New Durham Brass Festival

An exciting new festival featuring an international mix of brass performers will be launched in Durham this summer. BRASS - Durham International Festival 1 - 15 July 2007 has booked Boban Markovic Orchestra, Mnozil Brass, Bellowhead, Brazz Brothers and Dennis Rollins as headline acts, as well as hosting two brass band contests and Acid Brass. Boban Markovic, described as 'Serbia's best trumpeter', leads his 12 -piece brass group (pictured) who 'always perform full power like a stadium Rock act' in their music mix of 'Gypsy grooves, ??o??eks and other dances and tunes from the movies of Emir Kusturica as well as new material composed exclusively for the band.' Audio samples are available on the Eye for Talent website. Mnozil Brass are an Austrian brass septet whose shows feature slapstick humour while they perform a mix of popular arrangements from the likes of Bohemian Rhapsody to classical favourites, to Austrian drinking songs. Bellowhead are an English folk group based around squeezebox and vocals, but cranked up to a big band sound with four horns and drum kit. (Photo www.david-angel.com) Brazz Brothers are a Norwegian brass quintet who play traditional jazz, modern jazz and folk music from different parts of the world. They were founded in 1981 by two sets of brothers all from a small island off Norway and since then have played up to 120 live concerts a year. Tickets available from the official festival website, and a discussion of the acts is going on at Nick Jones' blog.

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