Dr Brett Baker, solo trombone with the Cory Band, is set to release an exciting new solo CD entitled The Heroic Trombone. The recording pays tribute to the likes of Denis Wick, who sadly passed away before he could get to hear the CD, famous for his performances of the Gordon Jacob Concerto, Rob Wiffin, Ray Steadmann-Allen, Don Lusher, Leo Zimmerman, Urbie Green, Mark Freeh, Frederich Belke, and Christian Lindberg, all very fine trombone players who composed pieces for the instrument. 

The CD boasts four premiere recordings: Heroic Etude by Rob Wiffin, Autumn Dreams by Leo Zimmerman, Concertino by Nelke, and the very powerful original composition KING! by Brenton Broadstock. KING! dedicated is dedicated to David King, an influential figure for Dr Baker.

Dr Baker is once again accompanied by Paul Holland and the Flowers Band, his sixth such project with the band across a quarter of a century; his first solo recording with them having taken place in 1998. Dr Brett commented, ‘The Flowers Band continue to improve year after year and never shy away from difficult repertoire. I am very excited to release this CD, which is a nod to many of my musical heroes over the past couple of decades. The band is such a delight to work with, always being very much on top of some of the most challenging pieces available for trombone and brass band. I expected this to be my most challenging project yet, but the Flowers Band made the [recording] weekend really easy, we had very few takes over the whole weekend due to the band sounded stunning on every take. 80 minutes of music was put down in record time, finishing early on the Sunday afternoon. I think one of my favourite tracks of all time is Lindberg’s Mandrake in the Corner. The band just sound electric on this piece. I would like to acknowledge Pauls impressive direction but also the work engineer Phil Hardman, producer Kevin Lea, my eyes and ears, and the fabulous team at World of Sound for their input with this project.’

Heroic Trombone will be released to coincide with the National Finals at the Royal Albert Hall this October.

Track listing:

1.      Concerto for Trombone: Movement 1 – Gordon Jacob arr. Denis Wick
2.      Heroic Etude – Rob Wiffin
3.      The Immortal Theme – Ray Steadmann Allen
4.      Makin Whoopee! – Walter Donaldson arr. Don Lusher
5.      Autumn Dreams – Leo Zimmerman arr. Keith Wilkinson
6.      KING! Trombone Concertino – Brenton Broadstock
7.      You only Live Twice – John Barry arr. Mark Freeh
8.      Concertino - Frederich August Belke arr. Eric Burger trans. Ian Jones
9.      Nessun Dorma – G Puccini arr. Ian Jones
10.   Mandrake in the corner – Christian Lindberg