Canadian Brass Recordings
Friends Chuck Daellenbach and Gene Watts first came together in 1970 to form a brass quintet — a chamber music setting not entirely new, but never before having garnered the success and storied career Canadian Brass would achieve over the next 40 years. Initially, Gene took on the role of developing new repertoire while Chuck was the moving force in marketing, publishing and managing the business. Three empty chairs were quickly filled and together, the group’s imagination and consummate musicianship elevated the art of the brass quintet to what it is today. Here was not only an opportunity to explore the possibilities of an all-brass chamber group but a challenge to bring the sound and the excitement of brass music to new audiences.
Masters of concert presentations, Canadian Brass has developed a uniquely engaging stage presence and rapport with audiences. Each of their concerts will show the full range from trademark Baroque and Dixieland tunes to new compositions and arrangements created especially for them – from formal classical presentation to music served up with lively dialogue and theatrical effects. The hallmark of any Canadian Brass performance is entertainment, spontaneity, virtuosity and, most of all, fun – but never at the expense of the music:
Whatever the style, the music is central and performed with utmost dedication, skill and excellence.
With a discography of over 130 albums and an extensive world-wide touring schedule, Canadian Brass is an important pioneer in bringing brass music to mass audiences everywhere. They have sold well over 2 million albums worldwide, with 1.2 million sold in the Nielsen Soundscan era alone (since 1991). They continue to score Billboard chart positions — like with their rousing recording of patriotic songs and marches, Stars & Stripes: Canadian Brass Salute America, which spent 8 weeks in the Top 25 on the Billboard Classical Chart, peaking at #2! Touring legends with an enthusiastic fan base, the Canadian Brass play to packed houses everywhere throughout the USA, Canada, Japan and Europe. They have also toured Australia, the Middle East, the Soviet Union and South America. They were the first brass ensemble from the West to perform in the People’s Republic of China (where they returned for a 5-city tour to great acclaim in the spring of 2010 and several visits after this, including an appearance on Hunan TV for Chinese New Year) as well as the first brass group to take the main stage at the venerable Carnegie Hall. On numerous occasions Canadian Brass has been invited by the Canadian Government to play for visiting heads of states, becoming one of Canada’s greatest resources and musical ambassadors.
Here in the Canadian Brass Store, you will find a majority of the groups CD's including those on their Opening Day Entertainment label, where they have recorded since 2001. The group has recorded music of most every style including classical recordings with music from the renaissance, baroque, classical and romantic eras, jazz & dixieland recordings, wedding recordings, broadway & musical theatre recordings, popular music and even rock music! Along with CD's, Canadian Brass has recordings available in digital download formats such as Mp3 and some lossless formats like FLAC, ALAC and a few tracks in WAV format. You will also find recordings of some other Opening Day Entertainment artists in our store.
When ordering digital downloads from our site you will want to use a laptop or desktop computer as most of the full albums come in zip folders that will need to be opened.