Old Events
Tiptree Jam
The last day in February saw the band at St Lukes Church in Tiptree. This event has almost become an annual happening, spurred on no doubt by last year’s unprecedented sneeze. The band, under the direction of Kelvin Ketteringham, delighted the listeners with a varied programme of music along with some delightful piano solos from Caroline Seredynski. Band soloists included Dave Thomas ( cornet) with the Langford arrangement of My Love is like a Red, Red Rose and Kevin Kavanagh excelled on the Euphonium with Benedictus from the Armed Man by...
read moreInto 2015
It was a pleasure to have Bandmaster Torgny Hanson from Stockholm conduct our first rehearsal of the New Year. Torgny was over in the UK in connection with some recording work and we counted it a real privilege to have him as our guest for the evening. Post Christmas cobwebs were soon lost with an intensive rehearsal of covering My Comfort and Strength (Bowen), Psalm of Thanks (Paul Sharman), Pressing Onward (Leidzen) and La Danza (Rossini). ...
read moreGOSH! It’s Christmas!
As last year, the band were pleased to support the Great Ormond Street Hospital Carol Concert with preconcert music and at the after reception at the neighbouring Berkeley Hotel. You can read a full report on the carol concert by clicking on the image...
read morePartnership at Hemel Hempstead
A good evening of banding was enjoyed with our friends from the Aveley and Newham Band. Aveley conducted by John Ward kicked off with the first tranche which included the SA festival march, Able, Horn Concerto No.1 by Richard Strauss ably played by David Howell and The Coronation Scene from Boris Godunov. A quick change round led to the LCFB conducted by Don Jenkins giving their contribution which included Sound Out The Proclamation, Shoeburyness, and Morley Calvert’s My All Is On The Altar. After an interval the band two bands...
read moreAn Indian Summer in Sweden
Well almost…..an on going autumn with a hint of summer which the UK experienced well into October of 2014 was still evident as we travelled to Stockholm in mid October . We were the guests of Stockholm South Band, perhaps better remembered as Stockholm vii, although all activities during the weekend were centred at the centrally located Stockholm Temple . After arriving on Friday evening the band was provided with an enjoyable meal and welcomed by Torgny Hanson, Bandmaster, Stockholm South Band and until recent retirement,...
read moreMorecombe and Wise
Ernie Wise and Eric Morecombe were probably one of the most successful duos of their kind bringing laughter and sunshine to so many of us. Do you remember this one? Ernie: “It was a summer evening. The Salvation Army band was playing outside the back door of the warehouse by the canal.” [Pause] Eric: “Ummmmm…that seems a strange tune for The Salvation Army to play” Much of their material including this particular quote came from the pen of Eddie Braben, a well respected script writer at the BBC. Eddie came from...
read moreHendon Night 2014
With the summer break over it was back to some intense rehearsals ready for what has become something of a fixed event in our diary. Our “Hendon Night” this year, as well as launching the Abundance CD, featured, as guest soloist, Ruth Betteridge, soprano. Ruth has recently completed studies at The Royal Northern College of Music and is rapidly establishing herself in her chosen genre as mentioned in our programme notes (see below). Her singing delighted a very appreciative audience and was ably accompanied by our own Sue Avison. We...
read more2014 Happenings
Following the much publicised visit to Tiptree, the year progressed with well attended rehearsals and an encouraging succession of concerts. Late March brought an intimate concert at Barnet, a small hall and a relatively large band presents challenges but we are always pleased to support the corps were we regularly rehearse. Items from our newly developed repertoire were featured and the closing items reflected the rapidly approaching Easter season. An excerpt from Les Condon’s Easter Glory followed by an appropriate word from Scripture...
read moreNew CD recording – ‘Abundance’
During May the band spent two successful days recording tracks for their new CD ‘Abundance’. Guest soloists include David Daws (Euphonium) and Dudley Bright (Trombone). Below are some photographs from the recording sessions. Watch this space for the CD which will be released later this year in the autumn!
read moreInto 2014
Tiptree February saw the band revisiting Tiptree Parish Church . Our visit some two years ago was enjoyed by all and it was with anticipation that we journeyed to this part of Essex for a return visit, this under the leadership of our new bandmaster, Julian Bright. With last year’s Olympic Games still fresh in our minds , the opening number was John Williams’ Olympic Fanfare and Theme. Eiliv Herikstad’s festival march Shoeburyness followed before the band presented Eric Ball’s ever fresh Sound Out The Proclamation....
read moreThe Tiptree sneeze
The Tiptree Sneeze has attracted both national and worldwide attention! Here are two radio interviews which feature this now ‘viral’ phenomenon: BBC Radio 5 Live – The Danny Baker Show 1. Tiptree-Sneeze-BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio Essex – Breakfast Show with James Whale 2. BBC Radio Essex - T Smith interview 19-March-2014 BBC Essex also featured the ‘event’ in their online magazine which can be viewed by clicking on the image...
read moreThe Great Ormond Street Childrens Hospital Christmas Carol Concert
The band was delighted to support this popular event staged annually at St. Pauls, Knightsbridge. The congregation warmly received a varied programme of festive music which preceded the concert. Items included The Shining Star ( Peter Graham) Deck The Hall ( Barrie Gott) The Everlasting Light ( Martin Cordner) and the almost obligatory Christmas Joy (Leidzen). Later, as guests processed to the adjacent Berkeley Hotel for a post concert reception, they were serenaded by an ensemble from the band. This concluded with yet another spirited...
read moreNew Beginnings
Under the new leadership of Julian Bright, the 2013-14 season was met head on with a trio of rehearsals in preparation for what has come to be known as “Hendon Night” . This yearly event has established itself in the band’s diary with a near capacity audience yet again eager to hear and encourage the band in its endeavours. Guest soloists this year were Phillip McCann, cornet, David Daws, euphonium, and Julian Bright’s “other band”, the EverBlessed Youth Choir. Phillip delighted the crowd with some fine playing which...
read moreAppointment of New Bandmaster
In reporting a Clarence Adoo Trust fundraising concert recently, the SA Bandsmen commented, Both David and Phillip (McCann) are of course ‘cornet legends’, but one of the most intriguing aspects of the evening was hearing David Daws under his new guise as a euphonium soloist. Following several years of injury problems with his lip, David decided to try a bigger mouthpiece, and the euphonium made sense as a destination. Performing ”Song of Triumph.”……it was apparent from the start that David has been able to transfer his...
read more2012-13 Season
As previously reported the season kicked off with concerts at Hendon, Leigh on Sea, Milton Keynes and for the second year an appearance at The Symphony Hall, Birmingham. 2013 saw further concerts at Newport Parish Church , Saffron Walden in February and East Bergholt Parish Church, Ipswich the following month. April witnessed a return visit to Bourne, Lincolnshire, this time playing in the Abbey. The Season closed with a long awaited visit to Leighton Buzzard Salvation Army in June. An appreciative crowd greeted the band at Newport. Our...
read moreComings and Goings
2012 proved a year of changes, some good and some unfortunate. We welcomed Major Graham Mizon as our new Executive Officer who also proved to be a very useful 1st Horn player. Only a few months later he and his wife were appointed to be the Corps Officers at the Regent Hall. We valued Graham’s brief presence with us and now we wish him and Dawn every blessing in their new ministry. Resulting from Graham’s association with the band we have been pleased to have his son Tim playing with us from time to time. Now that father has moved on we...
read moreAdvancing to Advent
The last ten days of November became a very intensive time for the band, with concerts at Leigh on Sea Salvation Army, Lovat Fields Retirement Village Milton Keynes and finally the prestigious Birmingham Symphony Hall. The Leigh on Sea concert was part of the Corp’s 110th anniversary celebrations. An appreciative audience received such numbers as The Witness (Bill Himes), The Firing Line (Bruce Broughton) and A Disney Fantasy (Goff Richards). Our regular soloists contributed including Dave Thomas (Cornet), Jim Rogers (Flugel), Phil...
read moreA Floral Dance at Abbots Langley
The closing curtain to the 2011-12 season was a return visit to the Abbots Langley Parish Church. It hardly seemed possible that two years had elapsed since our first concert in the church of St Lawrence. As before, the event coincided with the church’s flower festival. It was good to see an almost full house which proved to be a warm and appreciative audience. Although suffering from absenteeism due to the offset of the holiday season the band presented a varied programme featuring soloists, David Marley, cornet, with Terry Camsey’s...
read moreCrowds Brave Monsoon Conditions
The evening of October 27th proved to be unbelievably wet and cold, nevertheless for those who braved the elements and ventured to the Bishops Stortford Methodist Church, there was warmth and encouragement in abundance. The event was the annual Bible Society praise concert which has, over the years, been regularly supported by the bands presence. In fact only a few weeks before, an ensemble from the band, had supported another Society function in the town. The band presented a varied programme featuring old and new music from its...
read moreNo Disappointments at Hendon
What a night! A full hall, outstanding soloists, a band giving its all and a great evening of praise. The evening proved to be a great opener for our new season of 2012-13. The event was enthusiastically reported in The SA Bandsmen by Jim...
read moreVisit to Reading Central
The band were pleased to contribute to a building fund event at the Reading Corps with the support of the Reading Central Songsters. The corps provided refreshments before the commencement of the Festival which included some well established numbers from the bands current repertoire. After opening up with Kevin Norbury’s Orwell Park, we Breezed Down Broadway at an alarming pace, remembered Where (We ) Loved to Be and then drew breath while Caroline Seredynski brought us some exquisite Debussy on the piano. Reading Songsters gave two...
read moreLCFB in Belfast
Liverpool and the Mersey, the birthplace of much of Britannia’s mighty navy including the first two Ark Royal aircraft carriers, and once described as “the Gateway to the new world” greeted the LCFB’s intrepid answer to Eddie Stobart, Don Jenkins and Mel James. It was a June Friday evening, the promenade at New Brighton looked deserted, the sky was grey, the horizon even darker and the sea a vast foaming maelstrom. No wonder, the efforts of those before us in escaping this dreadful place, would we too, be successful in...
read moreStotfold Salvation Army Anniversary Celebrations
With a capacity crowd, the LCFB, with the support of Letchworth Songsters, provided an Anniversary Festival at the hall in Church Road. Saturday evening event was an introduction to the week end celebrations led by Commissioners Alex and Ingeborg Hughes . The event was reported in Salvationist…. Clique on….
read moreAn evening of fine music making
A capacity crowd greeted the LCFB and Enfield Citadel Band in a joint concert at Ipswich Citadel. It was a time of happy Salvationist music making enhanced by several father and son relationships linking the two bands. It was good to meet up with KEITH NICE, conductor of The Suffolk Phoenix Band and a former colleague in the Chelmsford Citadel Band. Thank you Keith for accepting our invitation to report on the evenings events. A near capacity audience greeted Enfield Citadel and London Central Fellowship bands to Ipswich Citadel. Robert...
read moreNew names on the home pitch
The LCFB at Barnet 31st March 2012 The band has a close association with Barnet SA Corps, not least because it has band room facilities and rehearses at the corps’ hall in Albert Road. The Saturday evening concert proved to be rather cosy given the congregation of both band and audience within the small confines of the hall. The band offered a variety of musical fare to suit a wide range of choice, Take Over Bid, Breezing’ Down Broadway, and Canadian Folk Song Suite were amongst items featured. In addition to spots from our regular...
read moreTiptree Encourage the Encouragers
February saw the band in deepest Essex at St Luke’s Parish Church,Tiptree for its first concert of the new year. Some time before the opening bars of Orwell Park, it was apparent that more chairs were required to satisfy the growing numbers eagerly arriving. A varied musical feast was provided, which, whilst building on previous repertoire , included some first time performances of recently rehearsed music. Several of the numbers featured on the band’s CD “Bandology” were featured including Where I Love to Be,...
read moreLCFB plays Birmingham Symphony Hall
LCFB brought its 2011 season to a close on 29 November with a successful visit to the Symphony Hall in Birmingham to play to an audience of some 1,500, gathered for the Extra Care Charitable Trust 2011 World in Union Concert. The event also included other special guests Tom O’Connor, Rustie Lee, Gary Lovini and Kirsty Michele Anderson amongst other well known artists. The band featured in a number of cameo spots, and Bandmaster David Daws’ leadership ensured generous applause from the initial sparkle of Bandology, the signature march from...
read morePre-Christmas Concert at Lovat Fields Retirement Village, Milton Keynes
The band returned to Lovat Fields Village, Milton Keynes on 26 November 2011 to start the Christmas season, and played to an audience of over 200. Having taken the opportunity to arrive early and “exercise their plastic” at the shopping centres in Milton Keynes, the band started its concert with the classy march Orwell Park, cruised through Take Over Bid and then changed the mood with Latin versions of Where I love to Be and Quando, Quando, Quando sandwiched by two exquisite cornet solos by Dave Thomas: the Mexican inspired Chiapaneacas...
read more‘Bandology’ CD Review: The Salvationist
In the 19th November 2011 edition of the Salvationist, the weekly newspaper for members and friends of The Salvation Army, Dean Jones reviewed LCFB’s latest CD Bandology. Among many positive comments, Jones commented “The band has put together a vast array of music sacred and secular encompassing enough diversity to give every listener something to enjoy”. A PDF copy of the full review can be found...
read moreThe LCFB at St Albans Salvation Army
A warm and eager audience greeted the band on the occasion of its second visit to the St Albans Salvation Army Hall in the last four years. A virile rendition of concert march Bandology, (Osterling), set the pace for the evening . There followed a varied programme of easy listening from a wide range of musical genres. Solo contributions included the band’s principal cornet Dave Thomas playing Chiapanecas, a Keith Wilkinson arrangement of a Mexican folk song, Ken Stones , euphonium, featured Howard Davies’s solo All the Ways...
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