ’Tis of Thee, the move westward - with a buttery and elegant take on Shenandoah, the Civil War era - The Battle Hymn of the Republic, a stirring When Johnny Comes Marching Home and Dixie’s Land, and up to the present with a rousing George M. Cohan Salute, America the Beautiful and the march National Emblem and its pounding low brass theme. The album also includes two versions of the Star Spangled Banner – an early 1814 version and the “official” version. The Canadian Brass once again show off the reason they are known as “the world’s most famous brass ensemble” – the arrangements demonstrate fully their incredible expertise and virtuosity and all the tracks are played with spirit and sparkle. The recording sound is, once again, exceptional. This is one of the best from the Canadian Brass!